Showing posts with label Chris Knight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Knight. Show all posts
Dec 15, 2014
Jan 9, 2013
FTM Top Albums of '12: Kelcy's 14
-by Kelcy Salisbury
This list is by no means exhaustive.
2012 has been an absolute banner year for good music. I’m sure
there are several great albums released in 2012 that I haven’t even
heard yet and will discover some time down the road & wish I’d
included them. I tried doing a top 5 list, then I tried for 10 but in
the end these were the albums I just couldn’t bring myself to cut
off the list.
14) Corb Lund - Cabin Fever
The Canadian musician released some of
his finer work with this album (get the deluxe edition with multiple
acoustic versions of several songs.) Don’t miss Down On The
Mountain, Drink It Like You Mean It, One Left In The Chamber &
the hilarious Hayes Carll collaboration of Bible On The Dash (as a
former rodeo cowboy who’s done his share of traveling I found this
to be one of the most truthfully humorous compositions I’ve heard
in years.)
13) Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Grifter’sHymnal
Texas music godfather reaches out to an
under-served demographic. Grifters need hymnals too, right?
Seriously, Coricidin Bottle & Lazarus are as good as any work
he’s done. My favorite Ray Wylie Hubbard album since Delirium
Tremolos.
12) Shooter Jennings - Family Man
The album is a touch uneven in places
but songs like The Long Road Ahead, Summers Dreams and Daddy’s
Hands are so good that they elevate the entire thing. There’s not
a song on here I skip, but there are a few I look forward to more
than others. Can’t wait to see what the next project sounds like.
11) The Trishas - High Wide And Handsome
Not sure I can really describe this one
but to say that The Trishas are easily the best female duo or group
in country music right now and it’s not even close (sorry Pistol
Annies but you could take some notes from these ladies). I hate to
distinguish them as a “female” act though. Isn’t it about time
we just acknowledge that this is one incredibly good bunch of
musicians? They can play, they can sing, and they can write…How
they can write! I’d tell you what my favorite songs are on the
album, but that changes every time through. Last time around it was
Mother Of Invention, John Wayne & Gold&Silver. Listen for
yourself, if you haven’t heard this album you’re missing
something great.
10) Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
I’m a Dwight fan, I’ll admit that.
I’ve also appreciated Pete Anderson’s production work, so when I
heard that Dwight’s new album would not employ Pete as producer I
was a little worried. I’m sure the folks who want to hear
“Guitars, Cadillacs” re-made over and over won’t care for this.
It’s unabashedly Dwight’s “rock” album, but it’s
outstanding. Top songs are Waterfall, It’s Never Alright and Long
Way To Go.
9) Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven
Probably the best pure country record
of the year, this one saw Eady take a slight detour from his more
folk oriented material and record a straight ahead country album that
draws heavily on the Merle Haggard school of writing & playing.
The end result is simply astoundingly good in its simplicity. Don’t
miss the scathing songwriting of the title cut, the heartbreaking
Wishful Drinking or the Patty Loveless duet of Man On A Mountain.
8) Dirty River Boys - The Science Of
Flight
I have to thank Brad Rice (the drummer
from Jason Boland & The Stragglers, not the one from Son Volt)
for bringing this band to my attention. I was honestly getting a
little burned out on “new” Texas/Red Dirt/Independent bands. I
hadn’t heard a new one doing anything original in a few years &
even with all the buzz about these guys I hadn’t paid a bit of
attention. Brad told me they were “original” and “different”
and was he ever right! I’d venture to say that this album would be
top 3 material if I’d only picked it up a little sooner. I’ve
only had time to listen to it twice but it absolutely blew me away
and forced me to include it on this list. Dirty River Boys sound is
a hard thing to describe, but I’ll try. Let’s imagine that the
Black Crowes & Nick Cave had a baby that was raised by a group of
Celtic musicians who also happened to be bluegrass fans & the
baby ran away from home at age 14 to tour with Ray Wylie Hubbard &
Gram Parsons. These guys aren’t scared to try a mixture of styles
and influences and the end result is something amazing to hear. I
can’t wait to get a chance to see them live. Best songs on the
album (and there isn’t a bad one) are the title song & Six
Riders, but you’d better get the whole thing.
