Creepily dark yet compelling and often stuning songs from a master story-teller.

Chris Knight grew up in the small western Kentucky mining town of Slaughters. It's rather apt as many of his songs explore the darker side of life; murder, death, violent fights, boozing and slipping around. Montgomery Gentry, Stacy Dean Campbell, Confederate Railroad, John Anderson, Ty Herndon and Randy Travis have all recorded his songs, but it's Knight's own interpretations that make the biggest impact as this latest album demonstrates in no uncertain terms.

He writes brutally honest material and his music exudes emotive imagery. His sound is acoustic, but it rocks with some great electric lead and slide guitar---Kenny Greenberg, Pat Buchanan and Richard Bennett are the pickers here. His songs are four-minute novels mainly about his native Kentucky upbringing and characters he knew.

Every track on this album is good. Five really pulled me in. Tammy Roger's fiddle adds a chilling moan to Rural Route and the guitars of River Road focus and blur like the road dots of an all-night run. Old Man is a desperate tale of a lonesome farmer whose wife has passed on and his kids have flown the nest; hillbilly music lives and thrives in the hard-working hands of Chris Knight.

William's Son is another powerful slice of life song; the way Chris spits out the lyrics would make someone like Steve Earle more than a little wary. Then there's the acoustic-styled title tune that sums up the lot of the majority of every-day workman. Most Nashville singers would wish that they could impart half of the emotion that Knight does. Each track frames his lyrics for maximum impact, whether cranking up blues-edged country-rock or stripping down to stark acoustic folk.

A classic album with a theme of story songs that is as compelling as anything I've heard in the past five years. Just buy it! ---AC