John Knowles

Kirk and John became close friends in 1978 when they shared a booth space at a NAMM show. John was there with Soundhole Records and Kirk was there showing his early guitars. John had been working with Chet to transcribe a book of his songs and they had done some recording together.  John also did some guitar arranging for him and even co-wrote some tunes with him.

Because of the natural mutual admiration Kirk and John hold for one another, John has been a very important player in the development of Sand Guitars. When Kirk first ventured to build a classical electric guitar, it was the input from his friend, John Knowles, that consistently contributed to refining and directing the design. Kirk would collaborate with John about the sound, especially.  Each new prototype reflected his input and critique from the previous attempt and on and on until Kirk finally came up with the present design and it received the John Knowles nod of approval.  It was five years in the developmental stages.

We will be eternally grateful to John for making that connection between Chet Atkins and Sand Guitars.

John Knowles has played the guitar all his life. He earned a Ph.D. in physics, but left his job with Texas Instruments to move to Nashville and do what he really loved: music. Today, John is one of the directors of the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee. He continues to write, arrange, and play the most beautiful music you’ve ever heard and is one of the main attractions at the CAAS convention, as well as many other guitar camps and workshops all over the United States.