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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > August > 03 > Entry
Preview: Chris Knight at Hill’s Cafe
Chris Knight carves truths from soil and sweat. Many hurt: The native Kentuckian’s protagonists chart dead-end journeys that ultimately curl under crippling misfortune. Nonetheless, hope often surfaces below dim thunderclouds. “Love and a .45 are all you need to get you through the night,” Knight warns on “Love and a .45.” “One will kill you, one will keep you alive.” The honorary Texan, whose “Trailer II” collection (due Sept. 15) shows early glimpses at essential tunes, performs Wednesday (Aug. 5) at Hill’s Café.
American-Statesman: ‘The Trailer Tapes’ demos were something of legend until you released them in 2007.
Chris Knight:Well, they took on a life of their own by the time I put out my first album (in 1998). People were mentioning them in write-ups. Interns in Nashville got their hands on them and kind of spread them around. My manager wanted to release them, but I didn’t really want to. I hadn’t heard them since back in ’96. They were real raw. (Engineer) Ray Kennedy fixed them up a bit, and I thought they sounded pretty good then. So, we tried to get in on the action (laughs).
Unlike those songs, most on ‘Trailer II’ are well known. How do you feel about these demo takes?
I have some misgivings, but I’m more critical of myself than most people. They kind of are what they are. I do them a lot better now. A lot of them I’d rather play with a full band, but at the time I was just trying to get them down. I wasn’t used to recording or singing into a microphone in the studio. I had to do a lot of live shows before I even figured out how to sing. I could sing, but I’d get a little uptight in the studio back then. It just wouldn’t come out the way I wanted. I can hear that, but I can also hear the beginnings of what I do now.
During this time, you wrote ‘Love and a .45’ with Fred Eaglesmith.
I was with the folks at Bluewater (Music) down there in Nashville, and Fred was writing there, too. I went by that morning and a guy who worked there said, “Hey, I’ve got a title for you: ‘Love and a .45.’” It was some kind of an independently made movie back then, but I never did see the movie. We just came up with a story around the title and wrote it real quick, two or three hours probably.
Do you generally prefer co-writing or writing alone?
Both. There are a few people I really enjoy writing with. But a lot of times I’d get together with someone and write four or five songs and it’d just dry up completely.
There are three unreleased cuts on ‘Trailer II.’ How many unheard songs are left from that era?
I’ve got a feeling there’s a lot more “Trailer Tape” stuff out there and I just don’t remember what I recorded. It seems like I had 30 or 40 songs recorded during those sessions.
Are they as dark as the others?
Yeah. There’re enough sunshine and lollipop songs out there, don’t you think (laughs)? Somebody’s gotta pick up the slack on the other end.
Chris Knight performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 5) at Hill’s Café, 4700 S. Congress Ave. The show is free. 851-9300.
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