SHAKE THE BLUES: the songs, artistry, and luthiercraft of John Allen KnutsonArtist notes: Herein is a collection of thirteen of John’s original compositions spanning the last forty-five years, and played primarily on six of his Knutson Luthiery hand crafted guitars and mandolins. Beside playing his stringed instruments, John is also singing and playing harmonica on a rack. In listening to this CD please keep in mind that this is essentially a live studio recording of an acoustic trio, (with some added background vocals). This music was recorded in two six hour sessions, unrehearsed, unplugged, and raw. Three guys, on a journey through the landscape of acoustic blues, jazz, and Americana.Instruments played in these recording sessions:John Knutson - vocals and racked harmonicas (Lee Oskar harps) 2001 Knutson Luthiery Nightlife archtop guitar 1979 Knutson Luthiery Songbird flattop guitar 2013 Knutson Luthiery wooden tricone resophonic guitar 2012 Knutson Luthiery Songbird archtop mandolin 2002 Knutson Luthiery Messenger upright electric bass 1920’s Gibson trapdoor banjo David Grisman - 1922 Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5 mandolin aka “Crusher” 2013 Knutson Luthiery Songbird archtop mandolin 1927 Vega Style K 4-string"Tango Banjo" banjolinBill Fouty 1920 Pfretschner bass, German All words and music written by John Allen Knutson www.ShakeTheBlues.com www.KnutsonLuthiery.com_____________________________________________________________________________________________BAND BIOS JOHN ALLEN"JACK" KNUTSON, was born in Fort Knox Kentucky in 1951, and raised in Virginia. Being just old enough to remember the birth of rock’n roll in the late fifties, and just young enough to have caught the tail end of the big band era in the late sixties, he was witness to two overlapping worlds of American music, culture, and mythos. On account of that, he spent most of his adolescence years driftin’ from genre to genre. Had it not been for the timely 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival and his love of music and guitars, he might never have realized his true passions, nor managed to fuse them into any reasonable means of support or livelihood. As it were, he founded Knutson Luthiery in 1981 and has been a full time guitar builder and part time professional musician ever since, writing songs and playing his own hand crafted instruments in live performance and recordings. In pursuit of his craft he has single-handedly built over 350 of his custom designed instruments for discerning players around the world, and continues to produce fine instruments out of his Forestville California shop. John defines his experience of seeing the Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras, Big Joe Turner, B.B. King, and innumerable other blues, folk, and jazz roots players in the late sixties as his most important musical reference point, and he has lived on a steady diet of tritones ever since. This notwithstanding, he freely admits he’s not living in the past, and can readily appreciate pretty much anyone who can carry a tune, and honestly manifest inspiration, or spirit into their music, and an audience, which is what this is really all about anyway. DAVID GRISMAN followed roots music from New Jersey to the Southeast, playing with The Even Dozen Jug Band, Red Allen and the Kentuckians and others.  A disciple of folklorist Ralph Rinzler, David contributed to the vibrant Greenwich Village folk scene and later moved to the Bay Area, recording American Beauty with the Grateful Dead and forming Old & in the Way with Jerry Garcia. Grisman attracted brilliant musicians, and the 1976 formation of the David Grisman Quintet revolutionized acoustic string music.  He has played with many of his heroes, from Stephane Grappelli and Svend Asmussen to Jethro Burns, Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, and his friendship with Jerry Garcia produced a cherished legacy of recordings. Today he tours regularly with his Sextet, Bluegrass Experience Band and FolkJazz Trio. David's fifty years of playing, composing, and producing attest to his indomitable creative spirit. BILL FOUTY was born in Burbank California in 1950. In his early years, he studied the double bass with the legendary Nat Gangursky, and performed with various small chamber groups and orchestras throughout Los Angeles County. Also, while in Southern California, he graduated from the Dick Grove School of Music where he studied theory and composition as well as improvisation and ensemble playing. Since relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1978, Bill has worked with jazz duo, trio and larger group formats with many fine bay area musicians, including The Susan Comstock Swingtet, guitarist Carl Vast, Susan Sutton Trio, and pianist Terry Henry.____________________________________________________________________________________________________