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Sonny Knight And The Lakers Cancel All Tour Dates as Knight Continues Cancer Treatment

SONNY KNIGHT - Album Sample 2-min
Last week Minneapolis-based soul singer, Sonny Knight, went to The Mayo Clinic to learn if the chemotherapy he started in March has been effective in treating cancer located in his lung, ribs, and spine.  Thankfully, test results showed the cancer has shrunk.  Because the treatment is working, Knight will continue receiving it.  While this is great news in his fight against cancer, the 69-year old retired truck driver and his band are canceling all of the concerts on their books, almost 40 dates nationwide.  In March the band was forced to cancel their tour dates through May, but it has become clear that Knight needs to take more time to get well before he will be road-ready.  Because of the unpredictable nature of his treatment, they’ve decided to cancel everything and start booking again once Knight reaches sustained wellness.
 
Sonny had this to say, “I feel really bad about canceling my tour dates.  I hate letting people down, but I need to take the time to fight this battle. My joy lies in music, and just because I’m not on stage doesn’t mean I won’t be creating music behind closed doors.  My best work is still ahead of me.  This is just a bump in the road.  Thanks to everyone for all the love, support, and patience.”
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Sonny Knight Battles Cancer, April and May Tour Dates Cancelled

Sonny Knight and the Lakers

Sonny Knight Battles Cancer

The 68-year-old singer and his band, The Lakers, must cancel April and May tour dates while he undergoes chemotherapy.

 

In January Sonny Knight And The Lakers canceled a performance scheduled to take place at The Chalberg Theatre in the northern Minnesota city of Brainerd. The cancellation was to clear Sonny’s schedule for the biopsy of a nodule on his left lung.  His doctors have determined that the nodule is cancer, which is also located in part of his rib cage and shoulder. It is believed that the cancer started in his shoulder, where he received pain mitigation treatment many times over the last two years.  Now Knight and company will cancel all performance engagements through the month of May so he may undergo and recover from chemotherapy.  They will resume touring in June.  

 

“The last four years of being a part of the lakers have been the best years of my life.  It’s incredible all the people that have come out and given us so much love and support.  I’m canceling my shows because I want to give them the best that I’ve got, and right now the chemo won’t let me do that. After my treatment, I’ll be back to give that love back to the people.   Just know I’m not done. We gotta keep on moving. That’s all I want to do is keep on moving.” -Sonny Knight

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Sonny Knight And The Lakers “Sooner or Later” on cassette

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That’s right, they’re back.  Deal with it!

About 6 or 7 years ago a local label called Moon Glyph started putting out releases exclusively on cassette.  I always thought everything they did looked and felt amazing.  Honestly, I had probably gotten so used to seeing music in square packaging (CDs and LPs), that something really struck me about the aspect ratio of the cassette medium.  I’m assuming it did for Steve at Moon Glyph as well.  He did all their packaging design (and possibly still does?), and its all awesome!  They’re still around, but have since moved out west and branched into other formats.  If you don’t already know the, you should give ’em a listen.  They’ve put out some truly spectacular releases.  Anyhow, being exposed to their releases was probably the first time I thought, hmmmm… maybe there is something to this format.
Then, back in 2013, we bought the first Sonny Knight And The Lakers tour bus, which had a cassette deck in it.  A couple of the guys brought in their old collections and a few of us started making mix tapes.  Before long, I was really digging the format.  I acquired a couple different cassette decks and integrated them into my home and office stereos.
A lot of people look down on the format.  Whatever, I get it.  But I also think they’re visually interesting, nostalgic in a very fun way, have a unique sound, and can be easily made in small quantities, which means we can just make a small batch and not worry about how commercially successful it is… So, with that in mind, here is the brand new Sonny Knight And The Lakers album on cassette!
We only made up 100 copies and we’ve included a download card, so really…. why not give it a shot?   Who knows, you might really like it!
Stay tuned for pricing and availability.

-Eric

Secret Stash Records

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Black Market Brass Bonus Cassette

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The first 100 copies of the new Black Market Brass LP, “Cheat And Start A Fight” come with a bonus cassette (includes download card) containing tons of unreleased recordings. Listen to samples and more here. The tapes just arrived and we couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.