What’s in a name? Big Knife/Little Knife at Sled Island

Kevin Jagernauth of Big Knife/Little Knife performs at The Ship & Anchor during the 2016 Sled Island Music Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
© J. Ashley Nixon

Big Knife/Little Knife. “It resonates with aggression and precision”, said Kevin Jagernauth (guitar & vocals). “The Little Knife is the melodic part that we try and work into our music that drummer, Denise Williams, described as  “post-hardcore that bleeds into a few different things”. We were talking after the band’s show at The Ship & Anchor. Denise offered up a somewhat more domestic explanation for the name.  “I was doing the dishes one night and started thinking, big knife, little knife….what a great name for a band!”. Both explanations count for the band that put out a digital album in April this year appropriately called, for this gig, Anchor Rights, which also comes with some attractive artwork by Nicole Aline Legault. 

Post-hardcore at Sled Island 2016

“It felt really great”, said drummer Denise Williams. “We play in this very specific genre. We don’t often play to a rowdy pub crowd. It was really awesome to play in front of this crowd and have them be so excited”. Kevin jumped in: “The energy in the room was incredible. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience”.

While the post-hardcore threesome (which also has David Tckach on bass & vocals) are spread across Canada, residence-wise (in Montreal, Hamilton and Calgary), they came together solidly for their inaugural gig at Sled Island 2016.

For more photos, please visit J. Ashley Nixon Photography