I was admittedly late in getting to the altar of Chris Knight. He had already released his fourth effort, Enough Rope, when I first came to know of him. I’ve since countered my tardiness by amassing his entire disc catalog and preaching his gospel every chance I get. Heart of Stone marks Chris’ sixth effort, and his music is still far too good for country radio and far too obscure for good taste.

On Heart of Stone, Chris sticks to what he does best by writing simple songs that carry the weight of the common man. Bringing Dan Baird (who previously produced Pretty Good Guy and The Jealous Kind) back into the fold brings a slightly more rocking edge to this album, but it’s still 100% Chris Knight. If you ain’t liking him at this point, you ain’t gonna like him after hearing Heart of Stone….and you’re pretty much an idiot.

The people of Slaughters, Kentucky (population 200) are lucky to have a songwriter of this caliber telling their story, and we’re lucky to get to hear it. 100% Essential Listening.

Chris Knight - My Old Cars
Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
Chris Knight - Another Dollar

Chris Knight’s Official Site, Chris Knight on myspace, Buy Heart of Stone

They say good things come in threes and such has been the case with my inbox the past two days. The people who run Chris Knight’s web site sent me a studio cut from his upcoming album, Heart of Stone, as well as a couple of demo cuts of tracks that will be on the album. Now, I think it goes without saying that ninebullets are HUGE fans of Chris Knight and hearing that he has a new album coming out in August (8/19 to be exact) made my morning. Check out the samples below:

TRACKLISTING:
01. Home Sick Gypsy
02. Hell Ain’t Half Full (studio)
03. Something to Keep Me Going
04. Heart of Stone
05. Danville
06. Another Dollar
07. Almost there
08. Crooked Road (live)
09. Maria (demo)
10. Miles to Memphis
11. My Old Cars (demo)
12. Go On Home

You can pre-order the album here.

For the next 5 days I am gonna repost the pieces I did on my 5 favorite albums of the year. I’m not saying these are the 5 best albums of the year. I haven’t heard the bulk of what’s in most magazine’s and web sites top 10 list. Instead, I am just writing about my 5 favorite albums this year. I hope y’all enjoy it. I’ll be posting my favorite album on December 28. Now, withou further ado:

ninebullets.net 5 favorite albums of the year, #5: Chris Knight - The Trailer Tapes

At some point of every single December 31 since I was 13 I’ve wondered who would be that artist that I just fell in love with in the coming year. This year that award easily goes to Chris Knight. There are others, yes, but over the course of this year I have acquired Chris’ entire catalog and I can not find a single bad thing to say about any of it. To quote Office Space, “I celebrate his entire catalog.”

In March I wrote about The Trailer Tapes, here is a repost:

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

I have really hemmed and hawed about writing an antry on this album. I mean, I’ve already written about Chris’ newest efforts, Enough Rope and The Trailer Tapes, and this album is four years old. See, sometimes I get kind of sidetracked about what this site is supposed to be about, and it took writing the first draft of what will become the new ‘about’ page to remind myself what I am trying to do here. This isn’t a site about the newest releases out there. It’s supposed to be a site about music I find appealing, regardless of release date, and The Jealous Kind is so much more than appealing.

In the vapid ‘Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy’ tarted-up world of country music, a songwriter of Chris Knight’s caliber is either a) flat out ignored or b) too deep for the pop with a fiddle Clear Channel country music fan. There are no parties for Chris’s characters, no Honky Tonk or Badonkadonk’s. Chris’ characters are doomed to lives of jail cells, calloused hands, black eyes, beaten wives and unpaid bills, all told by one of the consistently best songwriters I’ve heard since the Drive-By Truckers. Eschewing hooks for stories, Chis Knight writes the kinds of songs that cut right to the reasons why I love music in the first place and heads straight to the Essential Listening list.

Chris Knight - The Jealous Kind
Chris Knight - Carla Came Home
Chris Knight - Broken Plow

Chris Knight’s Official Site, Chris Knight on myspace, Buy Chis Knight’s cds

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