The word "virtuoso" is one that tends to get bandied about by folks like me with something approaching reckless abandon, but in the case of finger style guitarist Keith Knight it's wholly appropriate. Supporting evidence for this claim can be found on Knight's Web site, which notes that in 2000, he was awarded a fellowship from the South Carolina Arts Commission for music performance (the first non-classical musician to attain this status). Knight numbers Leo Kottke, Leadbelly and Bill Monroe among his formative influences. There are discernible traces of those artists here, but also many more (as we shall see).
Tear It Up reveals a musical adventurer, blessed not only with awesome technique, but the imagination and versatility to create memorable, engaging music with it. "The Dublin Dudes" demonstrates a remarkable empathy with both the melodic purity and rhythmic complexity of Irish traditional music, Knight's guitar skipping effortlessly across jig and slip-jig time, and an impeccable arrangement of bass, fiddle, whistle and bodhran. Fans of Robin Williamsons Merry Band or any of the Chieftains collaborations with American musicians like Down The Old Plank Road will love this!
Similarly inventive musical journeys are undertaken in "Callimaica," "Trotskys Revenge" and "Texas Tombstone," the title, in each case, providing a clue to the stylistic and geographical source of inspiration. By employing both six and twelve-string acoustics, an electric and a couple of resonators, Knight has a broad palette of musical colours to apply with pick, fingers and slide. Listening to Keith Knight's playing caused me, on more than occasion, to stare blankly at my own guitars in the vain hope that some hitherto invisible "secret truth" would suddenly manifest from its hiding place....
Tear It Up is, however, more than a collection of guitar instrumentals, there are five songs among the eleven tracks here. "Chomp Man Blues" and "That'll Never Happen No More" both come from the repertoire of Arthur (Blind) Blake, whose colossal influence is acknowledged by more than a few maestros of the six-string (including one of my "guitar heroes," Ralph McTell. Two more are original compositions by the artist -- "Lightning Play" and "Had Enough." While there's nothing intrinsically "wrong" with either, the quality of Knight's musicianship, for me, easily outstrips his abilities as a lyricist. Perhaps the "awkwardness" of lines like: "Rushing around to find the perfect place only for us in the theatre of impromptu light" (Lightning Play) are only highlighted by both the fluidity of the accompaniment and the contrast with the Blake material. While "Had Enough" contains the lines: "In my empty space, sitting here all alone I don't want to think about you over and over again. So I won't let you rent space in my head," "Chomp Man Blues" has: "It sure is funny how hard a man can fall, when he gets to thinkin one woman's got it all." The latter (Blake) song says more with less, and is all the more effective for it. Best among the contemporary songs is Barney Malin's "Goodbye ain't gone," which features genuinely affecting vocal performances from both Knight and supporting singer Tazz Halloween (great name!)
Of the remaining instrumentals, "Cat Fight" is a simply tremendous piece of work with accordion, upright bass and Knights searing slide playing. The initial melody (reminiscent of "Shortenin' Bread) opens and expands every which way into something which cries out to be used as a TV theme or part of a movie soundtrack (unsurprisingly, Knight's work has already received favourable comparisons with that of Ry Cooder. The final track, "Dag Nab It!" is a blast of good time music from Knight's guitar, Robbie Link's bass and Rex McGhee's fiddle, operating in the all the places that Bluegrassers, Gypsy Jazzers and Western Swingers like to go. Its the kind of track that makes you resist the urge to put on a different CD, "thumb" the remote control and listen to the whole album again.
