The Story So Far (Part 1)

KNOTHEAD'S story is one of ultimate triumph… From the ashes of multiple crippling substance dependencies, KNOTHEAD fought & clawed his way to sobriety... Believing that music saved his life, KNOTHEAD views his life experience based rhymes as a way to educate and inform... KNOTHEAD compromised nothing in his music, fearing that the death of it would launch him headlong back into the abyss of addiction and despair... Daily, he struggled... A man with nothing to lose, he seemed to have everything to gain...

Evidence of KNOTHEAD's crossover appeal surfaced in May of 2006, when KNOTHEAD did the impossible for someone perceived as underground "horror" rapper, and his biggest underground hit to date at that time, "Stompin" was featured on 104.5FM (defunct) Spokane's number one (at the time) top 40 hip-hop station. It was a huge achievement for such an unrepentantly underground act as KNOTHEAD to get such hardcore, abrasive, metal-based content on mainstream hip-hop radio.

In October of 2006, with local and internet buzz reaching a fever-pitch, (and finally feeling ready) KNOTHEAD returned to the stage after a three year public absence to satisfy the appetite for a live performance, and absolutely no one was disappointed... 2007 saw KNOTHEAD continue to perform live constantly across the Pacific Northwest. Already hot locally in Spokane, KNOTHEAD went inferno in May of 2007, achieving airplay on a second mainstream broadcast radio station of different format, ROCK 94.5FM. After being discovered by on-air personality JP, KNOTHEAD entered the Rock 94.5 playlist with two tracks, “KNOTHEAD’s Back” + “"O.P.N.E.T. Blues” and was a featured interview on JP's "LOCAL 945" program, which highlights the hottest local talent in the region. KNOTHEAD's first interview was so entertaining and popular amongst listeners that he became a frequent subject of the segment.

KNOTHEAD's words and music continued to permeate, catching new ears throughout the world, as internationally, dozens of new fans discovered KNOTHEAD daily... 2007 also saw KNOTHEAD make the transition from regional powerhouse to national underground name. Overseas interest in KNOTHEAD began to manifest as well, as vocal supporters from the UK, Europe, Japan, Brazil, and even Australia have discovered and begun to promote KNOTHEAD abroad. In 2008 national artists began to tab KNOTHEAD for West coast regional support, exposing him to (in many cases) more than 1,000 new sets of ears a night. Never a man to let opportunity pass by, KNOTHEAD capitalized, further spreading the word and vibe of his unique brand of metal-laced hip-hop. KNOTHEAD finally put a matching face & picture in the minds of hundreds of people already familiar with KNOTHEAD'S music, as well as walking out of each show with large numbers of new fans and supporters, further cementing his already strong status as a cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest underground hip-hop scene.

From 2008 on, KNOTHEAD continued to relentlessly pound the West Coast with live performances in the roles of both small show headliner, and regional major tour support. Increasing his internet promotion, he steadily created and nurtured demand and awareness in many small towns, tertiary scenes. and overlooked population centers across the Western United States... In 2011 the third official KNOTHEAD studio project, "K.N.O.T. (the) Radio" Vol. 1 was released. Structured like a collaboration mixtape but in fact consisting entirely of never heard before verses and beats, this free form EP featured some of underground hip-hop heavyweights in several genres such as Prozak (Strange Music), the new and old school kings of battle rap, former Rhymesayers artist Mac Lethal & the most prolific, well traveled battle emcee of all at the time, Dirtbag Dan, Worldwide Chopper Twisted Insane, Suburban Noize records/SubNoize Soulja Chucky Chuck (DGAF), the frighteningly twisted King Gordy (Big-O in '8 Mile') and several others, including internationally based artist features and musical production coming from Australia, Oxford England, and the French Alps...

This project only served to heighten awareness and appetite for KNOTHEAD nationwide and internationally in a new and exciting way due to the high profile careers of the featured guests, the international networks of the contributors from abroad, and the fact that this project officially marked the first new release of KNOTHEAD music to the public in (at the time) four years... The main, enduring hallmark of this release on KNOTHEAD's career was that is was for the most part, such a drastic departure from the traditional, more heavy metal based, hardcore sound people have come to expect from KNOTHEAD and instead delivered a mostly pure, old school, wide reaching and straight up approach to several lighter styles of hip-hop that caught most all KNOTHEAD listeners and even KNOTHEAD himself by surprise...

July 2012 saw the release of the fourth official KNOTHEAD studio project, the "Never Fold Up" EP... This album would provide a new and exciting blast to KNOTHEAD's career... Continuing to tap the International vein, drawing production from Sweden & England this time, "Never Fold Up" honed the "adventuring into hip-hop" theme of "K.N.O.T. (the) Radio" and melded it with a return to the hardcore sounds KNOTHEAD built his name on with markedly improved production that features much live instrumentation and a heavier emphasis on guitar driven tracks than previous projects... The release of "Never Fold Up" was complimented with KNOTHEAD's first two official music videos, the lead single, "Can't Count The Demons" and one for the title track "Never Fold Up"... Both "Never Fold Up" and "Can't Count The Demons" quickly found FM radio play in the Seattle/Tacoma, WA market on weekly underground hip-hop show "The Hidden Stash" thanks to host Fez on 89.9 FM, KGRG… This marked KNOTHEAD's first FM radio play in 4 years...

The end of 2012 found KNOTHEAD both exactly where he had been for the past several years and also dangling precariously over the edge of broader, more exciting new horizons... Head down and moving forward... Creating, promoting, brainstorming and constantly traversing the West in an effort to expose himself and his music to the world.. The fervent regional, national, and international demand for KNOTHEAD continued to build... The past was behind him, and the future called…

End Part 1…

Part 2 Coming Soon…