Today we’d like to introduce you to Fort Knox
Hi Fort, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
During the fall 2023 semester, we were all desperate to start a band. A few of us had tried, but never really got momentum. Funnily enough, our singer (Carter Welch). keys/sax/guitar player (Matthew McMinn), drummer (Brooks Smith), and bassist (Jackson Tallent), all went to Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville and played together there. Jack Donovan (guitar), from Atlanta, entered a talent show for the Delta Gamma sorority at UTK (where we all go now). He ended up meeting Carter backstage while they were getting ready to go on. After briefly talking about starting something, they didn’t see each other much for the rest of the semester. Matthew ended up texting the rest of the guys (excluding Jack) proposing they start the band. Having met Jack at the talent show, Carter knew who to tell about it. Once we made the group chat, decided on some songs to learn, and got back to Knoxville, we started jammin’. (BTW our first songs to learn were Can’t Lose What You Never Had by Allman Bros, Even Flow by Pearl Jam, Chameleon by Herbie Hancock, and War Pigs).
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not trying to jinx anything, but we’ve been gaining momentum really fast. For a while, it was hard to find practice space, though. For a minute, we were not-knowingly illegally using a room in the music building, but had to move after being told so. We ended up settling on practicing at our respective fraternity houses, which has stayed the same since. As far as growing and getting gigs, we had a pretty easy in with the frat scene, considering three of us are in three different fraternities. But, we really realized we were getting some momentum when we landed 5 shows over the summer and had 14 shows in 2 states (TN & GA) given to us for the fall semester, all within 5 months of each other. Some of it is luck, but we definitely believe most of it is from hard work. With some originals on the way, we are really focused on keeping our heads down and not getting complacent.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
One of our proudest qualities is our energy when we perform. It really comes from chemistry, as we’re all just best friends doing what we’re passionate about together. We always love the crowd interaction and getting people excited to hear the music. Musically, we are all very passionate about our respective instruments. Because of this, we love improvising and giving each other solos. This includes extending songs/jamming on them, jamming on original compositions, and trading 4’s with each other. So, all together, we’re proud of how we can extend songs and solos and remain high energy the entire time. The originals we have in the works definitely reflect this, as well as our different tastes in music.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Follow @fortknoxband on Instagram to stay up to date on our show times! Look out for originals soon, too…
Pricing:
- Private parties/events: $1500-2000
- Fraternity/Sororities: $1000-1500
- Bars: around $400 plus tips (really depends on the venue)
- *Prices are always negotiable, we love to play so we don’t want money to be an issue!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortknoxband/
