He is a drummer and teacher who began performing in a professional capacity when he was 17.
Over the next decade he appeared at many gigs in every genre in his local area and then he was requested to tour with the blues guitarist Roy Buchanan. In 1982 he started to back the pianist Ben Sidran on international tours and appeared on three of his albums: Cool Paradise, On the Live Side and Too Hot to Touch. He continued to work with him until 1994 but during that time he also became a member of the Steve Miller Band and has toured with them annually ever since and performed on several of their albums.
Over the course of his career he has also worked with Dave Brubeck, Chuck Berry, Keith Jarrett, Richie Cole, Leo Kottke, Alexander O’Neal, Sergio Mendes and Patty Austin to name but a few. He has been heard all over the United States with his work on hundreds of jingles, industrial film scores and TV and radio IDs.
As a teacher he works at Music Tech, Minneapolis where he holds clinics and masterclasses and gives private drum lessons. He has also developed the Open/Close Technique, which is a new method of drum playing. He is the founder and head of the Percussion Department at McNally Smith College in St. Paul, Minnesota and president/owner of GK-Music.com.
Sources:
- http://www.gk-music.com/bio.htm
- http://www.gk-music.com/
- http://www.drumeatsleeprepeat.com/gordy-knudtson/
- http://www.innovativepercussion.com/artists/gordy_knudtson