Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

There is a wellspring of musical talent in and around Nashville that is seemingly bottomless. For every so-called star that gains even a hint of prominence, there are easily ten others who should be huge, and are not, for one reason or not. Roger Knott would be one of those; it may be that his high, pleasant vocals are not to a mogul’s liking, or his looks do not fit into some preconceived notion of what this month’s model should look like, or tracks like the exquisite The Sound of Your Name from Step Out Into The Sun don’t fit into the play list of terrestrial country radio. No matter. Step Out Into the Sun is a beautiful piece of work, worth listening to repeatedly. 

Step Out Into the Sun is Knott’s third CD (to my knowledge), and this time around he has Clive Gregson along on both sides of the console, producing and playing guitar and keys. A word about Gregson: he is the consummate musician, whether fronting Any Trouble or as the sideman for such stalwarts as Nanci Griffith. The trademark of his production is that he has none; he is able to bring the strength and sound out of whatever artist he is producing without etching his own name into the sidewalk, as it were. As a sideman, his playing supports and buttresses the featured performer. The result, on such tracks as The Devil Riding By, is that Knott and his carefully selected side musicians sound as if they are in your living room, or car, or office, wherever you happen to be listening to Step Out Into The Sun.

Knott’s music is informed by equal parts country and folk, with some Celtic influence infused throughout. The result is an upbeat, bouncy, pop effect, nothing loud or intrusive or invasive. Think McCartney, or some of The Cyrkle’s more upbeat tunes. That is not to say that all is sweetness and light; Good Times Have None To Spare is one of the saddest songs I’ve heard in awhile, a quiet, subtle tome of loss and regret that I keep playing over and over again, not because I identify with it but simply because it is so well done. The real sorrow, however, is that Knott is not the household name he ought to be. Perhaps Step Out Into the Sun will change that.