A Legend Reborn: J.R.’s Original Green Knight Band
By Chris Manson June 29, 2006 Issue

Along the walls of the spacious new J.R.’s Original Green Knight Bar & Grill, several of the television screens display country music videos. The guys onstage could easily pass for a flat-out twang band, too, only they’re playing a classic rock song, Bob Seger’s Turn the Page. Adding to this enjoyable confusion, a disco ball hangs from the ceiling like it’s the last remaining relic from the old Green Knight club that stood for many years at the corner of 98 and Main Street.

Guitarist-vocalist Joe Sixpack was part of the old bar’s house band many years ago. Joe says, “I’ve seen young kids grow up and come back at college break, come back married with their kids, and they all remember the Green Knight.” Before there were stoplights or traffic signals, the Green Knight was the only directional marker in Destin.

The current Green Knight Band consists of Joe and some musicians whose paths have crossed many times over the past 20 years—“We’re like family,” he says. Three months ago, Joe got some old friends together to do what he calls “country-variety, not hardcore country.” Steve Gardner, a singer and guitarist from Baker, has played in all sorts of groups up and down the beach since the late ‘70s. Bass player Danny Richardson grew up on hard rock before he discovered country music. Shawn Shackelford is a ferocious drummer I had previously heard jamming with Joe at Tisa’s in Niceville. Percussionist Dave Posey, Jr. provides a link between the Green Knight veterans and younger ensembles like Space Medicine.

The new club is slowly becoming a popular nightspot, thanks in large part to the band’s wide-ranging songbook and full-on attack. “All the service people come in after they get off work,” Joe says. “They serve food here until 4 a.m. The new menu here is great.” The band appears Thursday through Saturday nights beginning around 10 p.m. with a “jam session” beginning at 6 p.m. Sundays. Any and all musicians are encouraged to drop by, and at least one has made the journey from St. Louis. “If they’re bad, we let ‘em do one or two songs. If they’re good, they can play all night!”

On this particular Sunday, patrons enjoy the mix of old and new country and rock and roll oldies. “We don’t really have a set list,” Joe says. “It depends on the people in here. We’ll do Dylan, reggae, whatever they ask for. We’re a freak of nature.” Tonight, they actually do combine Dylan and reggae on Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, a song that seems to always work regardless of context or performance style. Joe throws in a couple of lyric changes during Cover of the Rolling Stone—“Cover of The Beachcomber” doesn’t have quite the same feel, but I appreciate it anyhow. The band puts a nice blues spin on Charlie Daniels’s The South’s Gonna Do It Again, flying in elements of the Lynyrd Skynyrd favorite I Know a Little long before my ears notice what hit them.

Gardner’s impassioned vocal on the Keith Whitley song When You Say Nothing at All is enough to lure Catfish and his lady friend onto the dance floor. Unfortunately, Catfish didn’t bring his musical saw tonight—the last time I saw the guy, he was jamming with Joe and Kelly Byrd at The Boathouse. The saw intimidates the ladies, Mr. Fish explains, and besides—he’s on a date. Spotting my notebook, he tells me I can change that to “he was too drunk to play tonight” if it will make my article more interesting.

Shackelford’s skins are mixed prominently into the club’s sound system as he makes his presence known on even the slow songs. When I jokingly request Back in Black, he fires off a perfect facsimile of the AC/DC drum sound. “We all want to be him when we grow up,” Joe says of the man affectionately referred to by the rest of the band as ‘Shack.’ “He’s so young and full of energy. He’s a great kid. He keeps us alive…and he brings a lot of women into the club.”

Destin: The DVD
Hal Aiken, a singer and guitarist (among other things) has come up with a good, catchy tune that could well become the official city song, Down in Destin. It’s a love song with a Destin setting as well as a love song to the city itself. The CD is paired with a DVD music video, a well-produced clip featuring a few familiar Destin locations. It looks way better than the muted stuff on the tourist channel, and the director has a knack for keeping cranes and other construction nuisances out of camera range. Both the song and the video offer a more honest vision of Destin than a certain slick magazine that bears the name. The recording also provided work for some of our favorite musicians—Justin Lewis Price-Rees on fiddle, Donnie Sundal on keyboards, Shannon Wallace on guitar and programming, and Kim Brown on background vocals.

Aiken’s disc went on sale shortly after Memorial Day at a number of retail outlets, from Harbor Docks to Seaside’s Central Square Records. You can also order a copy from www.downindestin.com, a website designed by our good friend Bill Garrett. Down in Destin makes a better souvenir for tourists than a chintzy T-shirt, and those who call Destin home ought to enjoy it, too.

Chris Manson’s Sitting In Traffic Playlist
Various Artists: Gospel Music (Hyena)
Alejandro Escovedo: The Boxing Mirror (EMI)
P!nk: I’m Not Dead (Laface)
Fats Domino: Alive and Kickin’ (www.tipitinasfoundation.org)
Cheap Trick: RockFord (Cheap Trick Unlimited/Big 3 Records)

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