Jill Knight and The Luckys bring 'Soulful Americana' to Fiddlers Crossing

Spring is finally here! The sun is out, the days are warmer and longer and flowers are in bloom everywhere. The beauty of the season stirs the senses and the soul. The same can be said for great music. Believing wholeheartedly in this sentiment, Fiddlers Crossing will present Jill Knight and The Luckys on Saturday, May 20 at 7 p.m. The band combines elements of Folk, Americana, Blues and R & B to create what they call "Soulful Americana."

Jill Knight, lead singer and songwriter, is no stranger to Tehachapi. She performed at Mama Hillybeans in 2009, building a loyal and enthusiastic fan base here in town.

Knight was raised on Wilmington Island, just off the Georgia coast not far from Savannah, and started singing at age six in the Wilmington Island Baptist Church choir. The group toured, and won several choir competitions.

"I played a little piano and then clarinet in school. But my sister had an old Stella guitar, like the one Elvis played, and I would sneak into her room and try to play it. She told me never to touch her stuff! One day her boyfriend showed me a few chords. I fell in love with the guitar at that moment," Knight says. She soon had a guitar of her own, bought at Sears, and taught herself to play by picking out the songs she heard on the radio.

At age 15, she had her first gig at a nearby seafood restaurant, and within two years was working full time all over Savannah and Hilton Head Island, providing enough income to up her game with the purchase of a better guitar. After a short stint at Georgia Southern University, she moved to Atlanta to pursue music more seriously. "I worked at The Little Five Points Pub, where the Indigo Girls got started, and all over the place", she says.

In 1986, Knight moved to Los Angeles and formed "Jill's Knight Out" with fellow musicians, Pam Delgado, percussion and vocals, Jeri Jones, guitar and vocals, and Rob Strom, bass. "We played all over the LA scene and were building a huge audience. I was being looked at as a solo act at the time, so I hit the city and lost my band. I always regretted doing that," says Knight. Delgado and Jones went on to form the well-known Bay Area band, "Blame Sally," which later included Strom, as well.

Knight played solo and in several bands over the years, but she found herself longing to play with her original bandmates once again. They reunited in August of 2015 at Berkley's premier music hall, The Freight and Salvage, and got such an overwhelming response that they knew they needed to take the next logical step and commit once again to being a working band, now known as "The Luckys."

"It's like a homecoming. I love the way my music sounds with these friends. We're having a blast!" No doubt, the Fiddlers Crossing audience will have a blast, too .

For videos, visit http://www.fiddlerscrossing.com.

Tickets may be purchased next door at Mountain Music, at Tehachapi Treasure Trove, Tehachapi Furniture in Old Town, and Lucky's Barbershop, or online through Fiddlerscrossing.com. Tickets to the concert are $20, and as always, coffee and goodies are included. The concert begins at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. sharp.

On the horizon: Gary Stockdale, The Hay Dudes, Berkley Hart.