Meet the Maker: John Knutson

by Don Bradley

Originally published in American Lutherie #127, 2016



It was an overcast day with a bit of sunshine as I drove down the long driveway to the house and buildings at the end of the drive. I’ve known John Knutson for some time, having met his daughter’s Mom many years back before I moved to Forestville. John lives only a few blocks away, but we mostly run into each other at the post office. Let’s stop in and meet John.

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Hey John, good to see you. Remind me — when did we meet?

Hi, Don, good to see you too. We must have met at least twenty-some years ago. I’d have to think which girlfriend I was with... oh yeah, you were dating my ex-wife! (both laugh)

Tell me about your early life.

My twin sister and I were born in 1951 in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I’ve got three other sisters. We’re army brats. By the time I was seven, we’d lived in seven different places, but mostly stayed in Virginia from the second grade on.

When I was six, my dad was commanding tanks in Southern Germany. I have a distinct memory of hearing “Hound Dog” by Elvis and Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill” on the radio back then. I didn’t know much about music at that age, but remember those tunes vividly. We weren’t a musical family you know, unless you consider tanks a musical instrument. My twin sister and I did get chauffeured in a military jeep to the firing range on occasion. We moved to Fort Hood, Texas, in 1958. A friend of my father was Elvis’ commanding officer. Elvis had been drafted and was in basic training there.