Growing up in Ohio, Knox’s whole existence before he ever wrote a song was basketball, soundtracked by artists such as Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, All-American Rejects, Lil Wayne, Drake and Ed Sheeran. The summer before he started at Ohio University, Knox finally picked up a guitar. He learned everything in those few months, self-taught through YouTube videos. Knox began playing open mic nights and by his sophomore year, his musical ambitions were so all-consuming that he dropped out of school, moved in with his grandma and began saving up money to start his life in Nashville. He made the leap in January 2019.

Knox used covid isolation time to work on his craft. His focus paid off: his songs caught the attention of John Harvie, who placed a few on his album, as well as Harvie’s label. Knox signed a publishing deal in 2022 but was struck with the urge to record a collection of songs he had been working on. The final result was How to Lose a Girl in 7 Songs, Knox’s debut EP that will be released this February. With his own songs ready, he now needed to build a fanbase. Knox began filming TikToks featuring his song “Sneakers, and one amassed nearly two million views overnight. “Sneakers” has since reached over 15 million streams.

Knox has since started to get on the road, opening for the Band Camino and Boys Like Girls (an emo staple he grew up with). “I'm six states away from home and there’s a thousand people in the audience that are singing the song that I wrote with my friends in my bedroom,” he recalls. “And that's when it gets you, when you see real people genuinely connecting to something that I made with my best friends. It’s the most unreal feeling in the world.