Chris Knight: The Real Country Deal

Kentucky singer-songwriter Chris Knight just might be the real country deal. No less an outlaw than Willie Nelson has called him "one of us." Critics are talking Steve Earle, John Prine and even Johnny Cash. Yet Knight proves to be his own man on his self-titled Decca debut. (Look for the CD with a scratchy duotone photo of Knight sitting with his dog and a Gibson J-50.)

He pushes his gritty, expressive voice around songs of self-destruction ("It Ain't Easy Being Me"), the ambiguous nature of guilt ("Framed"), and even violence ("Love and a .45"). He never ignores the truth or greases reality in his almost cinematic tales.

For it's the songs first that distinguish him. And it's the heartbreak songs that reveal the depths of his frailty and feeling. These are songs of his father on "The River's Own," his mother on "Summer of `75" and a long-gone lover on "Something Changed" -- all soaked with hard-earned truth. But it's the last song, "William," about a dead, boyhood friend shot by police, that cuts deepest. "I know you could of had a heart of gold/But I don't think you ever knew that you had one/I don't think you were ever told."

Producers Frank Liddell and Greg Droman chose some of Nashville's best, left-of-commercial guitar players including Steve Earle veteran Richard Bennett (the best rhythm and parts guy in town), Kenny Greenberg, Joe Ely and Mellencamp sideman David Grissom as well as drummer Chad Cromwell, whose done stints with Neil Young and Mark Knopfler. The production is big and rings as true as Knight's lyrics and voice.