Back Door Slam is the name of the blues rock band started by Davy Knowles on the Isle of Man in 2003–04. The band got its name from a Robert Cray song of the same name. Originally a four-piece, with Castle Rushen High School friends Jamie Armstrong, Ross Doyle and Brian Garvey, the band was torn apart in 2004 when Garvey was killed in a car accident along with their close friend Richie Brookes. Deciding to carry on in Garvey's memory, Knowles, Armstrong, and Doyle reformed the band, with Knowles writing the emotional tribute to his friend & former bandmate, Stay, which was later to appear on an EP and on their debut album Roll Away. The trio recorded two EPs togethers, and played hundreds of gigs on their native Isle of Man before moving to London to live with Knowles's manager, Bob Miller. After a handful of gigs in the UK, Armstrong decided to pursue a career in music production and left the band to go to University. In 2007, with a spot secured at the SXSW Festival in Texas, Knowles and Doyle recruited former schoolmate Adam Jones to replace Jamie on bass. Jones joined Back Door Slam for what turned out to be two extensive tours of the US lasting until January 2009.
Career
Debut album
The band in this classic lineup, with Ross Doyle on Drums and Adam Jones on Bass released their debut album Roll Away on 18 June 2007 in the Isle of Man, with a 1 July release date in North America. The 10 song disc includes live favourites "Come Home" and "Too Late", along with evocative love song "Too Good For Me", newie "It'll All Come Around" and the one cover - 1920s blues rocker "Outside Woman Blues". The album was produced by Dave Armstrong of Running Media/DAM Productions.
Tour
Following their performance at , the band then played 310 dates in support of their album Roll Away. The tour included support slots with Rusted Root, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Eric Burdon, Kid Rock, and Lynyrd Skynyrd with hundreds of gigs and festivals. A live album was released of their performance at Bonnaroo. The band also toured with longtime jamband favorites Gov't Mule.
Breakup
On 27 January 2009, a letter was posted on Back Door Slam's website, announcing that the band had "broken up" and its members were pursuing different musical endeavors.
Knowles joined Jeff Beck as solo opening act for dates of his US Tour early 2009. He then recorded a new album, Coming Up For Air, with Peter Frampton as co-Producer,, along with Benmont Tench, Mauricio Fritz Lewak and Kevin McCormick, which was released in June 2009. He is now on the road as Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, with PK, Steven Barci and Ty Bailie. They opened for Chickenfoot in August/Sept 2009. In June 2009, Chickenfoot guitarist Joe Satriani described Davy as his "new favourite modern-day bluesman" in a Playlist article in The Sunday Times. The Outsider, Knowle's solo album, was released in March 2015.
