Tyler Childers Drops Surprise Album, “Long Violent History”
This story has been updated.
Well shoot, thank you Tyler Childers.
Completely unexpectedly and totally unannounced, the current king of independent country music dropped a surprise record early Friday morning (9-18) called Long Violent History. No, you won’t find a cache of new original songs to fit in line with “Feathered Indians” and “House Fire.” This is a record of old traditional fiddle tunes that Tyler Childers has been sawing on as he’s been perfecting his work with a fiddle and bow over the past few months, with one notable exception.
Earlier this year during numerous live performances, Tyler Childers began impressing crowds by pulling a fiddle out and performing old fiddle songs, including “Send In The Clowns” which starts off the 9-song set. In a BBC interview in late May, Tyler also talked about his newfound love for the instrument, though his practice routine was put on the damper after he broke his collarbone riding a motorcycle.
You shouldn’t be too surprised Tyler Childers has taken a shine to the fiddle, and not just because his Kentucky roots run so deep. One of the primary members of his backing band The Foodstamps is fiddle player and guitarist Jesse Wells. His nickname of “The Professor” is not just a happenstance. Wells is an instructor at the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music operated by Morehead State University, and has been since the institution opened in 2000. He’s also responsible for The Traditional Music Archives of the institution.
Long Violent History is released via RCA and Tyler’s imprint Hickman Holler Records. Though the first eight songs are fiddle standards, the final title track is an original new song written by Tyler Childers that speaks to the acrid moments we find ourselves in, yet styled as an old fiddle tune to fit with the rest of the record.
It’s the worst that it’s been, since the last time it happened
It’s happening again right in front of our eyes.
It’s updated footage, and wild speculation
Tall tales and hearsay, and absolute lies.
Been passed off as factual, when actually the actual
Causes they’re awkwardly blocking the way.
Keeping us all from enjoying our evening
Shoving its roots through the screens in our face.
Now what would you give, if you heard my opinion
Conjecturing on matters that I ain’t never dreamed.
In all my born days, as a 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, and begging to breathe.
How many boys could they haul off this mountain
Shoot full of holes, cuffed and laid in the streets.
‘Till we come into town, in stark raving anger
Looking for answers, and armed to the teeth.
– – – – – – – – – –
UPDATE 9/18 7:30 CDT: Tyler Childers has also released an accompanying video explaining the album and the title track. It can be seen below.
“Back in June when I wrote the song ‘Long Violent History,’ it was my original goal to continue to make fairly legible sounds on fiddle, and put this album out with no announcements or press. I planned to package it as an old-time fiddle album, and let the piece make the statement on its own, taking the listener by surprise at the end. However there has been concern that the album could run the risk of being misinterpreted if not given some sort of accompanying explanation to set it in context. A writer can write an essay, but the writer can never predict, or control how that essay is interpreted by the reader, be it in a ton of level-headed calmness, or preachy, holier-than-thou, condescending way.”
“As a recovering alcoholic who has drunk and drugged himself around the world playing music for the better part of eleven years, and now has six months of sobriety, I can say with clarity, that I have no soap box to stand on, to talk preachy to anyone on anything, be it the word of God, or the condition of the world.”
Tyler Childers goes on to address the killing of Black Americans by police, including fellow Kentuckian Breonna Taylor, saying in part, “We can stop being so taken aback by Black Lives Matter … we can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily defending a flag with history steeped in racism and treason, things like huing a log, carving a bowl, learning a fiddle tune, growing a garden, raising some animals, canning our own food, hunting and processing the animal, fishing, blacksmithing, trapping, and tanning the hide. Sewing a quilt. And if we did things like that, we’d have a lot less time to argue back and forth over things we don’t fully know, backed by news we can’t fully trust. Love each other, no exceptions, and remember, united we stand, divided we fall.”
– – – – – – – –
Long Violent History appears to be a digital-only release for the moment.
September 17, 2020 @ 10:46 pm
Very cool! Good for him! ????
September 21, 2020 @ 9:54 am
No more r
September 17, 2020 @ 11:07 pm
When I saw the deadline I was SO EXCITED. And then I read the review and listened to it and was very much less excited. Still happy, but I really thought he was surprise dropping a full band album with so many of his songs they’re concert or YouTube only.
