Poor Little Knitter on Road / Various - Poor Little Knitter On Road - Music & Performance - CD

Includes liner notes by Rob Miller.

The Knitters, a spin-off of the seminal punk band X that included original Blasters guitarist/songwriter Dave Alvin, were some young rock & roll fans' exposure to REAL country music. The style of the Knitters--both in their choice of covers and their originals--looked back to a time when country music was still known as "hillbilly," before it had acquired any sort of mainstream polish, when it was still a rough-hewn music about hard times. Here, a bunch of roots-oriented bands pay tribute to the Knitters and the songs they sang. The approaches range from the smooth yet eerily powerful version of Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings" from Whiskeytown to the soulful take on "Someone Like You" by Kelly Hogan to the rollicking honky-tonkin' "Love Shack" by the wonderfully Brenda Lee-like Anna Fermin. As a bonus, this collection concludes with a track from the re-formed Knitters, with original X guitarist Billy Zoom.