7) Soundgarden - King Animal
The best voice in 90s rock is back
where he belongs as Chris Cornell has reunited with Soundgarden &
put out an album that sounds like a worthy follow-up to Superunknown,
not the album that showed up a decade plus after Down On The Upside.
There’s no Get On The Snake, Blow Up The Outside World or Fell On
Black Days (my 3 personal favorite Soundgarden songs) here but what
there is, is more than enough to be the hard rock album of the year.
Soundgarden was somewhat unfairly labeled as “just another grunge
band” in the 90s & were never completely able to break free
from that. They may never break away from it completely but
hopefully this album will earn them a whole new generation of fans as
well as reminding their legions of Gen X fans (how’d we all get so
old anyway?) that Soundgarden are still kings of the rock universe.
6) Jack White - Blunderbuss
Jack White may be the direct spiritual
descendant of Keith Richards & Led Zeppelin. Nobody in
mainstream music is doing anything remotely close to his sound. Just
great rootsy rock 'n roll that comes straight from the heart. This
album, along with most of his output is proof that 3 chords and the
truth are really all you need.
5) Turnpike Troubadors - Goodbye Normal
Street
Turnpike Troubadours are one of the
finest live bands to come out of the rich musical scene of eastern
Oklahoma in the past several years. Their first two albums showed
tremendous promise due to the great songwriting and musicianship.
What sets this album apart is the addition of backing vocals of Jamie
Wilson of The Trishas. Like most of the albums near the top of this
list, there simply is not a single throwaway track. The album needs
to be heard in it’s entirety. The musicianship has actually
improved over their first two albums (Bossier City & Diamonds and
Gasoline) if that is even possible. Either this or Eady’s album
are the best true country albums of this year, if not the best of the
past 2-3 years. The only country album I’ve heard in the past
couple of years that can stand on the same level is Jason Boland &
The Stragglers Rancho Alto.
4) The Departed - Adventus
After This Is Indian Land came out last
year I was intrigued to see what this band could do with their
original material. I’m happy to report that they exceeded all my
expectations. This isn’t a country album, it’s a bluesy, rootsy,
gospel influenced trip through the prodigious talents of a band that
(while made up of an all-star cast of players) is truly much more
than the sum of it’s parts.
3) Chris Knight: Little Victories
Mr Knight (I feel like I should refer
to him as Mr., just because I’m pretty sure anybody with the kind
of body count usually exhibited in his songs might stab me if I don’t
call him Mr.) has released the finest album of his remarkable career.
It’s not quite a protest album, but there is a theme of social
commentary running through the entire thing. In almost any other
year this would be my album of the year. I’ve only had the album
since early October, but all the songs are among my most played for
the entire year. I can’t hear Jack Loved Jessie, Nothing On Me or
The Lonesome Way while driving without risking a speeding ticket.
2) Matt King - Apples & Orphans
First a bit of background: I am such a
fan of Matt’s 2005 album “Rube” (right down to the Marilyn
Manson sounding drums, and other industrial sounding touches) that I
have worn out two CD copies, and it’s been one of the top 2 most
played albums on my iPod every year since I got the digital copy,
something like 5 years running now. I liked the Matt King & The
Cutters EP. I loved the bare bones approach of Raw, which is also an
album that’s been in heavy rotation for the past couple of years.
