Knuckleheads

Back in the day in England, I had a friend with two non-negotiable must-haves, when searching for a new house.  The property had to be within easy walking distance of a decent local pub, and a car dealership.  He didn’t care what brand of cars they sold, albeit Ford, VW, Honda etc, he replaced his car every one - two years and would buy whatever they sold.  More important to him was the convenience of being able to wander a short distance to the dealership to collect his car following a service.

In the same vein, I feel very fortunate to be living in Kansas City, where one of the best honky-tonks / live music venues in the United States is found.  Knuckleheads.  Ladies and Gentlemen, if you haven’t taken the time to visit, and it’s accessible to you, I strongly encourage you to stop by.

Over the years, I’ve seen many stand out gigs there:

It was cold and snowing and luckily we were in ‘the Garage’ one of the indoor stages. The place was full, and we were awaiting the support band when this figure emerged on stage, long hair, beard, wearing a heavy winter greatcoat, looking a little disheveled if I’m honest.  He was the main act and I’d never seen him before.  “Thank you guys for coming out in this crap weather” ….  my first impressions; wow, this is going to be wild, he’s so cool, so confident, a storyteller I’d found out later.  He introduced the support band and said he’d be back soon. He returned an hour later, minus the heavy coat, looking good.  “Ladies and Gentleman, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Copperhead Road”…..  it was Steve Earle.

They played the entire album in order, that was the first set.  Along the way, Steve would tell stories, and we felt so connected.  He’s the complete deal!  We saw him again at Knuckleheads a few years later, on the outside stage, and that was excellent too!

Another time we saw Poco, and the stand out moment for me was meeting the band after the show, but in particular the drummer who played for The Flying Burrito Brothers for many years, who talked to me about hanging out with Janis Joplin and Neil Young, made me feel like I was taken back to counterculture of the 60's and 70's in psychedelic California.

They have free jam sessions every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Saturday's host is Billy Ebeling, a singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who's opened for acts like Brownie McGhee, Taj Mahal, Red Holloway to name just a few. Host on Sunday are Levee Town, a blues rock band formed in 2002 by Brandon Hedspeth, a renowned guitarist, and nominated for Blues Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year in 2023 by Blues Blast magazine. Saturdays are more older country and Sundays more rocky and blues based, but there is a huge crossover, and the beauty is, you really never know what to expect. However, when JJ Johnson steps up on stage we do all know what to expect... girls dancing and singing. Soon. A small guy with a massive charisma, who Mike Panethiere of Platinum Express describes as: "truly the embodiment of the 60's R&B, Soul and Motown singers. JJ is truly one-of-a-kind, and one-if-a-kind is truly what Knuckleheads is about. If there was a poll asking readers to nominate their favorite honky-tonk, the opening questions might be:

• Does it have an infectious vibe?

• Regular ‘every week’ customers, a community and sense of belonging?

• No cover charge jam sessions every Saturday and Sunday?

• Indoor and outdoor stages?

• and ….  Freight trains clanking and hooting ten feet away?

Once, and I can’t remember who, but an established country singer whilst performing, and being drowned out by a train, paused the song, and with hands on top of his guitar, glanced over at the train, and as the rattling and screeching and vibrating subsided, turned to the audience and said. “Well, I’ve been playing country music and singing about trains for thirty years, but I’ve never seen this before”.   The survey results are in:  Yes, Knuckleheads ticks all the boxes!

I hope we never decide to leave KC; I can’t imagine loosing easy access to such a great venue, and all the established and upcoming song writers and performers that play and the great music they serve up.