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Knight is well known in Texas for writing the hit [[Montgomery Gentry]] song "[[She Couldn't Change Me]]" and because of his particular fame in Texas, was named an "Honorary Texan" in 2006 by Texas Governor Rick Perry.<ref name=thisisTX-EnoughRope>{{cite web|last=Nichols|first=Patrick|title=Album Review: Chris Knight, Enough Rope|url=http://www.lonestarmusic.com/chrisknight.asp|work=this is texas music|accessdate=24 October 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703234316/http://www.thisistexasmusic.com/reviews/enoughrope.html|archivedate=July 3, 2007|date=July 20, 2006}}</ref>
Knight is well known in Texas for writing the hit [[Montgomery Gentry]] song "[[She Couldn't Change Me]]" and because of his particular fame in Texas, was named an "Honorary Texan" in 2006 by Texas Governor Rick Perry.<ref name=thisisTX-EnoughRope>{{cite web|last=Nichols|first=Patrick|title=Album Review: Chris Knight, Enough Rope|url=http://www.lonestarmusic.com/chrisknight.asp|work=this is texas music|accessdate=24 October 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703234316/http://www.thisistexasmusic.com/reviews/enoughrope.html|archivedate=July 3, 2007|date=July 20, 2006}}</ref>


It took Knight four years to release ''Little Victories'' in 2012.<ref name=Billboard-LittleVictories>{{cite web|last=Dauphin|first=Chuck|title=Chris Knight Scores 'Little Victories,' First Album in 4 Years|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/474977/chris-knight-scores-little-victories-first-album-in-4-years|work=Billboard|accessdate=24 October 2013|date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>
It took Knight four years to release ''Little Victories'' in 2012. Knight's former Decca labelmate, [[Lee Ann Womack]], collaborated with him on ''"You Lie When You Call My Name."''<ref name=Billboard-LittleVictories>{{cite web|last=Dauphin|first=Chuck|title=Chris Knight Scores 'Little Victories,' First Album in 4 Years|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/474977/chris-knight-scores-little-victories-first-album-in-4-years|work=Billboard|accessdate=24 October 2013|date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>


===Musical style===
===Musical style===
Knight's music has been described as "four-minute novels, mainly about his native Kentucky upbringing and characters he knew." Knight said he "It was interesting to me, growing up in a rural area in a big family in a small town. So, I got a lot of inspiration."<ref name=Edinburgh-LonesomeHighway /> However, when asked to talk about the darkness of his work, Knight said: "I never thought my first album was dark. I don’t think any of them are that dark. I mean, people that like to read, I write songs like I would write books if I was a novelist. It’s never been something that is that big a deal to me to write a story song with something real happening in it, but everybody got off on all this dark business."<ref name=AmericanRoots-interview />
Knight's music has been described as "four-minute novels, mainly about his native Kentucky upbringing and characters he knew." Knight said he "It was interesting to me, growing up in a rural area in a big family in a small town. So, I got a lot of inspiration."<ref name=Edinburgh-LonesomeHighway />

About his hometown, where he still lives, Knight says in Slaughters "there is not a whole lot going on. There are five or six churches. They just closed the grade school down. There used to be a high school, but they shut it down this year. There is one little store. They’ve torn the downtown down. When I was kid, my mother bought our school clothes in downtown Slaughters, but there is really nothing there now. A post office, churches and about 200 people."<ref name=CMTEdge-LittleVictories>{{cite web|last=Shelburne|first=Criag|title=Chris Knight Takes Pride in Little Victories|url=http://www.cmtedge.com/2012/09/21/chris-knight-takes-pride-in-little-victories/|work=CMT Edge|accessdate=24 October 2013|date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>

However, when asked to talk about the darkness of his work, Knight said: "I never thought my first album was dark. I don’t think any of them are that dark. I mean, people that like to read, I write songs like I would write books if I was a novelist. It’s never been something that is that big a deal to me to write a story song with something real happening in it, but everybody got off on all this dark business."<ref name=AmericanRoots-interview />


==Discography==
==Discography==

Revision as of 06:49, 24 October 2013

For other people named Christopher Knight, see Christopher Knight (disambiguation).
Chris Knight
Chris Knight at WVHEDW Soccer Club in Amsterdam (2 February 2007)
Chris Knight at WVHEDW Soccer Club in Amsterdam (2 February 2007)
Background information
Birth nameChris Knight
Born (1960-06-24) June 24, 1960 (age 64)
Slaughters, Kentucky, U.S.
GenresSinger-songwriter, Country, Americana
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active1998 – present
LabelsDecca
Dualtone
Drifter’s Church Productions
Websitehttp://www.chrisknight.net/

Chris Knight (born June 24, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter from Slaughters, Kentucky. In addition to releasing his own material, Knight has had a successful career writing songs for Confederate Railroad, John Anderson, and Randy Travis among others.[1][2]

Biography

Early life

Knight grew up in the small western Kentucky mining town of Slaughters, Kentucky.[1] He grew up in the country, had a lot of cousins who all lived in the same area of Kentucky. Knight has three brothers. Knight said that both his grandfather and great grandfather were farmers who had big farms before the Depression, but that they just couldn't hang on to them.[3]

