i remember when my friend jimmy z and i first heard about tyler childers. we had headed down to mt. vernon to check out a small folk festival, with my primary goal being to meet nikki lane in person. that never happened (shocking, i know), but we did spend some time backstage with a band whose name escapes me now. they had played at another festival in kentucky the night before, and let us know that there was a kid down there that they guaranteed would be the next best thing. so i rattled the intertubes when i got back home, and found out that he had a new album out, so i bought it.

tyler childers’ 2017 breakout album was ‘purgatory’. i was quite in agreement with that band’s assessment of his talent. born in paintsville, kentucky, son of a strip miner, he had been busking around town and hitting the road a bit. his drummer made sure that sturgill simpson would be at one of the venues when they played nashville, and they hit it off. sturgill roped in johnny cash’s engineer david ferguson,  got a few bluegrass studio vets, and got at it. but that is all a background to tyler’s real talents – a gifted songwriter with a remarkable attention to detail, and a voice steeped in appalachia.

that album caught hold, jumped to number 17 on the country charts, and soon he was opening for john prine and margo price. he was named 2018 emerging artist of the year at the americana awards.

simpson and ferguson are back again for this one, and many of the same musicians. it is a collection of nine songs that he has road tested for a while now, and it solid from cover to cover. tyler had been listening to allen toussant’s ‘southern nights’ album from 1975, his tribute to his local creole evenings. tyler wanted to do the same style but set in kentucky. i was not aware of that album, but i am now.

tyler’s songs are mostly set in small towns and bars and backwoods, and many of the characters are struggling in some fashion. although once again these are bluegrass musicians, they sure don’t sound like that here. rather, they often sound like that ‘country band that plays for keeps’, down at the bar in town. i can’t say enough about this guy. please give him your ear.

oh, and his videos are quite interesting.