Forecastle Festival’s JK McKnight On “Man Of The Land,” Louisville, Gratitude, Productivity & More

As the founder and scaler of multiple entrepreneurial ventures, JK McKnight started up The Forecastle Festival — a gathering for music, art and activism — in the early 2000s. Over 600 musical acts have since performed at The Forecastle Festival, including The Black Keys, Jack White, Sam Smith, Beck, Outkast, LCD Soundsystem, The Avett Brothers, and My Morning Jacket. Rolling Stone has featured it as one of the “coolest U.S. festivals,” the New York Times has called it a “major rock destination” and American Songwriter once dubbed it “Rock N’ Roll Paradise.”

The Louisville-based festival is not only still going strong, but it is also the namesake of The Forecastle Foundation — founded by McKnight in 2011 — which was created to protect the world’s natural awesome. It has active projects in 5 countries on 3 continents, including the Green River, Pine Mountain Wildlife Corridor, the Central Appalachian Mountain Chain, and Indonesia’s Coral Triangle.

McKnight is also notably the founder and director of Man Of The Land. Man Of The Land — which is subtitled “The Art Of Impact” — is an agency specializing in the merger of business and philanthropy, experiential marketing, partnerships and fundraising. Guiding entrepreneurs and brands towards the summit of their potential, past and present clients have Patagonia, Tito’s, Delta, AT&T and Ableton.

Following my September 2019 visit to Louisville, I had the pleasure of interviewing JK McKnight by phone. We talked about his various ventures, starting off with discussion about the wonderful Forecastle Foundation. More on McKnight can be found online at www.manoftheland.org.

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Tags: Forecastle, Forecastle Festival, JK McKnight, Kentucky, Louisville, Man Of The Land, music festivals

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."