Mark Knopfler Debuts New Single 'Watch Me Gone'

Mark Knopfler's new single “Watch Me Gone” debuts today on his own British Grove label via Blue Note/EMI. It is the second song to be taken from his eagerly awaited tenth solo studio album, One Deep River, which is set for release on April 12—pre-save/pre-order the LP here.

“Watch Me Gone” sees Knopfler harking back to his teenage dreams, when he took a chance and set forth from the streets of Newcastle to try his hand at making a living as a guitar player.

Of the new song, Knopfler shares, “The dreams of a teenage kid...to me it's always been the fuel that keeps you going. That's why I'll still cross the street to look at a window of guitars—it's just that bit of your teen years that it reminds you of, so you try to keep it alive. I remember going to City Hall seeing Van Morrison or Bob Dylan, wishing I was doing that. Statistically what are the odds of making it as an act? But I was a comically driven young person, who was determined to make it.”

One Deep River offers an unstoppable flow of future Knopfler classics, with their customarily learned lyrics and refined guitar textures. They draw on a lifetime of genre-crossing ingredients and influences in blues, folk, rock and beyond. Produced by Knopfler and his longstanding collaborator Guy Fletcher, One Deep River was recorded at his state-of-the-art British Grove Studios in London.

Mark Knopfler, singer-songwriter, record producer and composer, is one of the most successful musicians the UK has ever produced and is often cited as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He first came to prominence in the 80s as leader of Dire Straits, who created many of the signature songs of the era. Knopfler broke up the band in 1995 and set off on a new path as a solo artist.

In the ensuing years Knopfler has released nine solo albums of sophisticated rootsy rock and has continued to tour the globe with his band. Over the years, Mark has written the music for several films, including Local Hero, Cal, The Princess Bride, Last Exit To Brooklyn and Wag The Dog and has played and recorded with a number of artists, including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris, Tina Turner, Randy Newman and Chet Atkins. Knopfler was made an OBE in 1999 and was given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ivor Novellos in 2012.