Biography
Peaks Island, Maine provided the setting for the 1986 launch of Knots and Crosses, whose lineup paired vocalist Carol Noonan with her then-husband Alan Williams on vocals and guitar plus guitarist Rick Harris. The group issued two self-produced, independently distributed albums, Creatures of Habit and Curve of the Earth, both of which left a lasting mark on the New England folk-rock community during the first half of the 1990s. An ultimately unrealized contract with Island Records signaled the beginning of the group’s decline, and after Williams and Noonan divorced while finishing their second record, the trio dissolved. Signature Sounds assembled the 1999 retrospective compilation There Was a Time, drawing tracks from the earlier releases, and the band reconvened briefly to cut two fresh numbers, “Apparitions” and “Waiting for You.” Noonan subsequently built a solo catalog marked by steady critical favor rather than widespread sales, releasing multiple albums on the Rounder label.
Describing Knots and Crosses as Northern New England’s counterpart to Richard and Linda Thompson may stretch the comparison, yet the parallel captures a genuine resemblance. The musicians openly embraced the influence and underscored it by delivering a close cover of the Thompsons’ “Walking on a Wire.” Noonan and Williams shared a vocal blend reminiscent of the English duo, while the original material from both Noonan and Rick Harris echoed the same blend of melodic immediacy and emotional desolation. Harris’s guitar work, though distinctive on its own, clearly drew from Richard Thompson’s Celtic-tinged, music-hall-inflected approach. Even so, Knots and Crosses infused the folk-rock template with a distinctive regional character, and their inability to expand beyond the relatively closed New England circuit remains regrettable.
Describing Knots and Crosses as Northern New England’s counterpart to Richard and Linda Thompson may stretch the comparison, yet the parallel captures a genuine resemblance. The musicians openly embraced the influence and underscored it by delivering a close cover of the Thompsons’ “Walking on a Wire.” Noonan and Williams shared a vocal blend reminiscent of the English duo, while the original material from both Noonan and Rick Harris echoed the same blend of melodic immediacy and emotional desolation. Harris’s guitar work, though distinctive on its own, clearly drew from Richard Thompson’s Celtic-tinged, music-hall-inflected approach. Even so, Knots and Crosses infused the folk-rock template with a distinctive regional character, and their inability to expand beyond the relatively closed New England circuit remains regrettable.
Albums
Singles
