Tyler Childers sings of civil unrest, systemic racism on surprise album ‘Long Violent History’: Listen
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Without a whisper of notice, Kentucky country troubadour Tyler Childers debuted a new album Friday.
Called “Long Violent History,” Childers’ latest work features a collection of instrumental fiddle tunes — “Send In The Clowns,” “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” “Camp Chase,” “Midnight on the Water” and more.
The album closes with “Long Violent History,” a Childers original that finds the singer addressing civil unrest and systemic racism.
He sings, “Now what would you get if you heard my opinion conjecturing on matters that I ain’t never dreamed/ In all my born days, this white boy from Hickman, based on the way that the world’s been to me/ It’s called me belligerent, it’s took me for ignorant but it ain’t never once made me scared just to be/ Could you imagine just constantly worrying, kicking and fighting begging to breathe?”
Tyler Childers performs at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.
(Photo: Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com)
The song continues with the 29-year-old Appalachian songwriter offering, “How many boys could they haul off this mountain/ Shoot full of holes, cuffed and laying in the street/ ‘Til we come into town in a stark raving anger/ Looking for answers, and armed to the teeth.”
“Long Violent History” follows Childers’ 2019 “Country Squire,” an album that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart. “Country Squire” featured “All Your’n,” a track that earned Childers a Best Country Solo Performance nomination at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
And “… History” marks the second digital release from Childers this year, following a Spotify Singles session featuring Ricky Skaggs, Larry Cordle and The Travelin’ McCourys.
More: Tyler Childers: Tall tales and personal truths from the beating heart of Appalachia
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