Chris Knight sits at his kitchen table as rain pelts the groundof his 40-acre wooded oasis.
"It started raining at 9 a.m.," Knight said in a telephoneinterview. "I've been loading logs this morning. I've got sometrees that have to go, so I can sell them at the log yard just 3miles up (the road)."
Roughly 5 miles from the singer-songwriter's land is hishometown, Slaughters, Ky., a mining town where about 200 peoplelive, breath, eat and sleep.
In 1975, at the age of 15, Knight began experimenting with hisolder brother's guitar while he labored in the coalmines.
Nov. 18, Knight and his guitarist Ty Avolio will play theHi-Tone Caf�, where he will sing songs from his third album,"The Jealous Kind," released Sept. 23, along with previousrecords.
The last time Knight performed his Americana-styled music at theHi-Tone Caf�, the crowd was smaller than he expected, hesaid. Incidentally, it was the day following the attack of theWorld Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001.
"I played the day after 9/11," Knight said. "We had about 35 to40 people."
Normally, Knight entertains crowds from 200 to 300 people, hesaid.
"I've got a good audience," he said. "It's just not very big. Ithink I've got a following down South."
Knight has been in the music business since 1994, when he workedas a staff songwriter for various publishers in Nashville, Tenn.His debut album, "Chris Knight," was released in 1998 by DeccaRecords. Decca folded in the late '90s, and Dualtone Recordsreleased Knight's subsequent albums -- "A Pretty Good Guy,"released in 2001 and his latest, "The Jealous Kind."
Although Knight may not be as well known as Toby Keith or LynyrdSkynyrd (who he used to listen to), his goal is to gradually buildhis fan base, he said.
"Well, I'd like to be able to sell quite a few more records, tobecome a little more well known every record," Knight said. "If Iwanted to chase the money, I'd do that. I'd be writing love songsfor 13-year-old girls, but I want to be solid."
Knight said he is not interested in attaining multi-platinumstatus if it means he will be here today and forgottentomorrow.
"The fans I make today, they're still going to be my fans 15years from now," he said.
Knight, who lives with his wife, Debbie, and their threechildren, said his family is one of his main inspirations insongwriting.
"The way I grew up and the people I know have a large influenceon my writing," Knight said. "The characters, opinions and politicsI write about -- it's pretty much a rural thing."
Because of the wit he pours into his songs about growing up inthe South and the different characters he has met along the way,Knight has been christened as "a grown-up Huck Finn with anacoustic guitar as well as a college degree" (he has a degree inagriculture from Western Kentucky University).
"I think it's kind of funny. It doesn't bother me," Knight saidin response to the label. "I'm not childish. I'm a very responsibleadult, but my wife doesn't always think so."
