Life & Work with Gillian Knott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gillian Knott. 

Hi Gillian, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
In August of 2017, we were invited by a mutual friend to sit in on a few tunes at a show, and neither of us knew each other prior. This show took place in Asheville, where Chuck was living at the time and where I was touring through. Throughout the show and afterwards, at a subsequent campfire-style jam, we really hit it off and we ended up spending the remainder of my time in Asheville hanging out and playing… 

Being a musician is sort of a strange way to make a living in a lot of ways, but one of the most difficult being that you get a lot of “what do you really want to do with your life?” style questions when people realize it’s all you do. When Chuck and I met we realized that we had the same ideology musically and otherwise and noticed pretty much right off the bat that we were a solid team and complimented each other’s playing pretty well too. It was like that line of questioning sort of dropped and we immediately set our minds to “well how do we make this something we can do together and make it sustainable?” 

It’s not that it isn’t a sustainable thing- it’s just that it’s not an easy thing to do when you’re doing it from scratch, and looking at a few bucks left in a bank account can be hard, but we knew we had to make some sacrifices to get it all started off and we knew the investments we made were in ourselves and the sound and that’s really all it’s about, after all, sharing that sound. So, we took to booking and touring as much as we could physically stand, and over the years have adopted some healthy habits and put a lot of work into creating something that is quite sustainable and really fulfilling. 

Nowadays we have a tour van we take all over the country, and we’re able to bring shows of any capacity (from acoustic duo to a full band complete with a rotating cast of players from major cities- with full-blown sound) to anywhere we choose. In fact, the next time we’re through Denver area is going to be August and we’re already looking forward to some incredible lineups and a variety of shows! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, we both started off with whatever savings we scraped together from our past jobs that we quit to do this full-time, so that was tough because collectively that may have only been a few hundred dollars… I mean, we were pretty broke for a while, so that was not easy… The kind of deciding to skip dinner because you have to get gas to get to the next city kind of broke. But we made those sacrifices and it got better… 

We also realized a little ways into this lifestyle that certain “benefits” of being a musician weren’t really benefiting us- alcohol namely. It’s funny because you’re given so many free drinks as a musician- and sometimes it’s even included in your compensation from a bar or brewery, but we gave it up because it didn’t serve the music and it didn’t serve our health, and those are two most important things to us. I mean, it’s not easy to live as a touring musician. Living on the road takes a toll on the body so we didn’t want to do anything else that could tax us extra or put us at risk. Funnily enough, that same health outlook is why the both of us are pescatarians- well that and we’re both big softies for animals. 

Oh yeah, also that pandemic. That was a doozy. I mean- come on. A whole year of just “don’t do the super positive thing you love or you’re recklessly endangering people.” That was a shock to the system and a speed bump for sure, but we were able to hone in on what was important to us and put more concerted effort into recording and ended up with a full album at the end of it… Now that we’re on the other side of it we feel like live music is back and more appreciated than ever, so we’re not taking it for granted and are just glad we get to play on this side of it. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We play music together. Chuck plays about every instrument under the sun but usually, you’ll catch him on lead guitar, and vocals. He’s a hell of a songwriter too so he’s written a large portion of our originals. I’m a singer mainly but I keep up on the guitar and provide rhythm guitar support. 

I think what we’re most proud of is the genuine nature of the connections we get to make with people. Music is such a vulnerable thing to do and we’re just a couple of bleeding hearts who hope that when we share what we’re going through or feeling that it can help others not feel alone if they relate, ya know? 

I’m not sure we’re set apart from anyone per se. I think we bring as unique a perspective as we are individuals to the art we create and I think we take it quite seriously- not that we don’t have fun while doing it, in fact the fun is practically the most compulsory aspect. We’re very serious about fun. I guess that’s a roundabout and lighthearted way of saying that I’m not sure we’re more special or different than anyone else out there, but if you think everyone’s pretty special and different then you’re going to appreciate what we’re doing. 

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Gosh, there’s a lot of people… Honestly, we couldn’t possibly be where we are without Chuck’s mom Debbie, who’s a general boss but also an inspiration and confidant when it comes to any advice or advocation that we need. She’s been the sounding board to many big choices we’ve made and always considers the music and our passion in it when giving advice. Beyond that, both of our families are a huge part of our lives and we owe them endless thanks. 

We couldn’t be where we are without folks in the music scene in Asheville, NC too. In fact, if it weren’t for our mutual friend and musician, Laura Thurston, we never would have met. 

Contact Info:

• Email: theknottygs@gmail.com
• Website: www.theknottygs.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/theknottygs
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/theknottygs
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/theknottygs
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCc0n4RXeFyof5PsH1KcmM5w
• Other: linktr.ee/theknottygs

Image Credits
Joe del Tufo
Moonloop Photography