Chester Knight is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter from Saskatchewan. ^[1] He is most noted for the 1999 album Falling Down, which won the Juno Award for Best Aboriginal Recording at the Juno Awards of 2000. ^[2]

Background

A Cree musician originally from the Muskoday First Nation near Prince Albert, ^[3] Knight also worked as an academic counsellor at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, later known as First Nations University of Canada, in Saskatoon. ^[1]

He is the uncle of musician Eekwol. ^[4]

Musical career

He was initially active in music as leader of the band Chester Knight and the Wind, in which he was the sole constant member; other supporting musicians over the band's lifetime included his brother Vernon Knight on backing vocals, ^[2] bass player Darryl Ross, ^[2] lead guitarists Malcolm Pooyak ^[2] and Todd Duncan, ^[5] and drummers K.K. Nogada, ^[2] Robin Turner ^[5] and Hal Schrenk. ^[6]

In 1996 the band released its debut album Freedom, ^[7] which was shortlisted for Best Aboriginal Recording at the Juno Awards of 1997. ^[8] Falling Down followed in 1999; ^[9] in addition to its Juno Award win, the album won a Prairie Music Award ^[10] and an Aboriginal Music Award. ^[11] The following year, Falling Down was reissued in the United States with the alternate title Windfall. ^[12]

Knight released the album Standing Strong in 2002 as a solo artist, ^[13] although he still toured under the band name. ^[14] Guest musicians on the album included Brandon Friesen, Lucie Idlout, Derek Miller and Paul Carrack. The album was again a Juno nominee for Aboriginal Recording at the Juno Awards of 2003, ^[15] and Knight won Songwriter of the Year for "Cochise Was a Warrior" at the Aboriginal Music Awards. ^[16] In 2004, his music video for "Love Fades Away" won the award for Best Music Video at the American Indian Film Festival. ^[17]

With his band now consisting of his sons Lancelot and Daniel, a new album was in the planning stages in 2004. ^[14] The album did not materialize, although Knight continued to perform selected festival tour dates in Western Canada. ^{[18] [19]}

In 2013, he released "Idle No More (Tomahawk)", a song inspired by the Idle No More activist movement which was his first new release since Standing Strong. ^[20] He followed up in 2015 with the single "Indian Girl". ^[21]

References