John Christopher Knight

There is a truly remarkable story behind Way Down Inside, the new self-released acoustic roots CD by John Christopher Knight. His promotion flyers set it up best:

“What do you get if you take a boy raised in the deep South during the ‘60s and ‘70s (Elvis, Beatles, Redding, Dylan, Stones), run him through desegregation, hippies, yuppies . . . add in years of chasing American success . . . then drop him down with the wife of his youth and their nine children in rural Kentucky; no car, no electricity, no toilet, no radio, no musical instruments and give him some horses and hoes for farming, a buggy for travel . . . then after ten more years give him a guitar and harmonica?”

Knight (no relation to Americana singer/songwriter and former WKU student Chris Knight) lives with his family in rural Allen County on a “horse-powered” farm without electricity, indoor toilet, and other modern conveniences. Raised in Georgia, Knight was a manufacturer’s representative in Knoxville, Tennessee, but after ten years he felt a need to spend more time with his family and live a more spiritual, simple way of life.

The Knight family moved from their contemporary Knoxville house to the Mount Arial community ten years ago. They farm and raise championship lines of border collies. Recently the family took up playing musical instruments, and John had a musical vehicle to express the things he has experienced in this philosophical and spiritual journey.

Through a man he met while camping at a dog show, Knight became acquainted with Glenn Dossett, who had a home studio. The original intention was to record some of Knight’s songs and have an audio record of playing with son Justin, who was heading to the United Kingdom for several months. The recording went quickly, with only one of the nine songs needing a retake. Ten days after the session, John Knight was handed a CD of their work; he says it was the first CD he had ever held.

The musicians on Way Down Inside are John Christopher Knight (vocals, guitar, 2nd harmonica), Justin Knight (guitar), Greg Northcut (bass, conga, 1st harmonica, harmony vocal) and Prentice Knight (banjo). Glenn Dossett played electric guitar on “Got These Feelings.”

Anyone who has ever left (or wanted to) a large city for a small town or rural area can identify with the songs on Way Down Inside; it does not require a belief in a lifestyle that, according to John, often causes the Knight family to be mistaken for Mennonites. The topics — appreciation of what you have, love of family and nature, putting money in perspective — are the stuff many country, roots, and folk songs are made of, yielding songs that are at once personal and universal.

The low-key acoustic setting, Knight’s backwoods-colored vocals, and his sober-yet-deft lyrical reflections give Way Down Inside an unadorned grace, a la Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, that commands your attention. Knight paints a gently chiding picture of our consumer tendencies in “Don’t Listen” (“Why should you take a look at all the things you got/When you can dream about the things that you have not”). “Looked Out My Window” makes a profound observation on smelling the roses: “Ain’t nobody can guarantee us tomorrow/Gonna make sure that I feel what I touch today.” Ditto another album highlight “Race of Life,” a compelling piece that assures us there’s “No need to hurry everywhere you go/You’ll cover more ground if you move real slow/Take a good look at life on every side/And get a good taste of everything you try/In the race of life.” “Buckle Down” captures the struggle of ladder climbing and the cost it can exact at home; some of those costs are addressed in “I’m Ashamed.”

Knight and his family have been promoting the CD regionally. They have been featured on WBKO newscasts, did a 45 minute appearance on powerful FM country station WDEN in Macon, Georgia, and have gotten airplay on Nashville’s Americana radio giant the Phoenix. Both Disc Jockey in Bowling Green and Tower Records in Nashville carry the CD and in-store promotions for it. Knight has been approached to be on both the Gator’s Live and Local and WLBQ’s Backroads Troubadour, but he declined both live shows reluctantly; as part of the family’s beliefs, they do nothing secular from Friday night to Saturday night. However, Knight and family came to WLBQ on a weeknight and taped an appearance on the Backroads Troubadour, which will be aired October 14.

John Christopher Knight is getting more used to self promotion. He doesn’t know where pushing his music will lead, but he and his family are taking advantage of the opportunities to promote Way Down Inside and preparing for live performances. Knight’s attitude is if the CD release and subsequent attention result in some commercial success, that would be a great by-product of the recording, but if nothing happens the music is still enjoyable for its own sake.

Way Down Inside is available in many locations, including Disc Jockey, Box of Rocks, Great Escape, and Morgantown Prescription Center. It can also be ordered by writing the Knight Family, P. O. Box 45, Franklin, KY 42135.

Don Thomason is a writer and musician living in Dunbar. Visit him at www.myspace.com/donthomasonmusic