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Sonny Knight and the Lakers perform live in the Current studios

Sonny Knight and the Lakers
Sonny Knight and the LakersNate Ryan/MPR
  Play Now [23:43]

by Jay Gabler

May 02, 2014

"We are here to turn the Current out!"

This world isn't fair, but every once in a while, good things happen to good people — and that's definitely the case with Sonny Knight, the Minnesota soul music veteran who's reaching a new career peak in his mid-60s.

Immigrating up the Big River to Minnesota from Mississippi in the 1960s, Knight cut some sweet sides before being sidetracked by a tour of duty in the Army. He's been an intermittent presence on the music scene since then, including stints in seminal local groups Haze and the Valdons, but it had been a quiet couple of decades for Knight when he was rediscovered by Secret Stash Records.

I'm Still Here, Knight's comeback album with his crack new band the Lakers, is out now on Secret Stash, and Knight is finally being showered with all the attention and adulation he's long deserved. As the band warmed up for their May 3 record release show at First Avenue, Sonny Knight and the Lakers stopped by our studios to play some of their signature soul sounds and to talk with host David Campbell about their past, present, and future.

Songs performed:


"Juicy Lucy"
"When You're Gone"
"Hey Girl"

Engineer: Michael DeMark
Producer: David Campbell