I am a relatively new convert in the ways of singer/songwriter Chris Knight. I was turned on to his music only a few years ago by Eric Banister (our editor) and Ray Randall (our podcast guru). It took me a few spins to get accustomed to Knight’s vocals and presentation of songs but make no mistake I’m a huge fan now days. If you are unfamiliar with Knight, he was born in a mining town known as Slaughters, Kentucky. He released his self-titled debut album when he was 38. Since then, Knight was released five more albums which include songs that have been picked up by some of the bigger names in Country music: John Anderson, Blake Shelton, The Great Divide, The Road Hammers, Montgomery Gentry and the Confederate Railroad.

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to catch his live show in San Antonio. This was my first full live Knight show (I did catch a small set at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville a few years ago). Chris packed the venue (Sam’s Burger Joint) which is often hard to do in my hometown (unfortunately). My first note of interest was how diverse the crowd was mixed with half college / half elderly (> 30). In San Antonio, radio is a bitch around here. We have a Clear Channel station known as the Outlaw which covers the Southern half of San Antonio mixed in with KNBT (New Braunfels) which covers the North side of San Antonio coupled with a KSYM (Third Coast Music) which is a part time Americana/Texas station. The point is, Chris Knight, doesn’t get the mainstream attention which I am guessing is something he is accustomed too around the entire USA. To pack a place in like Sam’s, is no easy feat so it was my surprised to see so many fans singing along to his entire catalog of songs most of the night.

The crowd was into it and Chris Knight seemed pretty impressed by that fact encouraging folks that they would be back and to bring out more friends. Chris rarely shows much emotion up on stage as he’s widely noted for his shyness up under the big lights but he did share a few laughs with the audience. His set list included starting off the night with a few cuts from his latest album followed by a barrage of his hits. This is what impressed me the most though. I had little idea how deep his full catalog of music was in terms of popular songs until he played through 1.5 hours of all of my own personal favorites which include: It Ain’t Easy Being Me, Down The River, Rural Route, Dirt, Cry Lonely, Jack Blue, A Pretty Good Guy, Becky’s Bible, Enough Rope, Framed, Oil Patch Town. Chris is an amazing songwriter coupled with a brilliant way of presenting character based stories (often in first person). It is extremely hard not to believe this guy hasn’t done half of the things he sings about as he is able to deliver the story perfectly through song. Eric Banister interviewed Christ Knight a few months ago and asked him if it is ever a problem of people associating you and the characters in a song a little too closely. To which Chris replied “It’s not really a problem. Some people tend to believe that I’ve done everything in my songs. I don’t care, let ‘em believe.”

In summary, this was a fantastic live show. I would highly recommend catching Chris live either via the full band or solo. Each type is different in its own right but neither disappoint in carrying the story through. Chris Knight is and should continue to be featured as one of the key players on the Americana Music scene. He is the definition of singer/songwriter and does it with raw musical genius minus all the glitz and glam.

Related posts:

1. Something to Keep Me Going – A Conversation with Chris Knight
2. Chris Knight finds Enough Rope
3. One Hoarse Town:  Chris Knight
4. Chris Knight – The Best Americana artist you haven’t heard of