Tyler Childers | |
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.jpg) Childers in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Timothy Tyler Childers |
| Born | June 21, 1991 Lawrence County, Kentucky |
| Origin | Louisa, Kentucky |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instrument(s) |
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| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | Hickman Holler/RCA Nashville |
| Member of | Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps |
| Website | tylerchildersmusic |
Timothy Tyler Childers (/tʃɪldərz/ CHILL-dərz; born June 21, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His music is a mix of neotraditional country, bluegrass, and folk. He released his breakout studio album Purgatory in August 2017. Childers has released six studio albums and a number of EPs and singles.
Tyler Childers was born and raised in Lawrence County, Kentucky.[2] His father worked in the coal industry and his mother is a nurse.[3] He learned to sing in church where he sang in the church choir.[4] He started to play guitar and write songs when he was around 13.[5] He attended Lawrence County High School until he transferred to nearby Paintsville, in Johnson County, Kentucky, from which he graduated in 2009.[6] Fellow country musicians Chris Stapleton (Staffordsville), Loretta Lynn (Butcher Hollow), and Crystal Gayle also hail from Johnson County, while Sturgill Simpson, a known acquaintance of Childers’, hails from nearby Jackson County.
Childers studied for a semester at Western Kentucky University, and enrolled at Bluegrass Community and Technical College for a few semesters.[7] He dropped out of college and did odd jobs for some time while pursuing a music career.[8]
Childers began performing in Lexington, Kentucky and Huntington, West Virginia.[9] In 2011, when he was 19, Childers released his first album, Bottles And Bibles. He has also released two EPs recorded in 2013 at Red Barn Radio, a radio show from Lexington.[4] The two EPs were later released as one under the name Live on Red Barn Radio I & II after the success of his album Purgatory, and reached No. 5 on Heatseekers Albums.[10] He performed with a backing band called The Food Stamps.[11]
He had his first success with Purgatory, released on August 4, 2017.[12][13] The album was produced by Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson and recorded at The Butcher Shoppe in Nashville.[14] Simpson also played guitar and sang backing vocals on the album, with Miles Miller on drums, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Russ Paul on other instruments.[15] It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart, No. 17 on the Country albums chart and No. 4 on the Americana/Folk albums chart.[5] In September 2018, Childers won Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Honors & Awards, where he gave an acceptance speech noted for its criticism of the Americana genre label, saying that "as a man who identifies as a country music singer, I feel Americana ain't no part of nothing and is a distraction from the issues that we're facing on a bigger level as country music singers. It kind of feels like purgatory."[16]
Country Squire, a second album under the Hickman Holler label, and Childers' third overall, was released on August 2, 2019. This album was again produced by Simpson and Ferguson.[17] The video of the lead single from the album House Fire was also released on May 16, 2019.[18] "All Your'n", the second single from the album, was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.[19]
On September 18, 2020, Childers released Long Violent History,[20] an album consisting mainly of traditional fiddle tracks.[21] The album closes with the title track, which discusses racism, civil unrest, and police brutality. He released a video message to accompany the song, in which he discussed his intention for the album in general and the title track in particular, calling for empathy above all else,[22] and explaining that the profits from the album will support underserved communities in the Appalachian region, through Childers' Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund.
On September 30, 2022, Childers released a triple album Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?. The album is divided into three parts: Hallelujah, Jubilee, and Joyful Noise, and eight songs are presented in three different ways (Jubilee versions for example have additional instruments added to the Hallelujah version).[23] The album charted at No. 8, which is Childers' first top 10 album on Billboard 200, based on 27,000 units earned in the first week.[24]
Childers released a new single in July 2023 titled "In Your Love", which was co-written with Geno Seale. The release was followed by the announcement of a new upcoming album Rustin' In the Rain. The accompanying music video for the single was written by Silas House, and depicts a relationship between two gay coal miners in the 1950s.[25] Rustin' In the Rain was released on September 8, 2023. The album features a cover of S.G. Goodman's song "Space and Time".
Childers was announced[26] as one of the headliners in the 2024 Bourbon & Beyond festival in his home state, taking place in Louisville, KY in September.
Childers' music is influenced by his home state of Kentucky and its connection to country music and bluegrass.[8] He often writes about coal mining, which was his father's occupation, and its effects. Rebecca Bengal, writing for The Guardian, described Childers' songs as a "counternarrative to the outsiders who seek to perpetuate stereotypes of backwardness and poverty."[27] Childers emphasizes lyrical content in songs, comparing the songwriting process to telling short stories about past relationships and his youth.[28]
In January 2020, Childers maintained his position on Americana during an interview with World Cafe:[29]
Everybody always talks about the state of country music and puts down commercial country and [says] "something's gotta be done" and "we need to be elevating artists that are doing more traditional country." But then we're not calling those artists country artists, they're getting put into this Americana thing. It is what it is, and I don't really know how to define what Americana is. We're our own thing, it's a new time, and I don't know what it's called but I've been calling it country, y'know? I think, a lot of times, it's kind of become just a costume.[30]
In 2015, Childers married fellow performer Senora May, who is also a Kentucky native. In May 2022, they announced that they were expecting their first child.[31]
Childers and his wife, Senora May started Hickman Hollar Appalachian Relief Fund in 2020 to bring awareness and financial support for philanthropic efforts in the Appalachian Region.[32][33]
While not explicitly affiliated with any political party, Childers expressed support for coal miner’s rights, as well as same-sex marriage, in the music video of his 2023 song “In Your Love”. He supported Charles Booker's campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2022[34] and sang at the second inauguration of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who is a Democrat.[35]
Childers has described himself in 2020 as a "recovering alcoholic" who had "drunk and drugged himself around the world playing music for the better part of eleven years." He noted in September 2020 that he had "six months of sobriety."[36] As part of a New Year's Eve performance in Lexington, Kentucky in 2023, Childers mentioned that he drank his last beer a day before he and Sturgill Simpson played at Rupp Arena[37] on February 28, 2020.[38]
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Main article: Tyler Childers discography |
| Award | Year | Category | Nominee/Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americana Music Honors & Awards | 2018 | Emerging Artist of the Year | Tyler Childers | Won | [16] |
| Grammy Awards | 2020 | Best Country Solo Performance | "All Your'n" | Nominated | [43] |
| 2022 | Best Folk Album | Long Violent History | Nominated | [44] | |
| 2024 | Best Country Solo Performance | "In Your Love" | Nominated | ||
| Best Country Song | Nominated | ||||
| Best Music Video | Nominated | ||||
| Best Country Album | Rustin' in the Rain | Nominated | |||
| Best Americana Performance | "Help Me Make It Through the Night" | Nominated |
