Mystery Ship performed a the celebration of The Blue Moon Tavern's 78th Anniversary on April 14, 2012

here are a few photos from the show:

"Lonesome Shack is one of Seattle’s hidden gems, their dirtiness swept under the mod-Ikea rug of sound-alike Americana"

-Abbey Simmons, Sound On The Sound

Click here for the full text

"Michael Wohl, who is a member of Seattle’s Mystery Ship, played a solo set at the Blue Moon during Back Beat Seattle’s February show. Mystery Ship bandmate Alex Hagenah joined Wohl for one song, but other than that it was all up to Wohl. His performance was excellent bluesmanship."

-Dagmar, Back Beat Seattle

click here for the full article and photos

Knick Knack Records owner Joe Johnson is a guest on Seattle Sounds (KIRO Radio 97.3)

with host Josh Kerns and Seattle Weekly music editor Chris Kornelis:

..."meet the guy starting a new Seattle-based record label that thinks he can actually change the way bands do business."

http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=39540&p=64&n=Seattle+Sounds

right around the 20 minute mark is where Joe talks about Knick Knack Records.

Two new local labels are on the rise, thanks to an artist-centric, handcrafted approach

Here are excerpts from a recent interview that Knick Knack Records owner, Joe Johnson had done with Seattle Weekly writer Dave Lake:

Click here for the full text

"Across town, Joe Johnson had a similar idea: What if he could create an online record store that was as enjoyable to shop at as the brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop stores he loved that were rapidly going out of business? To do that, he created Knick Knack Records, a digital record store (and label) which sells not only new releases from artists like the Black Keys and T-Model Ford but also a hand-picked selection of used LPs. He hopes soon to expand to tickets, T-shirts, books, and more. "I'm curating a particular niche of music that I think will appeal to a certain segment," he says of the endeavor—"people who like rock & roll."

After learning the ropes as an intern at local label Sarathan, Johnson (who spends his days as a web-merchandise planner for a large retail clothing brand) decided to launch a record label in whatever bits of free time he could muster. His experience as an accountant and a warehouse manager for several large e-commerce companies prepared him for starting Knick Knack as a label, but after studying the economics he decided to launch an online specialty shop alongside it. "It's tough to generate enough revenue to keep yourself afloat as a label," he says. "Your competition is Warner Bros. and Sub Pop and much bigger organizations who have so many more resources."

Johnson's goal is to cut out as many middlemen as possible from the process, and he hopes his hand-picked selections and passion for vinyl will encourage record buyers to shop with him instead of giant e-tailers like Amazon, which he says does a crummy job of fulfilling vinyl orders. "They ship vinyl in boxes that were made for books," he says, "and it comes to you fucked-up."

Though the Knick Knack web store got off the ground first, last September the label released the LP To the Stars on the Wings of a Pig from Seattle's the Foghorns. Johnson said he has at least half a dozen releases lined up through the first half of 2012, including a new record from psychedelic blues band GravelRoad. Bandleader Bart Cameron said they decided to make the record with Johnson after his web store sold an impressive amount of their previous albums.

The artist-friendly approaches of Fin and Knick Knack have made bands eager to align with them. Though neither label signs bands to a traditional multi-album record deal involving book-length contracts, the handshake arrangements benefit both parties, particularly as each begins to operate on a larger scale and establish their identities. Cameron says Johnson has stayed out of the way of their creative process: "All I've gotten in terms of critique was shocking enthusiasm."

Both labels are beginning to get noticed. Fin has released a radio-only 12 single by J. Pinder that's seeing traction on college charts, with a full-length yet to come. In March, the label will release a single by the Walkabouts, who have been generating airplay on KEXP. And, most rewarding for Fulghum, his records have garnered praise from tastemaking music blogs with a penchant for vinyl, like Philadelphia's The Styrofoam Drone.

While Fulghum is able to devote most of his energy to Fin, Johnson doesn't yet have that luxury at Knick Knack. "My goal in 2012 is to quit my day job," says Johnson, who hopes that Knick Knack's continued success can make that a reality. And with most indie labels operating on what he calls "the old model," he thinks he is well-positioned to succeed.

"If you manufacture it yourself and sell it directly to the customer, your margin is so much bigger," Johnson says. "With a handful of bands, we can do what a larger label [can] do.""

About GravelRoad

GravelRoad are the no bullshit saviors of Mississippi Delta Blues. Want Proof? When blues great T-Model
Ford was looking for a band, GravelRoad fit that bill. They play with guts, smiles, and slides and that beautiful
dragging left foot on the kick pumping the pulse of too many Delta legends to mention. While their roots are
deeply steeped in Delta mud, they also fearlessly explore new territory on their own. They call it Psychedelta,
some call it acid blues, a heavier more evocative exploration than classic blues; it’s blues gone Donnie Darko;
blues that tips it’s hat to the Flaming Lips, blues for the 21st century.

