Tyler Childers

Born in Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains, Tyler Childers belongs to the generation of Americana musicians who emerged in the 2010s and place a premium on unvarnished songwriting and sonic textures. His sound draws deeply from the rugged, contrarian progressive-country LPs of the 1970s, an influence that surfaced most clearly on his second album, Purgatory, released in 2017 and helmed by Americana rocker Sturgill Simpson. Momentum built further when “All Your’n,” taken from the politically pointed bluegrass set Long Violent History, earned a Grammy nomination in 2020. While that project highlighted his command of traditional forms, the ambitious triple-LP Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? that followed in 2022 demonstrated broader reach, presenting the same eight songs in three distinct stylistic treatments. Childers then pared his approach back on the 2023 album Rustin’ in the Rain, a collection that alternates between raucous energy and quiet empathy. He also placed the track “Song While You’re Away” on the soundtrack for the film Twisters.

Although Purgatory marked his commercial arrival, Childers had been playing music since childhood in Lawrence County, Kentucky, and had already spent more than five years as a working performer. After moving to Lexington as a young adult he formed the band the Food Stamps, launched his solo career with the self-released 2011 album Bottles & Bibles, and spent the next half-decade writing and gigging. Drummer Miles Miller, a mutual friend who played with Simpson, arranged an introduction that led to Simpson producing Childers’ next record alongside engineer David Ferguson. Purgatory appeared on Thirty Tigers in August 2017; a year later the label issued Live on Red Barn Radio Pts. I & II, a reissue of two EPs drawn from 2013 sessions for the Lexington program Red Barn Radio.

Childers’ third studio album, Country Squire, arrived in August 2019 and yielded the singles “House Fire” and “All Your’n,” the latter receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance. His fourth full-length, the Grammy-nominated Long Violent History, followed in September 2020, topping the folk chart and reaching number 45 on the Billboard 200. The single “Angel Band” surfaced in September 2022 to preview Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?, a triple album that presented the same eight originals as a live recording with the Food Stamps, an overdubbed studio version, and a “Joyful Noise” rendering. Upon release the set became Childers’ highest-charting release, entering the Billboard 200 at number eight.

In September 2023 he issued the concise seven-song album Rustin’ in the Rain, prefaced by the ballad “In Your Love” and its video depicting a romance between two gay miners in 1950s Kentucky. Guest contributions on the record came from Margo Price, S.G. Goodman, and the Travelin’ McCourys. The following year Childers added “Song While You’re Away” to the blockbuster Twisters soundtrack.