Chris Knight’s 2006 release Enough Rope was a gritty, honest and above all expertly crafted slice of Prine, Earle and Mellencamp influenced Americana. His ability to tap so deeply into the less than pretty truths of blue-collar, middle American life has long been his trump card. Even if the Mellencamp references are well earned and justified — and I almost hate to use the name twice so early in this review — Knight’s delivery often has a road-worn rawness about it that for the most part shakes off any need for comparison.

With Heart Of Stone, Knight’s pervasive scruffiness is in full swing, but the songs themselves reveal more introspection, a need to escape the pains of regret and heartbreak, than the character driven themes of Enough Rope. Not to say that he’s lost any potency in his imagery, and not to assume that all these songs sung in first person are necessarily autobiographical, but out of 12 tracks only a few bear the story oriented writing of his previous album. On all but one of the tracks on Heart Of Stone, Knight is joined by a scrappy band that perfectly straddles the line between tight and comfortably loose. The result? Some of the best earthy, country/rock to come down the pipe this year.

Take the clang and jangle of “Hell Ain’t Half Full,” for example. Crunchy guitars, four on the floor drums and a soaring chorus are hallmarks of this style, but once you dig into the lyrics, it’s clear there’s something else going on — “Little Pink Houses” this is not. Knight’s looking at the world with a keen (and more than a little ticked off) eye, tossing off a verse like “Get up in the morning/Fall out of bed/Go down to the basement/Cook up a little meth/All the young folks love it/Coming back for more...” So even if this is “heartland” rock, there’s obviously something very wrong in the “heartland,” and he’s going to tell you about it in no uncertain terms. “Danville” weaves together a story of alcohol, abuse and small town politics that force a woman to turn her back on the place she once loved, and the song’s bolstered by a loping 6/8 groove and some gorgeous violin work from Tami Rodgers.

How about greed, consumerism and the basic lack of human compassion in the world? That’s taken on head first in “Another Dollar,” another tune endowed with a singalong chorus that just barely keeps it’s loathing from boiling over completely. The liner notes credit “all professional sounding guitar solos” to Mike McAdam and “all teenager sounding guitar solos” to Dan Baird, and the guitar work on “Another Dollar” is surely the work of McAdam. Here he snaps the strings and spits grungy blues licks in all the right places, sneaking in and out of Knight’s churning acoustic guitar and swirling Hammond organ. And if you’re looking for something to inspire one of those classic tear in the beer moments, stop and spend some time with the album’s lone solo track, “Crooked Road.” It’s classic Knight through and through — good people going hell, trying their hardest to keep some kind of hope despite the path their lives have taken. “Damn these hard times/Damn the coal mine/Damn the good dreams gone cold/While I’m at it/Damn this crooked road,” he sings, and it gets you square in the gut.

It’s not all storm clouds and heartbreak, though — redemption and the mending of old wounds fuels the upbeat “Maria,” and “Heart Of Stone” reminds one that holding on to the things that hurt won’t do you any good at all. Broken down cars, playing in bars, black top that stretches on forever and escaping your demons all make strong thematic showings over the course of Heart Of Stone, and Chris Knight milks these ideas for all they’re worth. Alt-country? Not exactly. Contemporary country? Are you kidding? Lyrically and vocally this guy would eat most of those cowboy hat wearing pretty boys for a light snack. Americana? Maybe. Good music that pulls no punches whatsoever while keeping its broken heart prominently displayed on the sleeve? Absolutely. --- Chris Cooper / Smokey Mountain News