ROUTES & BRANCHES  
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 29, 2019
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Let's leave September in the ditch with an accounting of our five (5) favorite sounds from the month passed:

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT SEPTEMBER?!!
Pernice Brothers, Spread the Feeling  (Ashmont, Sep 9)
Hiss Golden Messenger, Terms of Surrender  (Merge, Sep 20)
Brittany Howard, Jaime  (ATO, Sep 20)
Will Johnson, Wire Mountain  (Keeled Scales, Sep 27)
John Calvin Abney, Safe Passage  (Black Mesa, Sep 27)
Sturgill Simpson, Sound & Fury  (Elektra, Sep 27)

Yah ... that's six.

Among folks who keep a finger on the pulse of our kind of music, Chris Knight's seven-year recording hiatus has been a recurring topic of conversation.  Since the appearance of his 1997 debut, few if any artists have proven so consistent with regards to quality and integrity.  Knight has said he doesn't release stuff until he has enough good songs for an album - a strategy that seems pretty reasonable, albeit distressingly rare. The Kentucky-born songwriter steps back into the sun with next month's release of Almost Daylight (Drifters Church, Oct 11).

As I commit to a review, I'll always revisit an artist's previous output in order to give some context to the new songs.  For Chris Knight, that meant sidling up alongside some old friends, a trove of near-perfect tunes from tremendous collections.  Even his Trailer Tapes sessions can be revelatory, recorded early on in his mobile home in Slaughters, KY.  Unlike many of his contemporaries, he has agilely avoided the slumps and desperate maneuvers, the concessions and cries for popular attention that might plague an artist.  Knight has simply kept his head down and shared good songs when he's had them.

Produced by Ray Kennedy, and featuring turns from recurring friends John Prine,  and Lee Ann Womack, Almost Daylight is the grittiest album from a man who's built a career out of telling dark stories.  Much of the credit is owed to Dan Baird, whose low slung guitar populates every shadowed corner of the sessions.  But it's Chris Knight himself who muddies up the proceedings so wonderfully, his voice so swampy and cragged that you'd have to throw Billy Joe Shaver or even Malcolm Holcombe into the mix of vocalists to whom he's likened (John(ny Cougar) Mellencamp, Steve Earle, et al.).

The record sets sail with a story song, "I'm William Callahan":  Started poor as Kentucky coal / Lined my pockets with Denver gold / I've been cold as Alaska snow / Searching for the sun.  A heavy-loaded freight train of a song, it takes no time to kick into its steady gear, fueled by harmonica and Knight's genuine delivery, such a welcome gift after seven years gone.  Sure, this sort of been-there-done-that account can be cliched in the wrong hands, but credit Knight and company for wrenching it free from its deep ruts.  You'll find very few covers in his oeuvre, though Daylight closes with a pair of tunes originally from Johnny Cash and John Prine, reminding listeners that he's earned his right to dip into this rich well of tradition.

But more often than not, Knight is simply mining from his own mythology, sharing those pitch-dark stories in pretty bleak times.  We live in a world of lies, he growls, And that's the damn truth.  Cowritten with Gary Nicholson, "Damn Truth" adds mandolin, organ and backing vocals to the powerful full band setting.  What sounds like a timeworn warning from the grizzled stranger sharing the bar is tempered just a touch by a suggestion that We oughta help the ones in need / Help a man get back on his feet.  With its plucked banjo sharing the space with some of Baird's most electric guitar, "Crooked Mile" follows the narrator off the grid in a search for something to call his own:  Back in the woods where the law won't go / Down in the hollow where the wind don't blow / Gonna raise us a family, make us a home / We'll be alright if they leave us alone.

For all its overcast prophecy, Chris Knight and Ray Kennedy have built a great sounding album. Almost Daylight isn't a departure from the pair's previous work on 2012's Little Victories, though this ninth record sounds thicker, the guitars louder and the troubles deeper.  "Trouble Up Ahead" is delivered through the eyes of a man whose reputation has preceded him into town.  Drums kick up in the wake of the first verse, as the song grows like a contemporary "Copperhead Road".  The magic even drills through a tune like "Everybody's Lonely Now", a downcast number that originally appeared on 2008's Heart of Stone.  This new take is heartbreakingly soulful, making the original sound like a demo:  I wanna reach out and hold you / But I feel like I'm in the way.

One of the recurring themes on R&B is the absolute necessity of new artists to keep the edges of our kind of music sharp and cutting.  While it's heartening that some of our Old Favorites return with new collections from year to year, nobody can make a case that these legacy artists play any significant hand in the future of roots music.  As artists age, those added years and a modicum of success can weaken the voices and dull the once sharp vision.  But I would argue that Chris Knight remains relevant with Almost Daylight, an uncompromising glimpse into the mirror.  Age (and a healthy cigarette habit) simply adds gravitas to the mix, perhaps in the same way the Johnny Cash's take on "Hurt" only works in light of his advancing years.  It's curious that Knight has christened his discomfiting new work Almost Daylight.  The title cut breezes by in just three minutes, a road-weary ode to his wife and home.  It's a sobering moment on a CD that stirs many emotions.  He sings: I'm a gypsy on my way home ... It's alright / It's almost daylight.


