Paul Helvey (Louisville, KY)
ARCH (Louisville, KY)

Carolyn (Louisville, KY)
Dustin Burnett (Paducah, KY)
Trina Gibbons (Louisville, KY)
Brigid Kalin (Louisville, KY)
Ryan Nett (Wilmington, NC)
Ron Whitehead (Louisville, KY)

NOVEMBER 

Brandon (San Francisco, CA)
Christina (Lagrange, KY)
Ryan Hufner (Atlanta, GA)
Mike Foster (Louisville, KY)
David Breakfield (Louisville, KY)
 

A heartfelt welcome to all our new red army cadets. Thanks for joining us, and growing the coalition of support for myself and "the vixen red." As leaves turn and winter takes hold, there's a warm feeling down here @ Distillery Commons in Louisville, Kentucky. That's because the new vixen red record is being written here and is beginning to take shape. As mentioned in the summer newsletter, the writing process began in late July, right before the summer tour. Now two dozen songs are completed, with many more on the way. Before I go into detail about this and everything else that's going on, a constant reminder to send me your mailing address if you haven't done so already. Everyone who has will be getting a cool version of this in the mail, along w/ free merch and concert tickets when available. And if you're already on the mailing list and you're getting ready to move, SEND ME YOUR NEW ADDRESS. Otherwise, I can't keep sending you cool stuff. Allright, onto the cool stuff. Here's what's keeping me up at night:

+ RECORDING: The Vixen Red's "Sunrise and Nightfall in the Equestrian Sea" (EP) and my self-titled solo debut "JK McKnight" (EP) have both been out for a few months now. "Sunrise and Nightfall..." is currently being worked to over 300 college radio stations nationwide and has received a great deal of attention and critical acclaim: charting in much of the Midwest and Northeast, becoming part of the Shut Eye Record's "Buzzlighter #10" compilation, and receiving steady airplay from New York City to San Francisco. While the radio spins, my focus has been in the studio, where I'm writing the new record, "Amazing Places." Having written two dozen songs and countless ideas since late July, I can say that "Amazing Places" will be optimistic and bright, featuring more acoustics and much less screaming. Themes of traveling, love, and country will resound. The tone will be positive, lyrics contemplative, style adventurous. With luck I'll have the songs finished by the end of winter, and can then move on to putting together a new band. Speaking of which:

If you know a good, dedicated:
DRUMMER, BASSIST or KEYBOARD PLAYER, send them my way!

+ SHOWS: Having recently completed two, U.S. Solo Tours and 50+ shows between the spring record release and summer promotional campaign, I've decided to take a significant break from the road. Right now I just want to focus on this record and getting a new band together. I appreciate more than anything - everyone who came out to support the tour (ending October 4th in Cincinnati, OH). If you were in attendance don't forget to check out the "concert chronology" section of the jk mcknight and vixen red websites (link is @ the bottom of the "tour" page). I've updated close to everything, so you can reminisce w/ notes, photos and reviews. As far as future shows go, my next confirmed show is in Louisville, Jan 12th @ The Rudyard Kipling w/ Coltrane Motion (Cincinnati, OH) and Jan. 31st w/ Campfire Crush (Cincinnati, OH) at the Mellwood Art Center. I'm also hosting a music/art showcase titled "Art Bop" this Friday in Louisville.  My only confirmed dates, once again:

01.14.04 - Louisville, KY @ The Rudyard Kipling
01.31.04 - Louisville, KY @ The Mellwood Art Center

+ WEB STUFF: I have spent significant time updating the "JK McKnight" site with photo shoots from last summer, new bios, and an updated concert chronology section. Check it all out @ http://www.jkmcknight.com Moving on, funds for the next major addition to the dual jk mcknight and vixen red websites - "The Red Book" - have temporarily dried up and construction has halted. Not to worry though, the world's first book-design, 4-chapter, user-interactive message board site WILL BE BUILT. For all our new cadets, The Red Book Interactive Message Board site is a multi-thousand dollar project that will set new standards for online communication, and make it possible for all of us to express ourselves in new ways. The interactive "Red Book" will be comprised of the following 4 chapters: 

LYRICS
POETRY / SHORT STORIES
OBSERVATION BOARD  (a place where fans can gather to discuss issues of importance)
OBSERVATION DECK  (going further, a place where fans can write a full or half piece page on whatever seems relevant or interesting, and publishing it in the book)

+ STREET TEAM: The JK McKnight / Vixen Red Street Team is also taking a break while I spend most of my time writing the new record (for all of our new cadets, the vixen red street team is a multi-national group of people whose purpose is to promote our recordings, shows, and website). We will be expanding into a regional team with the release of the next record, w/ current team members based in Louisville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Chicago. The Louisville team had our first meeting last January. If you're interested in joining this or any other team, please e-mail me @ thevixenred@yahoo.com Jobs can be as simple as putting up a few posters to promote a upcoming show, to actually setting up the show itself. We're always looking for more locals, but also need more out-of-state team members, to assist with promotion efforts once the next record is released.

For everyone who joins.... 

Free entree to shows for you, your friends, parents and all distant relatives, CDs, shirts, stickers, your own profile on the soon-to-be Red Army Street Team website. So they're you have it, if you have a hour a week you can really help and contribute to something important, meaningful, and satisfying. 

+

This is it for now, as I am a southern boy I'm not looking forward to the winter months, but will do my best with a fair share of new music to go over and a hot cup of tea. I will be writing new songs and continuing my search for new band members in the months ahead. As always, when important news breaks and important global events occur within the world of myself and the vixen red, I will continue to update. I want to say thanks to everyone who has joined this community, soon everyone will be able to connect up @ The Red Book. Please check out the records @ each website, buy them if you like and burn the best songs for your best friends. As more join and make their presence known, the greater our swell will rise.

nell 'amore e spirito (in love and spirit) ~ JKM

http://www.jkmcknight.com
http://www.thevixenred.com