The Knitters

The Knitters
The band onstage at an outdoor concert in 2005
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Country rockabilly folk cowpunk[1]
Years active	1985-present
Labels	Slash
Members	Exene Cervenka, John Doe, DJ Bonebrake, Dave Alvin, and Jonny Ray Bartel

The Knitters are a Los Angeles-based band who play country, rockabilly and folk music. The Knitters' name is a play on the name of the folk group The Weavers.^[2]

The Knitters formed in 1982 as a side project to the band members' primary commitments. Vocalist Exene Cervenka, singer/bassist John Doe and drummer DJ Bonebrake were three of the four members of the punk band X; guitarist Dave Alvin was a member of roots rock band The Blasters as well as The Flesh Eaters; and stand-up bassist Jonny Ray Bartel was a member of blues-rock band The Red Devils.^[3]

The Knitters' debut album Poor Little Critter on the Road was released in 1985. It included mainly traditional and cover songs, together with some X songs performed in an acoustic style. The album drew on blues, folk, country and rockabilly influences. In 1999, the label Bloodshot Records released a track-by-track tribute to the album entitled Poor Little Knitter on the Road.^[4]

After the debut album's release, all the group members continued to work with their primary bands. Dave Alvin also later pursued a solo career.^[5]

Twenty years later, in 2005, the group released their second and ironically-titled album, The Modern Sounds of the Knitters. John Doe has been quoted as saying "The Knitters, like their music, don't do anything hasty.^[3] Since our last record's been out for a while and it did pretty good, we figured it was just about time to put out another." The Modern Sounds of the Knitters has been well received by critics.^[3]

In March 2024 during the South by Southwest festival, the Knitters reunited for one performance in Austin, Texas, as part of an all-day concert in memory of Mojo Nixon.^[7][8][9]

• Poor Little Critter on the Road (1985) – US No. 204
• The Modern Sounds of the Knitters (2005)

• Klinge, Steve (August 12, 2005). "These critters are punk, country, "anything goes"". Philadelphia Inquirer.
• "The Modern Sounds Of The Knitters". Blogcritics –. Archived from the original on February 25, 2006.
• "Review of The Modern Sounds Of The Knitters". Rhino. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007.

• https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p4700 AllMusic
• "The Knitters". Archived from the original on August 11, 2005.
• "Reunited Knitters play benefit in San Francisco". Rockabilly.net.