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Finally Friday: Chris Knight, Leroy From The North, Galvezton

FF 12.2.22

We know Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson as flinty, deeply intelligent, somewhat reclusive songwriters from rural Kentucky. But in that sense, they are heirs to Chris Knight who had that role nailed down back in the early days of the Americana format. We’re honored and excited to have this humble master of country music on our Finally Friday bill this week, kicking off the music at noon. Also up, California garage rock by Leroy From The North (12:45) and trippy surf rock by Galvezton (1:30).

The self-titled debut by Chris Knight came out on the late great Decca Records in 1998 during a strange period when Music Row’s country record labels knew that radio wouldn’t play the kind of raw and real artists they’d had success with in prior decades - but they signed some awesome talent anyway. When “It Ain’t Easy Being Me” came lofting out of the speakers in an anti-manifesto of self-loathing, we knew we were hearing an heir to John Prine and a peer of Steve Earle. Acclaimed as he was, Knight rarely found the hot spotlight over the years, but his output kept his hard core fans coming back. He's also had some nice success landing his songs on country albums by others. In 2019, after a seven-year gap between albums, Knight released Almost Daylight, a muscular opus featuring guitar by Dan Baird and production by the great Ray Kennedy. Knight says on his web site that “I wanted it all to sound edgy and raw, but to feel big at the same time. We kept trying different approaches until I felt we landed on what worked. The thing is, some of my songs might take a year of writing before I even think they’re ready for recording and I fretted about every one of these. I think it all fits together pretty good.” Slow and selective wins the race.

Leroy From The North is the band that guitarist and singer-songwriter Eli Wulfmeier put together after knocking around Los Angeles looking for the right fit. His 2019 recording debut offered a terse five-song survey of a guy who can play it bright and clean or deep and driving, as on the hard rocking but tuneful finale “Hey Man.” He told Voyage L.A. in 2019 that “As a musician and writer, I feel like I identify with artists like Kurt Vile, Chris Stapleton, Gregg Allman, Kris Kristofferson, and other indie/alt-country artists. I like that late 70s early 80s aesthetic.” Lately he’s dropping singles that confirm that diagnosis, including the striding, Steve Miller-esque “Top 10” and “White Knights,” about the trash/treasure dichotomy of L.A. An album is coming soon, he says.

Another broad-minded songwriter with a new band identity is Robert Kuhn’s Galvezton, a name that remixes his home base on the Gulf coast of Texas. Kuhn seems like a guy who takes initiative, including founding the La Izquierda Festival, named for a left-hand wave, because Kuhn’s a surfer. He also makes a kind of 80s-inflected neo-surf rock on Galvezton’s 2022 album Persevere. His bio emphasizes Kuhn’s Houston origins and his global travels, inspired by Jack Kerouac, before returning to Texas. It sounds like he’s picked up a little something from everywhere he’s been.

Craig Havighurst is WMOT's editorial director and host of The String, a weekly interview show airing Mondays at 8 pm, repeating Sundays at 7 am. He also co-hosts The Old Fashioned on Saturdays at 9 am and Tuesdays at 8 pm. Threads and Instagram: @chavighurst. Email: craig@wmot.org