John and Jackie Knill: "There Isn’t a Day Goes By I Don’t Think About Them"
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - The shock and pain of loss is still fresh just behind the eyes of John Lynch as he talks about the tsunami that struck South East Asia on December 26 and swept away his best friends and musical soul mates John and Jackie Knill of North Vancouver.
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JOHN AND JACKIE KNILL
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Many will recall seeing the television images of the tsunami waves on that fateful boxing day. The now famous pictures that went around the world were taken on the camera of John and Jackie Knill.
The camera was found by a man searching among the destruction after the tsunami. He took the chip out of the camera, had the pictures developed, and was then able to put the pieces together and contact David, the youngest Knills son to let them know what he had found and to finally add some closure to the search for their parents.
John Lynch was born in Killarney, Ireland, and is a member of the fabulous band Killarney which has been the house band at the Blarney Stone in Gastown for the past 20 years. Not only has Killarney kept the Blarney Stone rocking all these years, they still have the star power to attract a line up of young people every weekend, all waiting to get in to see them.
Lynch is also a songwriter and has Dream Maker Studio, a recording studio in North Vancouver, where various artists and individuals can record their CDs. John Lynch and John Knill were partners in the recording studio.
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JOHN LYNCH
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“I first met John Knill four years ago when Killarney were putting together a Tribute to Neil Diamond Show,” Lynch said. “We were looking for a keyboard player and John Knill applied for the job. We both had our own recording studio, so we decided to amalgamate and that’s how Dream Maker Studio came into being. With our combined talents, we are able to make a CD from A to Z.”
Speaking about the tragic loss of a business partner and a couple that he admired, Lynch said, “you know, it’s once in your lifetime that you will come across your musical soul mate and John was my musical soul mate. We thought alike. I’d be thinking what would you do here and he’d have exactly the same thought as I had in my head for a particular piece of music. It was just amazing!
“To tell you the truth, I’ve been walking around for the past five months in a fog. There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t think about them. It’s very difficult for me to go back into the studio now. Even picking up a guitar, especially when I’m picking at a piece of music, and I wonder what would John do here. It’s a continuous haunting thing.”
John and Jackie Knill were tremendous people, they had been married for 30 or 35 years, yet they were like newlyweds. They were very happy people and Jackie spent most of her time helping out the elderly in North and West Vancouver. “They touched so many people,” said Lynch, “it was phenomenal. Every Christmas they would invite all their musician friends over to their house, and we always had this yearly party with the Knills. That will be sorely missed.”
Jackie loved the music but John was totally absorbed with music. John was the piano player and the engineer in the studio, “so basically,” said Lynch, “you know, he was the man. It’s like starting all over again.”
“I can still see John and Jackie at my front porch when they were leaving on their vacation to Thailand. I hugged both of them saying ‘come back safe’ you know and I never saw them again. When I heard the news that night before I went to bed on Christmas night and saw what had happened, I said ‘oh, they’re gone’. I knew straight away. Yeah. Tough one.”
Eventually, John Lynch plans to go to Thailand to the beach where John and Jackie Knill’s camera was found and he hopes that by being in that spot, it will bring some closure to the tragic loss of his wonderful friends.
To date $80,000 dollars has been raised for the Knill Thailand Fund, which John Lynch said will probably go to an orphanage to help aid the numerous children who were orphaned after the tsunami.
One of the last CDs that John Lynch and John Knill recorded together is entitled Eyes Wide Open with John Lynch writing the words and music. Proceeds from the sale of that CD are now going to the Knill Thailand Fund.
John Lynch and his wife Maria have three children, Ann Marie, Sean Michael and Eamon Patrick. Sean Michael is following in his father’s footsteps in the music business and has a band of his own called One Eyed Jacks. Ann Marie is an Irish dancer and is also studying to be a teacher and Eamon Patrick is a free spirit, still trying to make up his mind as to what he would like to be.
Watch for big changes at the Blarney Stone soon. New owners have recently taken over and are planning exciting and extensive renovations. But one thing will not change at the Blarney Stone...Killarney will still be on stage at the Gastown location packing them in as usual.
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For more information about Dream Maker Studio or recording a CD, call John Lynch at (604) 980-7192 or (604) 785-9022 or e-mail: dreammaker@telus.net.
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