By all measures, 1990 was a pivotal year for country-rock, or what we came to call "Alt. Country," or even "No Depression," the latter term being the title of the debut album released that year by a country-infused trio out of Belleville, IL., called Uncle Tupelo. I 'm sure I don't need to spend too much time elaborating on the merits of this band that re-awakened a slumbering genre with enough force to have that genre thereafter associated with its debut. I will say, however, that I own a good number of t-shirts with their name emblazoned on them, as well as t-shirts for the band Son Volt, formed, after Uncle Tupelo's break-up, by Jay Farrar. Out of all proportion to any of my other band T's (and I own many), these Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt t-shirts almost without fail find me being stopped by strangers telling me how much they love those bands.
Now to my real point...
Mining similar material and existing through the same arc of time, a much lesser known band, steeped in bluegrass but pulling it into the 21
st century by its fiddle-strings was rockin' its way out of northern New York State. The Blood Oranges featured singer/songwriter/mandolinist Jim Ryan, guitarist Mark Spencer, singer/songwriter/bassist Cheri Knight and drummer Ron Ward. The Blood Oranges were a really, really good band, good enough that Steven Mirkin in a June 1994 Rolling Stone said that they, "...find ways to make country-rock fusion seem like an idea with unlimited potential." They followed their 1990 debut, Corn River with 1992's Lone Green Valley and The Crying Tree in 1994. All of them strong albums and all of them more or less greeted with apathy by the record-buying populace. Then they called it quits.Cheri Knight, for me, was always the one to watch in the band. Not to say that talent wasn't in surplus with every band member, but Knight was a star in formation. Steven Mirkin perhaps foreshadowed the good things to come from her solo career when he wrote, in a review of The Crying Tree, "Knight has the strongest solo voice, a strong, plaintive mezzo-soprano, not unlike Linda Thompson's. She is also responsible for the album's strongest tunes, "Hell's Half Acre," a crunching rocker of spurned love, and the haunting "Shine." In fact, "haunting" is Cheri Knight's special talent. Throughout both of her solo albums, The Knitter from 1996 (East Side Digital), and 98's The Northeast Kingdom,
there's a clear lean towards the melancholy. There are a few rockers mixed in and through, but both are primarily carved from that primal Appalachian-flavored blend of heartache and sorrow.For The Knitter, Knight used a band formed of former Del Lords guitarist Eric Ambel, bassist Ray Mason, and dB's drummer Will Rigby, with some additional input from former Blood Orange Spencer and bassist Andy York, who had also helped fill out The Crying Tree.
In the space between the two albums, she found her way into the ear of Steve Earle, who signed her to his E-Squared label and produced Northeast Kingdom. Earle lent his own vocals, guitar, bouzouki, harmonium and cowbell to the mix and brought in his friend Emmylou Harris to lay her (again) haunting backing vocals onto "Dar Glasgow" and "Crawling," the album's most aching ballad. All killer, no filler...really!
I count myself lucky to have seen her perform on the Northeast Kingdom tour at AMOEBA San Francisco in 1998.
In all, Cheri Knight got the same gushing praise from the critics and lukewarm reception from the charts that The Blood Oranges had received. After Northeast Kingdom, she turned her back on recording music and slipped quietly out of sight. I miss her music. If you find a copy of any of the above-mentioned CDs, they are likely to be cheap.
Also, if you ever come across a copy of this tribute to the American truck driver, grab it!
Don Walser, Buck Owens, Kelly Willis, Son Volt, Steve Earle, Nick Lowe, The Bottle Rockets and Cheri Knight's killer "Wagon of Clay."
OH! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Comments
Nope. Very little to find on that front. All of the interviews and reviews I see are from the days of her recordings. When I saw her at AMOEBA in '98, she was alluding to the possibility of walking away from music, and she seems to have done so. Sad.
I saw the incredible Blood Oranges on several occasions, and not too long after, Cheri fronting her own band (in support of The Knitter), back in the 90s. she is a one of a kind singer, a monster talent as a writer, and a cool chick to boot. I know it can seem like a thankless biz, but I hold hope she'll make more music. I'll be listening.
The lost hope for any further music from Cheri knight leaves as much of an ache as the sweet sadness of her incredible music. Cheri, if you're out there, give us another album...
I saw the Blood Oranges once up in Boston and by lucky accident happened upon Cheri Knight performing in Austin, sometime in the late 90's or early 2000's. Subsequently I found a used copy of The Northeast Kingdom and it is one of my all-time favorite albums. I'd love to see Cheri play again some day, but if she's done performing I wish her the best and thank her for making such great recordings.
I used to see Cheri Knight play live in the Northampton area in the late 1990s. Incredible voice and haunting, lovely songs. She claims she's "retired" but maybe a critical mass of fans could prompt her back into some music making. Both Northeast Kingdom and The Knitter are full of hits and I come back to them again and again....
Was happy to see Cheri Knight perform with Steve Earle in Northampton MA., back when, and then what may have been a one-off reunion of Blood Oranges, also
A side note is that Mark Spencer, formerly of Blood Oranges, is now a member of Son Volt
Count me in for the Cheri Knight Critical Mass Club. I return to her records more often than many from the alt-country heyday--"The Northeast Kingdom" can hold its own with the genius of "Anodyne" and "Trace."
I saw the Blood Oranges open for the Sundays in 1990 and was one of the few people who appreciated them. I love the Sundays but the crowd was one of the most closed-minded I've ever seen and people actually heckled the Blood Oranges! Perhaps it just made them stronger because they obviously stuck with it and made some very good records. I always liked Cheri's songs the best on each album and her solo records (especially Northeast Kingdom) are full of great ones. I hope she decides sometime to make some more music...
@JDS: I think that must have been at SXSW, probably in '98. I knew nothing about her until later in the evening after her set there. At another venue, I ran into a friend who had just played in her back-up band that night. Taking his word on how good she was, along with further confirmation from yet another friend who also played her showcase, I tracked down one CD and then the other. They have remained favorites ever since. I hate that I never saw her play live, and that she's no longer active musically, but I'm grateful for those two discs. By the way, there are very good live clips on YouTube of her playing three different songs, all from The Northeast Kingdom as I recall. Just do a search of her name and they should come right up.
I have been listening to Cheri since her albums came out - and am sold on her talent, and a happy member of fan critical mass to help her out of retirement! Count me in!!! What can I do!! Her talent stands the test of time!
i can't find a website for cheri knight! does she still do music????