November 23, 2024

Tyler Childers sings of civil unrest, systemic racism on surprise album ‘Long Violent History’: Listen

Tyler Childers #TylerChilders

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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.

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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