About Psychedelta

With 60,000 road miles under their belts as a result of nine tours in three years backing Delta Blues great
T-Model Ford, GravelRoad was itching to get back in the studio. For their third album they knew they had to
do something different. From the opening track Devil Eyes to the closing Let Me Hold You, Psychedelta seeps
into your ears with darker, grittier, deep blues. Aided and abetted by Detroit producer Jim Diamond (White
Stripes, The Dirtbombs, The Pack A.D.) to bring the most out of the band’s "tight looseness”, Stefan Zillioux
(guitar and vocals), Jon Kirby Newman (guitar, bass, vocals), and Martin Reinsel (drums) swim in a sea of blues
infused with heavier rock but not overpowered by it. The blues is always present; the riffs are always there.
There are moments when Jon Spencer Blues Explosion comes to mind, but Psychedelta is a tighter approach.
They aren’t attempting to blow up the blues, just explore it, push it where it can be pushed. Hard, if necessary.

On January 26, 2012 GravelRoad will celebrate the release of 'Psychedelta' with a performance at The Tractor Tavern with Kinski and Angelo Spencer

here are some photos from the album release show:

click here for additional photos

This is a re-post of a contest that we ran in January of 2012.  There were no winners.  Only losers.

On a cold Friday in January, I watched The Foghorns belt out their tunes to an exuberant, sold out crowd at Comet Tavern, and I had a small revelation. The first band I ever released on Knick Knack Records did something great. Truly great. And I had a part in it: I released one of the best albums of 2011. 

And I’ve watched the band play their material to full houses throughout Seattle throughout 2011, including the Tractor Tavern, High Dive, Comet, Blue Moon, an amazing Christmas show at Hattie’s Hat, and the Noise for the Needy Festival. The Foghorns have nailed every show-- they’re always authentic, powerful, and emotionally stunning.

As 2012 rolls in, my label will release our second record, this one from Seattle’s legendary psychedelic delta blues band GravelRoad. Before we do, I’d like to give one shout out to our first band, and to myself for choosing them. The Foghorns are among the best live bands in Seattle. And their first album with us, To the Stars on the Wings of a Pig, is the best damn album of 2011-- by any band. No other band had the intelligence, the emotional resonance, or the fearless sonic approach that, to me, hearkens a contemporary take on the great albums of Neil Young and the Rolling Stones.

So for 2012, I’d like to offer everyone reading a challenge. I guarantee you the album I released in 2011 is the best you’ll hear from that year. Go to my site, and you can have the digital download for free. Simply enter coupon code BESTOF2011 at the checkout after you’ve added the album download to your shopping cart. If you like it, think about buying it. If you don’t, name me a better album. I’ll listen to it. If there is anything in the same category as The Foghorns’ last album, I’ll give you $40 in free store credit. No strings attached. (Because there is a possibility that I missed some great music in 2011, I’m ready to give away two $40 credits. But there are rules, which are below.)

Hey, by the way, on February 4th, The Foghorns play Columbia City Theater with James Apollo and Virgin of the Birds. 

Joe

The Foghorns’ To The Stars on the Wings of a Pig is a Great Damn Album Contest Rules
E-mail entries to music@knickknackrecords.com

1. Album submitted must be rock, blues, country, folk, or some mix. We will judge on four categories: originality, lyrical integrity, overall theme, and ability to hold interest over multiple listenings. 
2. Limit two submissions per household. 
3. If there are some great albums that are actually better than our first release, we will send the $40 credit to the person who submits that album name FIRST. We have the money to do this for only two albums.
4. We will announce if there are any winners. 
5. Knick Knack will respond to submissions. Therefore, responses may take a while. 
6. Presenting an argument as to how each submission is better in some way than The Foghorns album would be a strategically advantageous way to go with this contest. BUT, we reserve the right to reproduce and post your submissions, and possibly argue against them in an antagonistic manner. 
7. We aren’t joking about this. If there’s a better album, we’ll gladly pay you the money for turning us onto it. We’re really friggin into music. 
8. Contest entries must be received by February 29, 2012

February 2, 2012 – Little Rock @ The White Water Tavern 
February 3, 2012  – Norman, OK @ the Blue Bonnet bar
February 4, 2012 – Austin TX @ Giddy Up’s 
February 7, 2012 – Hatch, NM @ Sparky’s
February 8, 2012 – Phoenix @ Crescent Lounge
February 9, 2012 – Long Beach, CA @ the Prospector
February 10, 2012 – Bakersfield, CA @ Sports and Spirits
February 11, 2012 – Truckee, CA @ Pastime Pub
February 12, 2012 – Sacramento, CA

January 26, 2012 – The Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA album release party for ‘Psychedelta’ photos

Joe Johnson of Knick Knack Records steps into the studios at NWCZ Radio in Tacoma, WA, to talk about his independent record label, Knick Knack Records.

recorded December, 2011