September 17, 2020 @ 11:08 pm
Wow!
September 17, 2020 @ 11:27 pm
“In the song, Childers appears to be both fighting back against the idea he must share his opinions on contentious matters…”
For the life of me I don’t see how that could be your take away from those lyrics.
September 17, 2020 @ 11:41 pm
Look. These lyrics are going to be interpreted in many, many different ways, and my prediction is they will be used to backstop or justify varying and even polar opposite ideologies, while some will outright weaponize them for their own devices. I could even tell you who, and how, because it will all unfold in an achingly predictable manner in the media. I just heard this song like everyone else, and want to sleep on it before I give my full opinions. But when Tyler Childers says,
“Now what would you give, if you heard my opinion
Conjecturing on matters that I ain’t never dreamed.
In all my born days, as a white boy from Hickman
Based on the way that the world’s been to me.”
…I personally interpreted that as, “It’s not really my place to have an opinion on these matters.”
But Tyler made these lyrics in a way that could be interpreted many different ways, and my only overall opinion is that nobody should assign any hard specific interpretation of them as certified fact unless it’s been verified by Childers himself. That’s why I said what they “appeared” to mean to me. Obviously, Tyler goes on to share some opinions. But that doesn’t mean he still can’t hold the stance that he doesn’t have to, or is unqualified to.
September 17, 2020 @ 11:57 pm
“…I personally interpreted that as, “It’s not really my place to have an opinion on these matters.””
Is not “fighting back against the idea he must shar his opinions…”
There is no “fighting back”. The entirre song is him voicing his opinions and empathizing with people who have it so much worse than even the people around him ever had.
The lyrics are crystal clear.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:18 am
In that little verse you cite he’s clearly preambling before providing his take. He’s saying, “look, I’m white and can’t possibly speak with authority about the experience of Black Americans in the United States, nor can I speak for that community, but make no mistake, let me be clear, here’s my two cents..”
Then he goes on to share his “contentious opinions” about police violence against Black people, in no uncertain terms.
This is music reviewing? Your “interpretation” literally makes no sense contextually. This isn’t about open “interpretation” or nuance, you’re just wrong.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:02 am
“He’s saying, “look, I’m white and can’t possibly speak with authority about the experience of Black Americans in the United States, nor can I speak for that community, but make no mistake, let me be clear, here’s my two cents..” :
Totally agree with that.
This is what I said, QUOTE: “…I personally interpreted that as, “It’s not really my place to have an opinion on these matters.” ”
I think folks are assigning opinions or intentions to my interpretation which are not there.
“This is music reviewing?”
No. This is not a review. It was not presented as a review, written as a review, categorized as a review, no grade was assigned, and no opinions on the quality of the record given.
As I said in my comment, “I just heard this song like everyone else, and want to sleep on it before I give my full opinions.”
The phrase in question from the story has been stricken. Because it’s stupid that this has become the discussion, not the music.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:33 am
I don’t think he’s saying it’s not his place to have an opinion as much as having an opinion is only as good as understanding the experience. I can have an opinion on what it must be like top have cancer, but I don’t really know. And I wouldn’t think to tell a cancer patient that I know what they are experiencing. But I would try to have empathy.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:07 am
Yeah I mean he literally goes off about how many people white people from the mountain would it take to die if in similar situation before they rose up and storm the town with guns 30.06 and papa’s pistols to be exact. He gives his opinion pretty blatant.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:05 am
As I said in my comment, “Obviously, Tyler goes on to share some opinions.”
But he starts out very clearly saying that his opinion would be “conjecture” due to his perspective. We’re in general agreement here.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:11 am
Yes, he does say that. However he does so not in the way your initial remark made it seem he did. In fact he states he cannot understand what it is like to be in physical danger just for being who you are and shows clear empathy and states he feels they even show a greater restraint than his peers would in a similar situation.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:26 am
You are confusing irony for ambiguity Trigger. He’s talking about how he expects that other people (that’s the “you” there) will react to him giving an opinion. And he’s saying his it’s based on his experience as a white country boy who’s been called and assumed to be all kinds of things.
The lyric is unambiguous and dead on.
“It’s called me belligerent, it’s stuck me for ignorant
But it ain’t never once made me scared just to be.
Could you imagine, just constantly worrying
Kicking, and fighting, and begging to breathe.
