On his 2006 release, Enough Rope, Chris Knight has made some of the hardest country-rock I’ve heard in a long while and damn it feels good. True to the coutnry-rock form, his songs are filled with bad asses who get into bar fights, shoot guns, drink heavy and fight with their lovers. But the thing that sets Knight’s songs apart is that these characters, by and large, are trying to actually be good folks worthy of respect in a world that ignores or disrespects them. And it’s this trying-to-be-good theme that makes the lyrics as hard hitting as the music that goes with it. By creating central characters that are this true-to-life he digs into the same vein that the Drive-by Truckers started but he digs deeper, way deeper than they ever did while the DBTs’ have been veering more and more toward self-parody. “Jack Blue” is a great example of a Chris Knight character. We know that the local sheriff has it out for Jack, though we don’t know why. We know that he can hold his own in bar fights, often taking people on two on one and winning. But by the end of the song, he’s “trying to teach his kids to respect the law.” The other strong tracks on this CD are “River Road,: “Rural Route,” and “Up From The Hill.” But by far the best track on this CD is “Williams Son.”
Taproot Tracks
Williams Son
Jack Blue
River Road
Rural Route
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