(I’ll admit to not being a huge fan of Matt’s mid 90s Nashville
country output, but hopefully Matt will forgive me for that…) Point
is, I had very high expectations for this album even though I didn’t
really know quite what to expect. If you’re looking for real
stories of real life Matt is one of the three songwriters I’d point
you toward to start with (Chris Knight & Javi Garcia would be the
other two.) I’d be doing this album and the listener a disservice
to point out one song over another as the “must have” tracks on
this album. It’s an album that’s meant to be heard from start to
finish. It’s clearly a labor of love, care was paid to the
sequencing of songs - so get the album and listen to it the way it
was meant to be heard, start to finish. My brother once asked me
what Matt King sounded like and I told him that if Trent Reznor &
Loretta Lynn had a child who was raised in the Appalachians by Woody
Guthrie, he would be Matt King. That was meant as a compliment &
hopefully it’ll be taken that way.
1) Lincoln Durham - The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones
This one came out early in the year, February I believe. Anyway, the first time I heard Drifting Wood I was hooked. This album is proof that you don’t need “top of the line” equipment or fancy production to make a great album. The pure soul of the vocals, the simple blues influenced music suits each song perfectly. There’s great variety here. Clementine & Truckers Love Song are simple yet beautiful (if somewhat unconventional) love songs. Mud Puddles, Drifting Wood, Living This Hard and Reckoning Lament are haunting rootsy slices of goodness. I had the privilege of catching Lincoln opening for Billy Joe Shaver last fall in San Marcos,TX and he blew me away. The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in terms of a single person making sounds that one person shouldn’t be able to. Lincoln is a young man with an old soul and a clear appreciation for the traditions of such influential acts as Robert Johnson and Ray Wylie Hubbard. If you’ve somehow missed the greatness that is The Shovel VS The Howling Bones, go pick it up today. You can thank me later.
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Albums I’m looking forward to in 2013:
New music from Jason Boland & The Stragglers: The best traditional country band going has a new album (produced by Shooter Jennings) on the way early in '13.
Javi Garcia & The Cold Cold Ground are finally coming with a follow up to A Southern Horror. March is the targeted release date.
Tyler McCumber (he’s a star in Italy of all places) plans to release some new music in '13. In an interesting side note, Javi Garcia was a member of Tyler’s first band.
Jan 4, 2013
FTM Top 75 Albums of 2012: 1-20
A first-half-of-the-year release unfairly hurts some albums on these year-end lists. That wasn't the case for this year's #1 album, There is a Bomb in Gilead. From my May review:
a full-fledged force to be reckoned with on this fantastic debut.
Mixing garage rock, country soul and southern swagger into an effortlessly authentic blend, Lee and the boys give a spirited go at every style across 11 spotless tracks. From the driving exploration of faith on album opener "Ain't No Stranger," through the sin, searching and nostalgia of the middle to the hymn-inspired closing title track, there isn't a weak point on the album."
Standout tracks: Sundown in Nashville, Picture From Life's Other Side (with Hank III)
See review here.
See review here.
RIYL: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Lucero, Two Cow Garage
Does this band have a signature sound, or what? Turnpike Troubadours are (is?) distinctive, vibrant and unique (so unique in fact, that I used two synonyms for that word in the same description). Disregard my haphazard writing and just know that they've come into their own on Goodbye Normal Street.
Songwriting doesn't get much better in this day and age.
Standout tracks: Good Lord Lorrie, Empty as a Drum, Gin, Smoke, Lies
From Kelcy's November review (note - we'll also post Kelcy's favorite albums of '12 later on,
so I should probably do my own write-up here, but I'm lazy)
"In summary, if you're a fan of anything that Cody Canada, Seth James, Jeremy Plato, Steve Littleton or have done in the past you will love this album. If you're a fan of good bluesy rock n roll you will love this album. Shoot, if you're just a fan of good music with some substance, you need to pick up a copy. So get Adventus & celebrate the true Arrival of The Departed on the scene."
Standout tracks: Prayer for the Lonely, Set It Free, Sweet Lord
A true comeback album, 3 Pears finds the country legend mixing rock, soul, country and his undying swagger into a welcome set of memorable songs that will never get played on Clearchannel radio.
Standout tracks: It's Never Alright, A Heart Like Mine, Rock It All Away
Standout tracks: Pocket Full of Misery, Rosalia
(Condescending Wonka says) Oh you thought West Coast rap was dead?
