Mark Knophler; recommended music??


Hi. I have been listening to music, mostly rock, for the past 35 years, but I'm fairly new to the high-end audio hobby. I have put together a very satisfying system consisting of an Arcam CD player; Cambridge Audio 840 upsampling CD player; Odyssey Audio Stratus Extreme amp; Parasound Line-Drive preamplifier, Meadowlark Shearwater "Hotrod" loudspeakers, and an RBH passive sub with outboard RBH crossover/amplifier. Audioquest solid core speaker cables and interconnects all around. Sound = phenominal. Now I need to discover additional artists and genres to better appreciate all this fine equipment. Thus far my favorite is Dire Straits, and surprisingly, Mark Knophler's solo work even more so. "Sailing to Philidelphia" and "Golden Heart" may be my two most-enjoyed discs now. Are there other artists out there with similar sound? I have discovered Diana Krall, and love her piano. Basically, I like jazz/rock/blues that emphasize percussion, acoustic guitar, and clean electric guitar (much like Knophler/Straits). Any suggestions?? Many thanks.
klipschking
Since you like the sound of Mark Knophler, then you might like this person : Chris Rea

Here are some videos of his to give you an idea of his music :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EBw_da7BZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk208Op1Jc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o3IdhYIkEg You might have heard this one.
What sets Mark Knopfler apart (at least for me) from other artists in the genre is his guitar playing, his songwriting, and his arangements. You may find others who have 2 of the 3, but not all 3 IMO.

If you like Sailing, and Goldenheart, you may as well buy everything else he's released. My personal favorite is "Shangri-la" but I enjoy everything he's done including some of his soundtracks.

I agree with Riley - Chris Rea is worth checking out.

Some others that come to mind that aren't necessarily like MK, but the music is the same mood, etc:
- Lyle Lovett
- John Prine
- Cowboy Junkies