- John Calvin Abney, "I Just Want To Feel Good" Safe Passage  (Black Mesa, 19)
- Michaela Anne, "Tattered Torn and Blue (And Crazy)" Desert Dove  (Yep Roc, 19)
- Will Johnson, "Need of Trust and Thunder" Wire Mountain  (Keeled Scales, 19)
- Whiskey Myers, "Little More Money" Whiskey Myers  (Wiggy Thump, 19)
- Harmed Brothers, "Bottle to Bottle" A Lovely Conversation  (Fluff & Gravy, 16)
- Charlie Parr, "Love is an Unraveling Bird's Nest" Charlie Parr  (Red House, 19)
- Replacements, "Portland" Dead Man's Pop  (Warner, 19)
- Little Teeth, "Western Skies" Redefining Home  (Gunner, 19)
- Laura Gibson, "La Grande" La Grande  (Barsuk, 12)
- Sturgill Simpson, "Make Art Not Friends" Sound & Fury  (Elektra, 19)
- Kenny Roby & 6 String Drag, "Memories and Birds" Tired of Feelin' Guilty: 25 Years  (Schoolkids, 19)
- Dori Freeman, "Like I Do" Every Single Star  (Freeman, 19)
- The Deer, "Confetti To the Hurricane" Do No Harm  (Keeled Scales, Nov 1)
- Allison Moorer, "All I Wanted (Thanks Anyway)" Blood  (Autotelic, Oct 25)
- Ags Connolly, "Say It Out Loud" Wrong Again  (Finstock, Nov 1)
- Roger Harvey, "Burn One With John Prine" single  (Lions Tooth, 19)  D
- Darrin Bradbury, "Hell's More or Less the Same" Talking Dogs & Atom Bombs  (Anti, 19)
- Trigger Hippy, "Don't Wanna Bring You Down" Full Circle & Then Some  (Turkey Grass, Oct 11)
- Hiss Golden Messenger, "Whip" Terms of Surrender  (Merge, 19)
- Rachel Harrington, "Hush the Wild Horses" Hush the Wild Horses  (Harrington, 19)
- Jeremy Ivey, "Ahead, Behind" Dream & the Dreamer  (ATO, 19)
- Sam Phillips, "I Need Love" Zero Zero Zero  (Virgin, 98)
- Sammy Kay, "Hummingbird" civil/WAR  (Kay, Oct 11)
- Pernice Brothers, "Queen of California" Spread the Feeling  (Ashmont, 19)
- GospelbeacH, "Let It Burn" Let It Burn  (Alive Naturalsound, Oct 4)
- Jason Boland & the Stragglers, "Holy Relic Sale" Squelch  (Proud Souls, 15)
- GA-20, "Lonely Soul" Lonely Soul  (Karma Chief, Oct 18)  D
- Vincent Neil Emerson, "Highway Shine" Fried Chicken & Evil Women  (la Honda, 19)
- Charley Crockett, "Way I'm Livin' (Santa Rosa)" The Valley  (Son of Davy, 19)
- Colter Wall, "Happy Reunion" Colter Wall & Scary Prairie Boys  (Young Mary, 19)  D

It's actually been a very largehearted month for new records, and October looks to be promising as well.  Before you know it, it'll be time to kill a turkey and have Christmas. Which reminds me that we've got several Very Special Episodes on the R&B horizon.  I'll be showcasing my favorite songs of 2019 on our November 24 post.  My favorite albums post will likely happen on December 8.  Makes sense that we'll shoehorn an all-holiday thing on December 22.  And then stay tuned for a favorites of the decade list for our first offering of 2020  (January 5).

This new records were added to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster by a diversity of folks like Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (Ghosteen, Oct 4) and Jason James, whose Seems Like Years Ago will hit shelves wherever music hits shelves next week.  The ever-reliable Colemine Records will share the debut CD from heavy blues duo GA-20 on October 18, and Scottish folk duo Doghouse Roses has claimed November 1 as the release date for their fourth record, We Are Made of Light.  Did you know that Jenny Owen Youngs actually wrote Panic! at the Disco's "High Hopes"?  Huh.  Anyhow, she's got an EP in the wings.  Night Shift is coming out November 15.  November 29 marks the debut of a new Mose Allison tribute called If You're Going To the City (Fat Possum/Sweet Relief).  Contributors include Robbie Fulks, Peter Case, Dave Alvin and more.  Crossing over into the New Year, we've added the first LP in four years from Smoke Fairies, as well as Far From Home from Aubrie Sellers. 

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