Have you heard Kendrick Lamar?
Standout tracks: B*tch Don't Kill My Vibe, Backseat Freestyle
Real country is alive and well. The Trishas are proof. The vocals and harmonies are beyond reproach. The songwriting is the thing for me though. High, Wide and Handsome shows Nashville how to write a hooky, lyrically clever song without leaning on cliches and marketing. The Trishas are no one-note act - they give us a portrait of strength on the album, but they also give us vulnerability. In other words, reality.
Standout tracks: Over Forgiving You, Mother of Invention, The Fool
Standout tracks: More Than I Can Handle, Harold Wilson, Desperate People
I want to personally thank Killer Mike for relighting my fire for hip-hop. Obviously, I focus mostly on alt-country and rock, but I've been a rap fan since the late 80's. I just thought intelligent, fiery, well-crafted hip-hop was a thing of the past. (Obviously there's a whole rap underground that I'm discounting with that statement, but there are only so many hours in the day for listening to music.) R.A.P. Music is a bold statement, both lyrically and sonically. Producer EL-P (whose own album is further down this list) provides a brutal, old-school-leaning bed for the rhymes. Mike flows like he actually cares about what he's saying. He's clearly a real person - in one verse he's cursing the political system; in the next he's praising his family. There's little talk of bling and booty on this record....because real people don't have to dwell on generalities and boasts when they discuss life. Killer Mike is as real as it gets.
Standout tracks: Big Beast, Reagan, Butane
The indie-country Svengali delivers his most consistent album to date with Family Man.
It's a cohesive, passionate look at (mostly) the everyman side of country music royalty.
On these very pages, I once dismissed Shooter's music, voice and image but no longer...
so long as he continues to deliver music this engaging and tuneful.
Standout tracks: The Long Road Ahead, Daddy's Hands
The indie world buzzed and bowed for this band from ...duh, Alabama, as soon as their EP hit the scene in 2011. That hype turned a lot of people off or built up their expectations far too high, but for me, Boys & Girls was a delivery on the promise of that Extended Play. Throw some Muscle Shoals soul, New York garage rock and folk sensibility into a blender and the Shakes are what results. It's more than that, though. Their songwriting is strong, their musical chops are exciting and Britanny Howard's voice is a thing of beauty.
I can't wait to see where they go from here.
Standout tracks: Hold On, Heartbreaker, I Ain't the Same
Like Shooter Jennings, Matt King was an artist I once didn't "get." Given time with his music however, I've changed my tune. Matt is a country singer with a very distinct vision. He also has a signature sound. That's rare in this day and age. Apples and Orphans is full of wit and anger in equal amounts. While politics and the environment are common themes, Matt explores these themes with an old-timey aesthetic and warm approach that never seems preachy, even when it is. His music is at times experimental, steampunk (whatever that means), ragtime or pure country. It's always passionate.
Standout tracks: Back to Baltimore, Jasmine and Gypsies
Dec 27, 2012
Top 10 Songs of 2012
No commentary on these. I'll just let the music speak for itself.
1. The Gaslight Anthem - Here Comes My Man
from Handwritten
from Handwritten
2. Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires - Righteous, Ragged Songs
from There is a Bomb in Gilead
from There is a Bomb in Gilead
3. Arliss Nancy - 40's
from Simple Machines
from Simple Machines
(Track hosted for streaming purposes only. No claim is made to copyright.
Song is not downloadable despite language in the graphic which suggests otherwise.)
Song is not downloadable despite language in the graphic which suggests otherwise.)
