Growing up in Slaughters, Kentucky amongst a population of less than 250, Chris graduated high school and made his way to nearby Western Kentucky University to earn his degree in agriculture. With degree in hand he returned to his small town home and began work there as a strip-mine reclamation inspector. Even now, as he makes frequent trips to Nashville and treks across the country to perform, he stays close to home. ԉ live on one side of Slaughters,Ԡhe says, ԡnd I grew up on the other side.ԍ

Moving to Nashville was never really an option he explains, ԉ’ve never really give it a lot of thought. When I started going down there and I got a publishing deal and I got the record deal, nobody ever mentioned it. I’m only two hours away and I think they thought it might mess my songwriting up or something.Ԡ Those songs, which got him that landed him deals with Frank Lidell’s Bluewater Music publishing company and Decca Records in the late ‘90s, are scheduled to be released in early 2007 as The Trailer Tapes.. Made up mostly of songs heard on his debut album, The Trailer Tapes feature only Chris and his guitar in the songs rawest form.

It was the 1992 death of Knights’ mother that served as a catalyst for his songwriting and he began to write about the people and places he had grown up around. People like his Grandfather, himself or people he had met serve as inspiration for the stories he tells within his songs.

ԙou can take one story and turn it into another, you know, just little pieces of it,Ԡhe explains over the phone as he drives to another show on the tour to promote his newest album Enough Rope.

The characters on Enough Rope don’t differ too much from the characters on previous albums, although, he admits, Դhe body count’s not as high.ԠFor example, we meet the hard working family man in the title track, a man who is trying to change his life (“Jack Blue”) and one who is the product of a life unchanged (“William’s Son”).

Ԓural RouteԠoffers a snapshot of life in small town. ԉ grew up in a real rural area,ԠKnight says, ԉt was a good way to go up, have a big family and so just a lot of influences on me growing up that way.ԍ

Ԕo Get Back HomeԠand Ԕoo Close to HomeԠlet us in on the inner thoughts of a man who has spent most of his life close to home who now is committed to the gypsy lifestyle of a the traveling musician.

Knight turns out a couple of songs which might seem a bit of a departure from his usual rough and tumble reputation, but shine as other facets of his personality he has finally grown comfortable enough to share. In ԃry LonelyԠthe man talks to the woman who calls only when things are bad. The melodic chorus is something that shows the range of Knight’s writing and growth. ԓaved by LoveԠis another strong ballad, but not to a woman, but to redemption and its power in his life.

Songs like those might have some fans wondering whether Knight is making a play for mainstream radio acceptance. But he allays those fears quickly: ԙeah, well all the songs I planned to record and did record, those were the ones that I wanted to cut, but I thought if there was any way that we might make it a little more radio-friendly, you know, get some what of a hit song, I was willing to do that if I didn’t have to compromise too much. I just got tired of thinking about it and I wanted to put ‘William’s Son’ and ‘Old Man’ and things like that and thought, you know, if I do these songs they’ve got to sound the way I want ‘em to sound.ԍ

Ԓiver RoadԠand ԕp from the HillԠserve up more of the rocking sounds that permeate the album. After two albums helmed by rocker Dan Baird, Knight stepped in the studio with frequent co-writer Gary Nicholson (they co-wrote ԓhe Couldn’t Change MeԠwhich was taken to #2 on the Mainstream Country charts by Montgomery Gentry) as producer and Ray Kennedy as mixer.

ԗell a lot of the songs just kind of lended [sic] themselves to rocking a little bit harder,Ԡhe notes, Ӧ#8216;River Road’ and ‘Up From the Hill,’ ‘To Get Back Home,’ they’re a little more aggressive than The Jealous Kind or the songs from Pretty Good Guy.ԍ

One of the most striking songs on Enough Rope is the family farm story in Ԅirt.ԠIn it the singer watches as the county brings in a new factory and tears down the family farms to make room for it. ԗhere’re the quail gonna fly to?/Where will the rabbits run now?/I watch ‘em tear it all to Hell/where it used to be my church/tearing up my grandpa’s land/treating my grandpa’s land like dirt.ԠThe song was drawn from things Knight has seen across the country as well as his own love of the land: ԉ’ve always loved the land, huntin’ and fishin’ and things like that and, you know, it’s just everywhere you look someone’s got a bulldozer out and knocking down trees or fence rows or whatever to build condominiums or something.ԍ

Focusing on issues of the small towns and farmers has drawn Knight continued comparisons to other artists. Ԕhey’re comparing me to some pretty good songwriters and singers, people who have had a lot of success and I don’t mind the comparisons at all, I’m flattered,Ԡhe says with a low chuckle, ԩf there is a comparison to Steve Earle or John Mellencamp, I don’t have anything bad to say about that.ԍ

Comparisons notwithstanding, Knight continues to forge out his own niche in Country and Americana music. Critics from coast to coast have given Enough Rope glowing reviews and noted the personal and professional growth evident on the release.

One part of that professional growth is releasing Enough Rope on Drifter’s Church, the label owned by his manager. After beginning work on the album over two years ago, Knight was courted by several major and indie labels although as the album wrapped up production, Knight and company saw no reason to sign with any of them. ԗe had access to distribution and promotion and everything so we farmed all that out, so now I’m the only artist on this label, so you know, I’m the most important one,Ԡhe notes with a laugh.

With the new album gaining more critical acclaim, Knight keeps his goals for the future simple as he tours and grows his fan base ԉ just want to write songs that I like and record them the way I want to and hopefully they’ll catch on with some people and it’s worked out so far. Once I started to headline shows and get out and do 80-100 shows a year every year, every album, you know, I’m building on it.ԍ