Setting The Stage
Into TheBlues
KNOTT US BAND — A Young Band with an Old Soul
From Chicago to Memphis: Their Journey With The Blues
"Some bands don't start in garages.
They start in purpose."
Knott US Band was born inside a movement — Knotty Luxe Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Pamela Mack with a radical, beautiful idea:
Give young people the stage, the tools, and the belief that their voices matter.
Through Knotty Luxe's Edutainment platform, young artists ages 12–18 are trained not just to perform — but to lead. They learn music, drama, dance, and the emotional intelligence needed to stand tall in a world that often asks them to shrink.
They aren't called students.
They are called Edutainers — because what they bring to the world is not just entertainment…
it is education through feeling, rhythm, and story.
Ten Weeks Every Summer
These young artists train in a rigorous performing arts boot camp, focused on:
Music Literacy
Social Emotional Learning
Live Performance Experience
Leadership Through Art
They don't just rehearse.
They take the stage.
And that's how Knott US Band was forged — a group of young musicians playing music that sounds like it's been waiting decades to be heard.
A Young Band with an Old Soul
Fernando Jones' Chicago Blues Camp
The Fernando Jones' Chicago Blues Camp — a cornerstone program of BluesKids.org — has been a transformational force in the lives of young musicians long before Knott US Band ever picked up their first guitar. Founded and led by legendary Chicago bluesman and educator Fernando Jones, this international blues immersion invites students as young as eight into a nurturing environment where they learn to play and to feel the blues, play by ear, and honor the history of the music that shaped America.
Through intensive workshops held on college campuses and performance venues around the world, aspiring artists hone their chops, build confidence, and experience live performance culminating in public showcases that celebrate their growth.
Many members of Knott US Band discovered their love for blues through this very program, tracing their musical roots back to those first moments at Blues Camp where the rhythms, stories, and soul of the blues took hold in their hearts.
THE CALL TO MEMPHIS
When Knott US Band was selected as a Youth Feature Band for the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis, Tennessee, it wasn't just an honor —
it was a calling.
Memphis is not just a city.
It is where American music learned to speak.
From Beale Street to Stax, from church pews to juke joints, Memphis is the place where blues became a heartbeat — and that heartbeat became rock, soul, and gospel.
From January 14–18, Knott US Band will walk those streets and add their own chapter to that story.
International Blues Challenge
Youth Showcase
Sharing the stage with some of the most promising young blues artists in the world.
Ground Zero Blues Club
Morgan Freeman's Legendary Venue
A blues landmark in the heart of the Delta — 90 minutes south of Memphis.
Morgan Freeman's Place
Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
This is not just a club.
It is a blues landmark.
Founded by Academy Award-winning actor and Mississippi native Morgan Freeman, Ground Zero is built on a simple truth:
"The blues belongs to the people who live it."
The venue sits in the heart of the Delta — the birthplace of the blues — where legends were forged long before record deals existed.
Muddy Waters. John Lee Hooker. B.B. King. Robert Johnson.
Their spirit still lives in those walls. For Knott US Band to step onto that stage is not just a performance.
It is a passing of the torch.
A new generation, carrying the same fire.
A Teacher, A Student,
A Bridge Between Generations
Joining Knott US Band in Memphis is The August James Band — traveling not as headliners, but as supporters.
August James, blues-rock singer, guitarist, and educator at ArtfinixStudios.com, is a mentor to the students and leads masterclass sessions on the blues and classes teaching students on the structure of the music industry.
One of Knott US Band's guitarists and vocalists, Ricky, is one of August's students.
At Artfinix Studios, Ricky learned more than chords.
He learned confidence.
Stage presence.
Voice.
And Soul.
Now that journey continues in Memphis — where a student and teacher will stand in the same sacred blues ecosystem, bound by music, respect, and shared purpose.
This is what real arts education looks like:
Not theory alone — but real stages, real audiences, real history.
WHY THESE VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD
Knott US Band is not a novelty act.
They are not "kids playing blues."
They are young artists carrying something knowing and deep.
Their music sounds like:
church on Sunday morning
juke joints at midnight
heartbeat, joy, resilience
and rhythm in align
They sing like they've lived a little — because they have.
Through discipline.
Through training.
Through community.
Through the power of standing tall and together on the stage.
They are proof that when young people are trusted with responsibility,
they rise.
Knott US Band — Live at the International Blues Challenge & Ground Zero Blues Club
Knott US Band is a high-impact youth blues, soul, and funk band emerging from the Knotty Luxe Arts Foundation, a nationally respected 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to arts education and youth leadership.
From January 14–18, the band will represent the next generation of American roots music in Memphis, Tennessee, performing at:
International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase
Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club (Clarksdale, MS)
This tour represents:
Youth empowerment through the arts
Cultural preservation of blues and soul music
Community uplift through performance
A real pipeline from arts education to professional stages
They are supported by educators, nonprofit leaders, and professional musicians — including The August James Band — who are traveling to Memphis to mentor, support, and help document this journey.
Knott US Band is not just performing.
They are carrying forward a lineage.
And they're telling their story.
THE FUTURE IS WAKING UP TO THE BLUES
Memphis is about to hear something special.
A sound that feels familiar.
A sound that feels new.
A sound that feels like hope.
Knott US Band is stepping into history
— not as visitors, but as builders.
Builders of something great. Builders of hope for the next upcoming live music scene.
And they were born ready.
Follow along in their journey with the blues.