Chris Knight

Chris Knight (born June 24, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter from Slaughters, Kentucky. In addition to releasing solo records of his own material, Knight has had a successful career writing songs that have been recorded by Confederate Railroad, John Anderson, and Randy Travis among others.

Biography

Early life Knight was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Slaughters, Kentucky. His extended family lives in the same area of Kentucky. Knight has three brothers and a sister. His father was a pipe liner.

When he was three years old, he asked for a plastic guitar for Christmas. At 15, he became serious and began teaching himself John Prine songs on his older brother's guitar. In an interview, Knight commented "At one point I could play probably 35–40 John Prine songs."

Knight earned a degree in agriculture from Western Kentucky University. He worked for ten years as a mine reclamation inspector and as a miner's consultant for the Kentucky Department of Surface Mining.

Music career Knight started composing when he was 26, but didn't start performing until he was 30. He got his first record deal when he was 37.

Nashville In 1986, he heard Steve Earle on the radio and decided to start writing songs. After six years he came to Nashville and won a spot on a songwriters' night at the Bluebird Cafe.

Early releases He recorded his first demo tapes, bootlegged—and then self-released—while living alone in a trailer on his property outside Slaughters. Called The Trailer Tapes, they were officially released in 2007. They were one of his best-selling records.

Little Victories It took Knight four years to release Little Victories in 2012. Knight's former Decca labelmate Lee Ann Womack collaborated with him on "You Lie When You Call My Name." Long-time musical hero John Prine sings on the title track. Buddy Miller plays guitar and sings on two tracks: "Missing You" and "Nothing on Me."

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales US Country US USHeat USIndie Chris Knight Release date: February 10, 1998 Label: Decca Nashville — — — — A Pretty Good Guy Release date: September 11, 2001 Label: Dualtone Records — — — — The Jealous Kind Release date: August 19, 2003 Label: Dualtone Records 67 — — — Enough Rope Release date: July 11, 2006 Label: Thirty Tigers — — 49 48 The Trailer Tapes Release date: April 3, 2007 Label: Thirty Tigers 68 — 40 — Heart of Stone Release date: August 19, 2008 Label: Drifter's Church 37 — 7 31 Trailer II Release date: September 15, 2009 Label: Thirty Tigers 64 — — — Little Victories Release date: September 11, 2012 Label: Drifter's Church 25 148 4 33US: 3,000 Almost DaylightRelease date: October 11, 2019 Label: Drifter's Church — — 3 12US: 2,800 "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year Song Album 1998 "Framed" Chris Knight "It Ain't Easy Being Me" 2001 "Becky's Bible" A Pretty Good Guy 2002 "Oil Patch Town" 2003 "The Jealous Kind" The Jealous Kind 2006 "Cry Lonely" Enough Rope 2012 "In the Mean Time" Little Victories

Music videos Year Video Director 1998 "Framed" Roger Pistole "It Ain't Easy Being Me" 2002 "Oil Patch Town" 2006 "Cry Lonely" Milton Sneed 2013 "In the Mean Time" James Weems 2019 "I'm William Callahan" Nathaniel Maddux

Songs written or co-written by Knight "A Pretty Good Guy" – Fred Eaglesmith "A Train Not Running" – Stacy Dean Campbell "Becky's Bible" – Jason Savory "Cry Lonely" – Cross Canadian Ragweed "Heart of Stone" – Dan Baird "Highway Junkie" – Randy Travis, Gary Allan, The Yayhoos, The Von Ehrics "I Don't Want to Hang Out With Me" – Confederate Railroad "It Ain't Easy Being Me" – John Anderson, Jason McCoy, and Blake Shelton "Love and Gasoline" and "She's Leaving This Town" – The Great Divide "Love at 90 Miles an Hour" – Ty Herndon "She Couldn't Change Me" – Montgomery Gentry "The Hammer Goin Down" – The Road Hammers "Devil behind the wheel - Matraca Berg

Television appearances In 2015, Chris Knight was featured in Season 1, Episode 2 of CarbonTV's original series, American Elements.