Chris Knight - 'Heart Of Stone': The Ramblings review

Once upon a time, hris Knight was supposed to be the next Steve Earle. His self-titled debut was even released on Tony Brown's then-venerable MCA Nashville label. That record smoothed out too many of Knight's rough edges, but it yielded at least one shoulda-been hit "It Ain't Easy Being Me." It probably ain't no picnic being Chris Knight, but since that single foray into the major leagues, he's made it look manageable at least. For his next two records (A Pretty Good Guy and The Jealous Kind, both released on indie DualTone), he enlisted ex-Georgia Satellite Dan Baird to produce and crank up his sound a notch or two. The results were superior in nearly every way to his debut, and relentless touring continued to grow Knight's fan base (he's played Texas so much, he was actually declared an honorary Texan by the governor in 2003). His next album Enough Rope was self-released, and though he teamed with an established Nashville producer (Gary Nicholson) and players, that album continued an impressive winning streak. When he released The Trailer Tapes, an album of original demos recorded prior to signing to MCA, it was evident that Knight had developed a discography that justified the many comparisons to Earle, John Prine and, yeah, even Springsteen.

Hos_1 Now comes Heart Of Stone, which reunites Knight with Dan Baird (a move that will thrill fans who whispered that Enough Rope was maybe a touch too tame, though they were definitely splitting hairs). If Knight hasn't impressed you up to this point, Heart Of Stone won't do much to change your mind. He has put together another solid collection of songs - some rocking, some less so - that do nothing to tarnish his reputation. If you are a Chris Knight fan (guilty!), you're probably not terribly interested in hearing him jack up his sound all that much. However, he can and does mix it up quite a bit, blending some signature Southern Goth with plenty of dirt and grit. When this one does rock, it does so just a bit harder than previous records, thanks to some nasty guitar sounds courtesy of Baird and Mike McAdam. As usual, these element bump up against touches of fiddle and Hammond B-3 to create a wicked brew of pure roots-rock that never threatens to overshadow Knight's songwriting.

So if Heart Of Stone is likely to illicit any complaints, it'll probably be that the album doesn't break new ground for Chris Knight. You'll have to register those elsewhere, however, because what Heart Of Stone proves to me is that a consistently strong body of work can lead an artist down the path to greatness just as surely as a dozen brilliantly experimental records.
--- Sam Phillips