When he was three years old, he asked for a plastic guitar for Christmas. At 15, he became serious and began teaching himself John Prine songs on his older brother's guitar.[4]

Knight earned a degree in agriculture from Western Kentucky University. He worked for ten years as a mine reclamation inspector and as a miner's consultant.[3]

Music career

Nashville

In 1986, he heard Steve Earle on the radio and decided to start writing songs. After six years he came to Nashville and won a spot on a songwriters' night at the Bluebird Cafe.[4]

He attracted the interest of music producer Frank Liddell, who signed him to a contract with Bluewater Music. When Decca Records hired Liddell for an A&R position, Knight received a contract and in 1998 Decca released his self-titled debut. Knight still lived in a house trailer on 90 acres (360,000 m2) in Slaughters when the album was released.[4] Decca folded at the end of the 1990s, only two years after Knight joined the label. After a couple years without a label, Knight signed with Dualtone Music Group.

Knight licensed his music to Dualtone Records for two records, then decided to release his music independently with the help of his manager. Knight said that "after the two records we decided that we could do anything an independent label can do, so we kind of cut out the record company. We cut out the third party ‘cause we had access to everything – publicity, distribution, everything. There was really no reason to go on a smaller label whenever we could do it ourselves."[2]

Knight is well known in Texas for writing the hit Montgomery Gentry song "She Couldn't Change Me" and because of his particular fame in Texas, was named an "Honorary Texan" in 2006 by Texas Governor Rick Perry.[5]

It took Knight four years to release Little Victories in 2012. Knight's former Decca labelmate, Lee Ann Womack, collaborated with him on "You Lie When You Call My Name."[6]

Musical style

Knight's music has been described as "four-minute novels, mainly about his native Kentucky upbringing and characters he knew." Knight said he "It was interesting to me, growing up in a rural area in a big family in a small town. So, I got a lot of inspiration."[1]

About his hometown, where he still lives, Knight says in Slaughters "there is not a whole lot going on. There are five or six churches. They just closed the grade school down. There used to be a high school, but they shut it down this year. There is one little store. They’ve torn the downtown down. When I was kid, my mother bought our school clothes in downtown Slaughters, but there is really nothing there now. A post office, churches and about 200 people."[7]

However, when asked to talk about the darkness of his work, Knight said: "I never thought my first album was dark. I don’t think any of them are that dark. I mean, people that like to read, I write songs like I would write books if I was a novelist. It’s never been something that is that big a deal to me to write a story song with something real happening in it, but everybody got off on all this dark business."[2]

Discography

Albums

Titel Album details Peak chart positions
US Country US US
Heat 		US
Indie
Chris Knight — — — —
A Pretty Good Guy — — — —
The Jealous Kind
  • Release date: August 19, 2003
  • Label: Dualtone Records
 67 — — —
Enough Rope
  • Release date: July 11, 2006
  • Label: Thirty Tigers
 — — — —
The Trailer Tapes
  • Release date: April 3, 2007
  • Label: Thirty Tigers
 68 — 40 —
Heart of Stone
  • Release date: August 19, 2008
  • Label: Drifter's Church
 37 — 7 31
Trailer II
  • Release date: September 15, 2009
  • Label: Thirty Tigers
 64 — — —
Little Victories
  • Release date: September 11, 2012
  • Label: Drifter's Church
 25 148 4 33
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Chris Knight at the Master Musicians Festival in Somerset, Kentucky on July 19, 2008
Year Song Album
1998 "Framed" Chris Knight
"It Ain't Easy Being Me"
2001 "Becky's Bible" A Pretty Good Guy
2002 "Oil Patch Town"
2003 "The Jealous Kind" The Jealous Kind
2006 "Cry Lonely" Enough Rope
2012 "In the Mean Time" Little Victories

Music videos

Year Video Director
1998 "Framed" Roger Pistole
"It Ain't Easy Being Me"
2002 "Oil Patch Town"
2006 "Cry Lonely" Milton Sneed
2013 "In the Mean Time"[8] James Weems

Songs written or co-written by Knight

References

  1. ^ a b c "Lonesome Highway lines up a treat with Kentucky Chris". Edinburgh Evening News. January 19, 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Banister, C. Eric (October 23, 2008). "Something to Keep Me Going - A Conversation with Chris Knight". AmericanRoots.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b Tarradell, Mario. "Interviews: Chris Knight". Lone Star Music. Archived from the original on April 15, 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Allmusic.com Entry [1] Retrieved May 22, 2007
  5. ^ Nichols, Patrick (July 20, 2006). "Album Review: Chris Knight, Enough Rope". this is texas music. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  6. ^ Dauphin, Chuck (September 21, 2012). "Chris Knight Scores 'Little Victories,' First Album in 4 Years". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  7. ^ Shelburne, Criag (September 21, 2012). "Chris Knight Takes Pride in Little Victories". CMT Edge. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  8. ^ "CMT : Videos : Chris Knight : In the Mean Time". Country Music Television. Retrieved January 9, 2013.

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