Lonnie was a sought after guest on radio shows during his long career. Radio hosts enjoyed not only his live performances, but also his quick wit and willingness to share colorful stories about his music and life in general. He could spin a good yarn! Lonnie began doing radio interviews early in his career and continued throughout. His last interview was with Paul Metsa on Paul’s Wall of Power Radio Hour in March of 2016.
Lonnie Knight has long been one of my favorite guitarists in town and has won countless awards doing just that. His career spans over fifty years as a rock ’n roller, side man, session man, singer-songwriter, producer and all around cool cat. He’s played on damn near every stage, bar, club or restaurant in Minnesota, the upper Midwest and he’s played with a wide variety of great Midwest musicians.
During his interview on KDWB’s Blueberry Bill Show in 1976, Lonnie shared what it was like to tour South Texas and how he fell in love with the music scene at that time. He talked about how the audiences in Austin were so different from the Twin Cities because they listened attentively to musicians and, in particular, were quite open to hearing original music vs. cover tunes. However, his belief in the talent in the Twin Cities, along with the great recording studios, drew him back to his home base of Minnesota.
Radio hosts frequently had more than one guest on a show and Lonnie graciously shared the mic with his musical compadres, including some of his fellow band members like Reid Papke, Billy Steiner, and Jim Dahl. You will also hear from other area musicians including Fred Argir, Mike Cass, John Eimlich and Gus Dewey, to name a few. Tune in to catch some great stories and performances!
Jeff Harrington’s Midnight Moonlight Concert series on KDWB was a popular radio show and in December of 1979 featured a retrospective of Lonnie’s work up until then. Included is music from the Rave-Ons, recorded at K-Bank Studios in Minneapolis between 1963 and 1964. He also shares the history of bands he played with during the ’60s and ’70s.
Also included is a look-back on some of the session work he did for Sound 80, the Twin Cities premier recording studio at the time. It’s a great listen that includes recordings from that era.
1 thought on “On Air Interviews”
I just started listened to the Caledonia Radio show again which features The Lonnie Knight Band.
At about 13:14, they play an unreleased Lonnie Knight original, “I Never Asked the Little Girl to Dance..”Later on, they play another one of his unreleased originals, “I Don’t Ride in the Back Seat.’ Both are fun tunes and SO good!