The Knobs

THE KNOBS
Lonely At The Bottom
As soon as the opening riffs of the first
track “Heart In My Hand” hit your speakers,
it’s evident that what you have in your
CD player is one helluva good disc. The
Knobs’ eleven-song Lonely At The Bottom
is packed with so many catchy melodies,
you’ll find yourself singing right along to
the entire album. Producer Dave Hanner -
of country powerhouse Corbin/Hanner
fame - captures the raw intensity of the
Knobs’ rock n’ roll ethos on every track.

A throwback to rock n’ roll’s glory days,
the Knob’s sound hints of Springsteen
and even Tom Petty. Their cover of the
Beatles’ “Rain” showcases the band’s
concentration on harmonies, with each
vocal adding layer upon layer to form a
refined, full sound even the Fab Four
would be proud of. And frontman John
Marsiglio’s engaging lyrics on “Where Did
You Sleep Last Night,” “My Boys Won’t
Be Soldiers,” and the soothing ballad
“Catch Me” flash of brilliance. Put this
Knobs’ album at the top of your list!
theknobsband.net

mugZine C/O CD Reviews, P.O. BOX 8280, Pittsburgh, PA 15218
- mugzine.com (Feb 10, 2006) - Mugzine

Music Preview: The Knobs are proud to be a bar-rock band
Thursday, November 03, 2005
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Lonely at the Bottom" by the Knobs, a Pittsburgh-area group that's not afraid of the b-word.

In the pursuit of being something more adventurous, some musicians might take offense at the term "bar-rock." Not John Marsiglio of the Knobs.

"I think it's an honor to be a great bar band," he says. "You know, anyone can go in the studio and have it sound really good. It's tough when you're standing in front of those people and maybe they're not even there to see you. If you connect on that level, that's what rock 'n' roll is. It's Saturday night, drinking beer and let's go."

Marsiglio has spent a lot more time in bars than studios over his 25 years with the Knobs. But the singer, songwriter and guitarist from Biddle, Westmoreland Co., recently bit the bullet and came out with the band's second record, "Lonely at the Bottom," a CD that captures a unit with multiple personalities. There are gritty Houserockers- and Jukes-style rave-ups, songs that verge on power pop and '60s psychedelia, a delicate acoustic ballad and a faithful cover of the Beatles' "Rain."

"I've been doing this a long time and have a lot of influences," he says. "I've been playing Chuck Berry in bars for like 40 years, so I have that and that Stones thing. The power-pop stuff, I like the Beatles and the Raspberries, ,and that influences me. If you listen to 'Everyday,' I was shooting for a Buffalo Springfield thing. I put on the songs I was feeling at the time. I liked that diversity. That's one of the things I liked about the Beatles. They were all over the place. I know, it's hard to categorize it. I just tried to write the best songs that I could."

Most of them deal with relationships, but Marsiglio ends with the record with a protest song called "My Boys Won't Be Soldiers" that declares "When Uncle Sam comes a-callin', we'll tell him we gave in the past."

"My grandfather was in World War I, that was based on our family," Marsiglio says. "The part about Vietnam, I had a lot of friends who went there, and that was a composite of what they told me. I'm a real anti-war guy. I'm not happy with the current administration. I watch this stuff and it just makes me insane."

The record was produced by Dave Hanner, of Corbin Hanner fame, who became like an extra band member during the recording.

"He got really involved," Marsiglio says. "Some of the stuff, I thought we were done with the songs. He'd play them back and I'd say, 'Dave, did you put piano on here?' I loved what he did. On 'My Boys Won't Be Soldiers' he added the organ part, and it gave the song another dimension."

The Knobs will celebrate the disc with a release party at the Manor American Legion in Westmoreland County and, as usual, will rev up the crowd with a healthy mix of originals and rock 'n' roll covers -- like any bar band would.

"Sometimes I see these bands playing these huge venues and I'm thinking, 'That can't be fun,' " Marsiglio says. "In a bar, the people are on top of you, you know immediately how they're feeling. When they start dancing, you can feed off the energy a lot. The intimacy of it as great."


The Knobs
With: The Screaming Vikings.
Where: Manor American Legion.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
Admission: $10; www.theknobsband.net.
Scott Mervis - Post Gazette (Nov 3, 2005) - Pittsburgh Post Gazette