5. The Trishas - Over Forgiving You
from High, Wide and Handsome
from High, Wide and Handsome
6. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven
from AM Country Heaven
from AM Country Heaven
7. Turnpike Troubadours - Good Lord Lorrie
from Goodbye Normal Street
from Goodbye Normal Street
8. Killer Mike - Big Beast
from R.A.P. Music
from R.A.P. Music
9. The Mavericks - Come Unto Me
from Suited Up and Ready EP
from Suited Up and Ready EP
10. Some Dark Holler - Chords Are Always the Same
from Hollow Chest
from Hollow Chest
A few more honorable mentions:
John D. Hale Band - Desperate People
Hayes Carll - Love Don't Let Me Down (feat. Caitlin Rose)
The Dirty Guv'nahs - Dear Alice
Dec 17, 2012
Top 10 Played Most Songs 2012
 |
| Photo from Pavement PR |
1. Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires - Ain't No Stranger
2. Chris Knight - Little Victories
3. Shooter Jennings - The Long Road Ahead
4. Killer Mike - Big Beast (explicit + R-rated zombie stripper laden video)
5. Marty Stuart - Sundown in Nashville
6. The Pollies - Joe
7. EL-P - The Full Retard (explicit)
8. The Dirty Guv'nahs - 3000 Miles
9. The Gaslight Anthem - Here Comes My Man
10. Lucero - On My Way Downtown
(1 song per artist)
*Based on iTunes plays count, not favorite songs
Nov 22, 2012
I'm thankful for Chris Knight
Most of us US folks are back home with family, food and football today, giving thanks for all our many blessings. Here, Chris Knight reminds us of the comforts of simple pleasures and the welcoming warmth of home. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Sep 28, 2012
Sep 13, 2012
Best Albums of 2012 So Far: September
New to the chart this month: The Pollies, Chris Knight, Uncle Lucius and the John D. Hale Band.
1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead
2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down
3. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin (Release Date: Oct. 2)
5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street
7. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines
9. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
10. Shooter Jennings - Family Man
11. Blackberry Smoke - The Whippoorwill
12. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home
13. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle (Release Date: Sept. 25)
14. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven
15. Kellie Pickler - 100 Proof
Sep 12, 2012
Album Review: Chris Knight - Little Victories
If you're already a Chris Knight fan (and you should be), you've come to expect certain things from one of his albums. Gritty honesty. Earle-meets-Mellencamp country tinged roots-rock. Melodies that stick in your head for weeks. A focus on rural hardship. Lots of murder. Well, Little Victories has all of those things minus one. Going on 15 listens, I don't believe I've noticed more than one loss of life.
Don't worry, Chris is good enough that he doesn't have to let the lead fly every time out to deliver a satisfying collection of songs. While previous releases have seen foiled robberies, abusive jerks gone missing and bodies dumped in the river, the central bloodshed on Little Victories is the steady trickle of dead Presidents from your wallet. The commercial music world is keeping things typically light with trucks and girls and beer, but Knight sets his sights squarely on the difficulties of life in an endless damned recession.
"In the Mean Time" leads off the album with a treatise on self-reliance. Knight warns that as bad as it is, you should prepare for worse. "You might have to go out and shoot something and drag it home" and that might not be the only reason you need a shotgun.
Later, one of my favorites on the album, "Nothing On Me" chronicles the scars of a man and his dog who've already been made ready for hard times by hard living. A sawing fiddle and ringing guitar accompany Knight as he puts a more personal spin on the message of the album opener.
The title track sees Knight trade verses with John Prine in a song that celebrates the small successes that help get a person through struggles. Deer in the freezer and a baloney sandwich for lunch might not sound like much, but sometimes that's all it takes to keep the dark clouds at bay.
"You Can't Trust No One" is the darkly humorous flip-side of so many 60s love and peace anthems. Knight confronts the well-meaning ideals of community with the reality that some people are always ready to take advantage of such trust. "Everybody pack your picnic lunch and everybody pack your gun" is the hard truth he bears.
Little Victories isn't a concept album by any means, so there are plenty of Knight's trademark stories, drifter anthems and lost love laments. "Low Down Ramblin' Blues" is a catchy mid-tempo ode to never letting your hat hang in one place for long. Long-time fans will recognize "Hard Edges" from the Trailer Tapes collection. This time it's a fleshed out, full-band effort that while still more than solid, loses a bit of its raw impact.
