Perhaps Fred Knittle had seen all he needed to see when he closed his eyes in eternal slumber New Year's Day. A WWII veteran involved with the highest levels of the YMCA, a member of countless civic organizations and the vice-president for development at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Knittle had undoubtedly experienced more love, loss and celebrations of the human spirit than most of us will ever know.
And you could almost see this worldliness and feel his warmth in his eyes, hear it in his glorious baritone voice.
Chances are that's why, even before his passing, his version of Coldplay's "Fix You" is oft accused of eliciting tears from listeners who couldn't really tell you exactly why they were crying.
Of course, the stirring performance was extracted from the Walker George documentary on the Young@Heart Chorus that eventually became a major motion picture release courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures.
To date, many consider his the most recognizable face of the Northampton-based senior singing troupe turned international movie stars. And the Youtube rendering of Knittle's "Fix You" has now amassed nearly one million views worldwide.
"Fred was a superstar, and people just gravitated towards him when he was in a room," recalls F. Alex Johnson, a member of the local band Drunk Stuntmen, whose musical services were frequently enlisted to back up the Chorus. "He came from a time of the good one-liners and seemed to have one for every situation… just constantly riffing."
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that memorial contributions be made to Clarke School for the Deaf, VNA and Hospice of Cooley Dickinson, and Young@Heart. For more information on doing so, visit youngatheartchorus.com/fredknittle.php.
In other news, Dave Houghton checked in to report that his Fancy Trash will deliver its unique amalgam of acoustic-driven folk rock to the masses live at the Sierra Grill Jan. 15. And he also revealed a recent Trash upheaval of sorts in the process.
"I wish there were some juicy stories, but really, Josh [Thayer, bassist] moved to Boston and Ben [Laine, drummer] went to get his master's," he explains of the two former bandmates who, with Houghton, performed as a trio for seven tours, 300-plus shows and three records over the past half-decade. "I'm going to miss those guys for sure, but that happens a lot up around here, and people have to move on."
Moving in to fill the voids are drummer Jason Smith and upright bassist Paul Kohanski. The former is a high school chum of Houghton's who actually performed on the first Fancy Trash studio effort, and the latter is perhaps best known for his work with Warner Brothers recording artist Lori McKenna.
"People should definitely come check it out," the singer/guitarist says. "We'll be doing all the Fancy Trash favorites, but there's a little different feel to it with the new rhythm section. Looser — more psychedelic."
For the record, Houghton has always been the chief composer for the trio, and he says that he has already penned enough material that there may in fact be another Fancy Trash record rearing its barcode in local shops as early as this spring.
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Meanwhile, fellow singer/songwriter John Sheldon also has a local gig this weekend, by George. Or make that "bye, bye, George!"
"I've added a special inauguration show at the Roadhouse [Route 63, Miller's Falls] on Saturday, Jan. 17," says the artist, who has performed with Van Morrison and written tunes that have been performed by his friend James Taylor. "Please do join us in celebrating regime change!"
Lastly—for those Phishing around for reunion information concerning a certain jam band from Vermont: it appears that Trey and the gang will in fact use their three Virginia shows in March as a launching pad for a tour proper. Rolling Stone reports a loose set of dates that includes a planned June 6 engagement in Mansfield—and plenty of room for future shows to be added to this existing tour framework.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
