He’s always building something. My dad, Bob Knickle is always busy working with his hands, usually repairing something while making use of his small collection of extremely useful spare parts. He always has just the thing. As a kid, I could always trust that he’d be able to fix or fashion anything I needed or dreamed of. My dad, a very quick learner, built an addition onto his family’s home when he was 17 or 18, just before he moved out. His integrity and strong work ethic led him to great heights – quite literally! Bob has great tales to tell working on the roof of a high-rise building in Calgary! It’s always fascinating to travel around the province – and even in some places of the country – because he’ll tell me of all the little places where he’s done work and left his mark. The overpasses in Calgary, the apartments along Saskatchewan Drive, the office buildings in Industrial Edmonton. Not to mention the vehicles he’s restored. Bob makes waves.

Bob and Paige Knickle with the restored 1948 GMC Truck

But doing electrical work and contract work isn’t even his day job. I think that’s what always impressed me so much as a kid! I was inspired to have both the office job and the get-down-and-dirty job. Because my dad was able to do it all and more, I wanted to follow in those footsteps! I was nicknamed his “Shadow”. Whenever anyone would ask about what my dad did for work, I would always say that he was an Electrician by Trade, but he owned a business. Even that isn’t quite right. His roles in all of his endeavors are quite illusive to me, but he’s somehow able to keep them all straight! And he organizes all of his life in Outlook none the less! 😛

Bob Knickle at the Enjoy Center for the Lights Festival

With a dad this cool, I never had to go through that “I’m horrified by my parents” stage! He always encouraged me to live a God-glorifying life with dedication to my craft and focus on my purpose. He knew that my two major passions were voice and music work and web design. Out of sheer graciousness, he offered to build me a studio when I acquired enough equipment and outgrew our home basement. So when the time came for Copper Cabbage to find a new home, Bob was eager as a beaver to build the perfect home for the studio. He let me scribble the little design down on a napkin and he took it to the contractors.

Bob Knickle inside the upstairs space, which would soon be Copper Cabbage Studios, on Davies Road.

That space served Copper Cabbage well for five years! Many bands, artists, and students enjoyed recording, meeting, and learning in Edmonton’s most charming and smelly recording studio. It had always felt like a second home to me. But sure enough, the studio’s goals and reach expanded again with a little push from the pandemic. Bob was already prepared for the next project. He got the coveralls on and got down to work. The new space will be ready for the public after the pandemic lifts! We’re so proud of our Copper Cabbage fam and we can’t wait to show off all the great work that my dad, Bob Knickle has done here!

Bob in Hawai’i