U Knighted

Breif Bio: U Knighted Began to form in 2003 when three experienced musicians from very different styles came together to create a unique musical group. EN Burton, SP Sully, and Derek Thomas(AKA Ghost Dog) formed the core of U Knighted for 2 reasons: 1) to perform a concept of Sully's written long before hand and 2) to challange the current ideas/limitations of popular music. Spending their first several years writing and arranging and playing out occasionally under a different name, the group began to materialize in 2009 and the album was released ("Eclipse") to test the group's prodution ability, equipment and musicianship. The album sold more than700 copies without any real marketing, but this project was a test run. The group began playing out and creating a local following then returned to the studio to begin to record their sound as they had envisioned. First original material on the "Funkasaurus Rex Sampler" - released as of May 1, 2011- and currently working on a 2nd full length album as well as recording tracks from the concept work. U Knighted plans to tour later this year.... Watch for the stories about the band with the guy who plays 2 guitars, 2 basses and sings at the same time...

Longer Bio: Although the concept of the group dates back over 30 years, the band U Knighted as it currently stands began to materialize in 2003. U Knighted is an eclectic group of individuals, with backgrounds in various genres of music ranging from classical to hip-hop to death metal. This makes for a unique hodgepodge of styles that has created a sound described as the combined forces of Opeth, Pink Floyd, Santana, Bob Dylan, and Frank Zappa. Aside from their dynamic instrumentation, another standout element of the band is their powerful and all-encompassing vocal harmony. Everyone sings: the ensemble is so comfortable singing together that they blend seamlessly and complement each other in ways that most bands don’t even begin to explore.

In the mid-1970s, S.P. Sully wrote an operetta entitled The Son of Lydia Ann Kingford. For this musical production, he had a vision so far ahead of its time that the necessary equipment hadn’t yet been invented. It required a particular arrangement and variety of musicians and technicians that he hadn’t encountered. In an effort to preserve the basic blueprint of his idea, he recorded the operetta to tape where it lay dormant for years, until the right personnel for the job came along, thus starting the group now known as U Knighted.

S.P. Sully had been involved in the music industry for over 40 years. He spent 1964-1980 working with several major music corporations; and has been the manager of Rich Roberts’ Music Center in Independence, MO; Poole Music Center in Raleigh, NC; and Stephenson Music in Raleigh, NC. He has also done production management for the CMC Management and Booking Agency. Sully started singing professionally at age six; and began playing violin at age eight. He first started playing guitar when he was 12 years old; and started writing poetry and composing with his middle brother when he was 13. At age 15, Sully started demonstrating Yamaha guitars; and by 17, he was performing professionally full-time. He became a representative for Gibson, Fender, Kustom, Martin, and Peavey, and has worked with the likes of Leo Fender and Peavey (founder of Peavey Electronics), and helped to design the pickups used by a majority of today’s acoustic guitars. He has consulted with Mazaratti, the owner of the Takamini forest, and had a Takamini guitar custom crafted for him. Sully has scored and performed the soundtrack for the feature-length film The Other Side of Madness; a movie based on Charles Manson that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Sully has played concerts with a variety of well-known and accomplished artists including: Led Zeppelin, Canned Heat, Goose Creek Symphony, Fog Hat, Uriah Heep, Young Rascals, and the Doobie Brothers. For U Knighted, he sings and plays lead and rhythm guitar; as well as the South American flute and miscellaneous percussion. And as if he weren’t impressive enough, he also plays a mean slide whistle! Sully, who is also a highly skilled martial artist, went on to run his dojo, now located in Apex, NC, where he currently resides.

When Derek Thomas started training in Sully’s dojo in August 2002, he never would’ve guessed he’d be playing in a band of this genre or caliber. Outside of his long-standing love of classic rock and some of the great singers/songwriters of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, he deals mainly with hip-hop; and is an accomplished MC. After training with Sully for several years, Derek eventually moved into the dojo, where he currently resides. One day, while making beats on his Boss DR-5 (a drum machine/sequencer/synthesizer), Sully happened to pass by and take notice. Unbeknownst to Derek, this type of synthesizer was one of the instruments that Sully had envisioned using to s