Sometimes, you just have to stick to your strengths.
When I lived in Stillwater, I was going through a summer internship at a company and it required a lot of classroom work. The first week of the internship, the instructor decided to make Thursday a review day of the previous weeks classroom work. Well, the five of us in class liked that idea a lot because we found out that the Wormy Dog had penny beer nights on Wednesday nights. I’ve talked about this concept before, but just in case you aren’t a regular reader, (and my first question is; why aren’t you?) you pay a small cover charge, then the beer only costs a penny until a certain time, in this case 11:00. And let’s face it; if you can’t get in a happy mood by 11 with basically free beer, you aren’t really trying. (Trust me, we tried, and succeeded I might add, plenty of times) I would like to tell some great stories about these Wednesday nights, but unfortunately, the only thing I remember is how to take back streets all the way to my apartment. So a review day worked for us all as we were in no shape to take on new tasks. And honestly, who would be. The second week of class, the instructor decided to move the review day to Fridays. Which was fine for Friday, but Thursday turned into a fiasco. We had trouble turning on our computers, let alone learning new tasks. It was like trying to teach a city slicker how to check heavy heifers; it just didn’t work. The wise instructor that he was soon realized the folly of his ways and moved the review day back to Thursdays. The moral of this story, always stick with what works. And we were all happy that he did.
When I got my new Chris Knight CD from Miles of Music, they included a copy of the magazine Country Standard Time and it had an interview with Chris in the magazine. He stated that he tried to write a song that the general public would like and could get all kinds of airplay on a country-pop radio station. He tried it once, decided it was a bad idea, and went back to writing music that he has on his other CD’s. The moral of this story, always stick with what works. And we are all happy that he did.
If you like Knight’s previous works, you will love Enough Rope. Songs about heart break and the way that rural America really is. (Unlike many of the songs that are played on country pop radio. If you live in a city, we don’t act anything like those songs suggest. Like Cage says, my tractor ain’t sexy) If you want song that better represent rural America, I would go with River Road, Rural Route, Dirt and especially Enough Rope. Enough Rope is about a guy that got his girl knocked up at 18, and as such, has altered their plans for the rest of their life, while Dirt is about trying to save the family farm.
Well, I woulda bought my grandpa’s farm
But I couldn’t quite raise enough cash
Now they’re cutting all the timber down
Turning the rest to ash
These songs are by people like us, for people like us, not what some suit in Nashville thinks we are like. The first song on this CD is a (big word alert) quintessential CK song about a guy that used to get in fights at bars, but now is trying to steer his son away from the same lifestyle. One of my favorites on this CD is Saved by Love. It’s a classic in my books, and one that must be heard. He even gives advice on how to handle women and bulls. (You shouldn’t but bridles on either, instead, lead them around by the nose) What a guy. This is a great CD, that should be enjoyed by all.
So, what have we learned today:
- Never schedule anything big the day after penny beer night
- CK knows how to tell a tale about small towns
- And always stick with what works
I’ll give this CD 4 and a half out of 5 Stillwater side streets.