“Sometimes, the truth hurts. Maybe that’s because truth is a commitment, one that can demand a soul-baring complicity from whoever it’s shared with. The truth also illuminates, often to some pretty dark places that most are hesitant to go.” ~Chris Knights Bio

apparently “Enough Rope” is Chris Knight’s 4th cd.  It is the first one I have ever heard but I do suspect that it will not be the last.  In the era of microgenres I am not really sure how you would label Knight…One could call it “Strive Rock” but that has already been taken by Paste Magazine for bands like Gasoline Heart….I have seen some reviews that call it “Heartland Rock” and grouped it with Steve Earle and John Mellencamp….I’ll go with the heartland rock moniker and definatly go with the Mellencamp grouping. John Mellencamp is part of the soundtrack of my life. I probably knew the words to “Jack and Diane” and “Hurst So Good” before I knew the Pledge of Alligance.  Chris Knight writes stories as much as he writes songs…stories about nobodies working through life in nowheresville U.S.A….and I have to be honest, I am a complete sucker for that shit.  I dunno why but i suspect it goes back to things like Buffet and Mellencamp being some prevalent in my childhood.  The title track is probably my favorite track on the cd.

“I work for the city, in the town where I grew up.  Somedays I run a backhoe somedays I run a dump. If I had other plans on my graduation day then several years ago I guess I hauled hem all away.”

That about explains the mood on this cd….Too real for country radio and yet, all too real for the people living it…Fans of Mellencamp, Earle and Haggard will wanna give this album a looksee but don’t do it when you are in a particulary good mood…for “Enough Rope” is album about the darkness and the struggles of life best taken with a shot of whiskey and a grudge for your boss.

Chri Knight - Enough Rope
Chris Knight - William’s Son
Chris Knight - Dirt

Chris Knight is currently on tour.  Check out his official site for tour dates and you can pay his myspace a visit for more info and some other songs.