The most meticulous and gifted of craftsmen, everyone knows that Mark Knopfler is the genius guitarist, singer and writer whose new take on country, folk and British roots launched the meteoric rise of Dire Straits and kept them at the top of the pile when music tastes changed. Knopfler’s vision never faltered. He wasn’t new wave and he was only briefly pub rock. His star was set much higher and his solo career since 1983 has given us gem after gem, from the opening salvo of Local Hero to the most recent Privateering, his first double studio album in a 35-year career. Solo albums and classic soundtrack work run parallel in Mark’s life and he has also graced other artists with his instantly recognisable, trademark guitar work.
Scott Walker, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Sting, Chet Atkins, Van Morrison, Cliff Richard, Steely Dan, Randy Newman and Eric Clapton have all benefited from his quiet and graceful presence. His fingerstyle expertise has him ranked high on Rolling Stone’s list of all-time great players and he is a four-time Grammy winner with so many other prizes to his name that we’ll just mention his honorary doctorates from UK based universities and the fact he even has a dinosaur species named after him by palaeontologists who were listening to Dire Straits when they discovered a new species.
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