So, how does Little Victories rank among Knight's stellar string of releases? Honestly, I don't know. He hasn't put out a single album I'd take a pass on yet, so if this one's in right there in the pack, it's in excellent company. Consistency is one of Chris' strengths and this is an album any Knight fan will love. It's also just as good a place to start as anything else he's put out, if you've never heard his music. Knight is one of America's greatest living singer-songwriters and Little Victories only adds to his legacy …even without the high body-count.
A-
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Little Victories is available on iTunes, Amazon, Lone Star Music and other outlets.
Aug 24, 2012
Aug 21, 2012
Aug 10, 2012
YouTube Gems: Chris Knight - Low Down Ramblin' Blues
From his forthcoming album, Little Victories, due September 11 (but you can already get it from his website), here's Chris Knight with "Low Down Ramblin' Blues."
Jun 22, 2012
Feb 29, 2012
Chris Knight - Hal and Mal's - February 23, 2012
I finally got a chance to see my favorite living (non-legend) songwriter last Thursday night at Hal and Mal's and it more than lived up to expectations.
 |
| Thomas Jackson |
Thomas Jackson, the frontman for Hattiesburg, MS's Thomas Jackson Orchestra opened the show with a half-hour set of originals. He played a blend of bluesy folk songs interspersed with hilarious self-deprecating banter. Thomas was very entertaining and a master of blues guitar technique.
A few minutes later, Chris Knight walked nearly unnoticed through the crowd to the stage. He was a good deal smaller in person than I'd expected. Grizzled and skinny, Knight was (as a Twitter pal noted) the portrait of a starving artist, though I doubt he actually fits that bill.
He opened the set with my favorite song of his, "Rural Route." Chris must have been getting over a cold because he sounded a bit strained on the higher notes, but he still managed to get the show off to a great start.
Next he introduced a new song called "In the Meantime," that is presumably on his new album due this year. Anyone who wasn't a hardcore fan would be hard pressed to know this though, because he never mentioned a forthcoming release. It was a great song though, that easily stands alongside his other material.
Though his voice pushed through the early show hoarseness and grew stronger with each song, Chris wasn't much for between-song dialogue. Besides introducing a few tunes with their titles or one-sentence introductions, all he said the whole night was for the guys at the board to turn down his monitors because he didn't want to have a loudness competition with the crowd. "I didn't come here to rock n' roll" he put it.
Knight spent the next hour and a half playing all his best known songs, including "It Ain't Easy Bein' Me," "Cry Lonely" and his Montgomery Gentry cut, "She Couldn't Change Me."
The crowd, for its part, was larger than I'd expected. It was also at times, disrespectfully loud. Contrasting this, the audience also shut up and sang along quite a bit… especially on the murder/revenge epic "Down the River."
Towards the middle of his performance, Knight unveiled one other new song, (which seemed to be titled) "Times Are Tough." It was a timely exploration of these financially difficult days and the grit it takes for a man to get by. I thought it was a great, powerful song and judging by the wide-eyed glances between audience members, everyone else seemed to agree.
After a short beer break, Chris gave us a three song encore to close the set, finishing up with another crowd singalong, "Framed."
Chris Knight is a man of few words who lets his art do the talking, and it spoke volumes last Thursday night. It was an excellent, longer than expected collection of songs that left me more than satisfied, and anxious for his new album and future live shows. Don't miss him if he books a show anywhere near you.
Set List
Rural Route
In the Meantime
Enough Rope
Beckys Bible
Heart of Stone
Down the River
Hard Candy
It Ain't Easy Bein' Me
Love and a 45
She Couldn't Change Me
Times Are Tough
Cry Lonely
Pretty Good Guy
North Dakota
If I Were You
Hard Edges
House and 90 Acres
(Encore)
Bangin' Away
Send a Boat
Framed
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