The Gobblers Knob

Ok, I am back from New Orleans and I am ready to get back on the horse and blog it to death!!  I like to browse other Texas Music sites every few weeks just to see what others have to say about the up and comers on the scene.  My new favorite column is the monthly Brad’s Corner manifesto that is on Galleywinter.  For the most part, I stay away from “forums” and message boards (Galleywinter hosts a ton of them), due to the fact they generally consist of the same 2 or 3 people that proceed with ”conversations” that are eerily similar to the notes that little girls used to pass each other in 2nd grade when the teacher wasn’t looking (no, I don’t like you, and no I won’t “go” with you, and NO, I wont go to the roller rink with you this weekend!).   Brad’s Corner has now featured 2 consecutive thoughtful, articulate, and sincere essays on not only the state of new Texas Music, but what draws all of us to it and makes this brand of music so special.  Much like “Brad” says in his “corner,” “My Hometown” by Charlie Robison was largely responsible for me developing a love for the newer music coming out of Texas (as well as got me listening to 95.3).  The biggie for me was one day when I was driving east on 30 past Rockwall.  The Range played not only “Hometown,” but another song right after it.  The DJ introduced the song as “from a new voice that you will be hearing a lot from soon, ‘It Aint Easy Being Me’ by Chris Knight.”  As I listened to the song and deciphered the lyrics, “why do I do the things I do, was I born this way or am I a self-made fool...,” I realized that this song was every bit as autobiographical and ultimately, relatable as the simple small town boy story of “Hometown.”  It hit me after listening to that amazing radio back to back playlist that I didn’t need simple lyrics of fairly generic everyday life in song to be relatable, and I didn’t necessarily need for it to be a “Texas Song,” or to be meaningful either.  Many folks are surprised to know that Chris Knight isn’t a Texan or even from Nashville, but from Kentucky, though he has become an idol to many younger Texan singer-songwriters.  He has put out 4 studio albums that have each been the “best CD Chris Knight has ever put out.”  Whether it’s the classic debut “Chris Knight,” or “A Pretty Good Guy” with Becky’s Bible (this song contains many classic Knight themes; murder, sadness, faith and a woman waiting on her extremely flawed man), “The Jealous Kind” or “Enough Rope,” you will find a library of rock, country, roadhouse, love, hate, revenge, loneliness, Jesus, and regret all rolled into one of the most amazing live show set-lists you’ll find on Shiner Sunday or any other day with any other beer.  It is really cool when you can look back and remember the first time you heard a song that still means as much, if not more to you, as  it did that first spin.  Hey, like Knight says in one of his newer songs, “you can’t hang yourself if you aint got enough rope” (that really doesn’t apply here, but it’s cool and I wasn’t sure how to end this rather wordy post).