From the bitter lament of the rail worker in Spike Driving Blues to the battling lovers of Back Water Blues to the high school sweetheart turned murderer of Rita’s Only Fault these were the first glimpses into Chris’s unapologetic style of telling the stories of the blue collar man.
Back in October I wrote about Chris Knight’s cd Enough Rope. I had never heard anything by him at that time and have since fell in love with the cd. A couple of moths ago I saw that he was scheduled to release a new cd, The Trailer Tapes, so I fired off an email to his PR company asking for an advance copy.
The Trailer Tapes was recorded one Kentucky summer in 1996 inside of a singlewide trailer by a recently signed but unknown Chris Knight. Recorded with 2 microphones and an ADAT with the guitar bumping into the mics and rain beating on the trailer roof-top, it was primitive, but above all it was real. Since then it has been cleaned up by producer/engineer Ray Kennedy and now they find their way into our hands. Three of the 11 tracks were rerecorded and found their way onto other albums over the years but the remainder are otherwise unreleased.
So here I am. I have Chris’s latest album and I love it. I have his, for all practical purposes, original demo from 11 years ago and I love it. I guess the only thing left to do is start filling in the gap between the two cds so expect to see other Chris Knight articles throughout this year.
The Trailer Tapes will be released April 3 on Drifter’s Church Records. Chris will also be touring acoustically behind these songs. Tour dates can be found on his website.
Chris Knight – Rita’s Only Fault
Chris Knight – House and 90 Acres
Chris Knight – Spike Driving Blues
Chris Knight’s Official Site, Chris Knight on myspace, Buy Chis Knight’s cds
Autopsy IV
Part time blogger. Full time hater.