Chris Knight (musician)

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For other persons named Christopher Knight, see Christopher Knight (disambiguation).

Chris Knight is an American country music singer and songwriter from Kentucky. He has come only recently to national attention, but has written songs for Confederate Railroad, John Anderson, and Randy Travis among others. He is perhaps best known for writing the hit Montgomery Gentry song "She Couldn't Change Me" and due to his particular fame in Texas, has been named an "Honorary Texan" by Texas Governer Rick Perry. ^[1] He has been compared to Steve Earle and John Prine throughout his career as a musician.

1 Biography
2 Songs Written or Co-written & recorded by other artists
3 Discography
4 Unofficial recordings/Bootlegs
5 Notes
6 External Links

[edit] Biography

Chris Knight was born on June 24, 1960. He grew up in the western Kentucky mining town of Slaughters. ^[2] Knight started on his musical journey at just three years old when he requested a plastic guitar for Christmas. When he turned 15, he became more serious and began teaching himself John Prine songs on his older brother's guitar. ^[3] He has a degree in agriculture from Western Kentucky University. He worked for close to ten years as a mine reclamation inspector and as a miner's consultant. ^[4] In 1986, after earning his degree, he heard Steve Earle on the radio and decided to try his hand at writing songs. After six years of of working on his songs he came to Nashville and won a spot on a songwriters' night at the Bluebird Cafe. He snatchted the interest of Frank Liddell, who signed him to a publishing deal with Bluewater Music. He then went back home and kept writing, and when Decca Records hired Liddell for an A&R position, Knight got a record deal and Decca released his self-titled debut in 1998. Knight still lived in a house trailer on 90 acres in Slaughters when the album was released. ^[5] He has since become a popular name in the Americana music genre.

[edit] Songs Written or Co-written & recorded by other artists

"A Pretty Good Guy" - Fred Eaglesmith
"A Train Not Running" - Stacy Dean Campbell
"Cry Lonely" - Cross Canadian Ragweed (To be on their upcoming album)
"Down the River" - Kyle Jennings
"Highway Junkie" - Randy Travis, Gary Allan, The Yayhoos
"I Don't Want to Hang Out With Me" - Confederate Railroad
"If I Were You" - The Gibson Brothers
"It Ain't Easy Being Me" - John Anderson, Randy Dukes, Jason McCoy, and Blake Shelton (On the upcoming Pure BS Album)
"Love and Gasoline" and "She's Leaving This Town" - The Great Divide
"Love at 90 Miles an Hour" - Ty Herndon
"Miles to Memphis" - Darryl Lee Rush
"She Couldn't Change Me" - Montgomery Gentry
"Talk of the Town" - Rambler
"The Hammer Goin Down" - The Road Hammers

[edit] Discography

Chris Knight - February 10, 1998
A Pretty Good Guy - September 11, 2001
The Jealous Kind - September 23, 2003
Enough Rope - July 11, 2006
The Trailer Tapes - April 3, 2007

[edit] Unofficial recordings/Bootlegs

Bluewater Demos (Early 90s)--features 4 songs not available on official releases
Trailer Tapes Demos (circa 1996)--songs make up the bulk of the official Trailer Tapes release.
Live from Mountain Stage. Bluefield, WV (07/12/98)--Not traded frequently, perhaps due to it only consisting of three songs.
Live at the Star Bar, Atlanta, GA (01/28/99--this is not a soundboard recording.
Live at Ringnes Pub, Jonkoping, Sweden (08/28/01)--Most common unofficial recording.
Live at the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour, Lexington, KY (2002)--this is available for free download on the Woodsongs website.
Live at Lynagh's Pub, Lexington, KY (02/01/02)--this is not a soundboard recording.
Live at Skippers Smokehouse, Tampa, FL (02/09/02)
Live at Dumplin Valley Farm, Kodak, TN (05/17/03)
Live at Fundbüro, Hamburg, Germany (04/19/04)
Live at Sinkkasten, Frankfurt, Germany (04/20/04)
Live at Rick's, Bellows Falls, VT (06/12/04)--generally considered to be one of Chris Knight's finest known live show recordings.
Live from XM Studios, Washington, DC (02/15/05)--first known recording of "Crooked Road"
Live on WDVX's Blue Plate Special, Knoxville, TN (08/09/06)
Live at XM Studios, Washington, DC (08/14/06)
Live from Mountain Stage, Bluefield, WV (09/17/06)
Live at The Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN (09/21/06)
Live at Roepaen, Ottersum, The Netherlands (02/04/07--leaked on torrent sites the day after the show.