How many boys could they haul off this mountain
Shoot full of holes, cuffed and laid in the streets.
‘Till they come into town, in stark raving anger
Looking for answers, and armed to the teeth.”
I don’t think this is going to upset any lefties but the MAGAs are going to melt down. I heard about this this morning seeing that one of the Tyler Childers fan groups on Facebook shutdown already.
Now they have to have Childers as well as Stapleton, Simpson, Isbell, and I’ve kind of lost track of everyone they are boycotting now.
Isbell was more right than wrong. They are going to run out of great songwriters.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:33 am
I think he’s pretty clear really:
As a white country singer from the hills (whose scotch-Irish American heritage I just spent 8 tracks giving life to) I you’ll either say I don’t know what I’m talking about or I should just shut up and sing (or fiddle), but no, I’m an American and I can think about what happens to other Americans (and it’s not like hill country folk) have always been fully accepted and treated well in this county either) and it’s not right and we should think about how we would feel if this happened to us, as in, if the cops kept taking boys off the mountain and shooting us, you don’t think we’d be down in the streets with our deer rifles looking for answers?
September 18, 2020 @ 6:02 am
As I writer of songs myself, I really appreciate your answer.
I *try* to do that with my song, and think Tyler *does* that well. Just like I think, a good song can mean different things to many people; so too can the context in a certain, line.
I specifically (as I’m guessing a lot of writers do) try to use words that *do* directly convey MY emotion and sentiment but, at the same time, can mean a couple of other things -technically- that are of importance to me, as well. Meaning, I can write a song that still means something but it can mean, more to a wider range of people, over a wider range of time.
For me, that’s *the* talent. I don’t do it, that great but it’s what has always attracted me to writing and writers.
✌❤????
September 18, 2020 @ 12:00 am
Confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. It’s such a pristine example of cognitive dissonance that if you read about it in a social psychological study you’d assume the researcher made it up to prove a point.
The song is literally and manifestly an opinion about a contentious matter. But he wants to like Tyler Childers and his music but doesn’t like the pollution of “politics” sullying his art. So how to square those things? “He has my view! There’s no politics here! Wait, he said ‘what’s my opinion matter?’ See!”. Conflicting cognition and bias causing desperation leading to full-blown reality denial.
Awaiting the article about how Chris Stapleton is also non-committal about BLM and/or just being coerced into it anyways so he doesn’t really mean what he says, so don’t worry anyone!
September 18, 2020 @ 12:07 am
Tyler: “if this was us we would have swarmed the town with arms.”
Literally.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:13 am
This comment right here underscores how people are assigning an opinion about this song that I did not share.
Your comment: “The song is literally and manifestly an opinion about a contentious matter.”
From the article: “the final title track is an original new song written by Tyler Childers that speaks to the acrid moments we find ourselves in.”
Then I go on to include the full, actual lyrics themselves.
We agree 100%. The idea that I’m not identifying the song as political is something you’re impressing on me, not something I said.
Not sure why people continue to be obsessed with me giving an opinion on Chris Stapleton’s Black Lives Matter comments, but it underscores how you’re taking a simple news story I published, and running it through a worldview you believe I have as opposed to what was presented.
I absolutely never said or implied, “He has my view! There’s no politics here! Wait, he said ‘what’s my opinion matter?’ See!”
Which you put in quotes, with exclamation points. And attributed to me.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:38 am
Also, my opinion on Chris Stapleton’s Black live matter comments? Awesome. Glad he said it. Of course Black lives matter. And people should not judge him for sharing this opinion. That was my same opinion about Dolly Parton, and anyone who says, “Black lives matter.”
NOT, “Chris Stapleton is also non-committal about BLM and/or just being coerced into it anyways so he doesn’t really mean what he says, so don’t worry anyone!”
Again, words you put in my mouth, not that I ever said or implied, which confirms your sneering, down-looking attitude towards myself that has no basis in reality, or in anything that I’ve ever said.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:02 am
It’s confused and confusing that you think that you can be in agreement with my reading of it and yours; they are completely different takes.
The song is a direct challenge to your ahistorical and hopelessly futile preference for a wall between music and liberal politics. This song represents the opposite of that impulse; it’s a middle finger to it.
He’s “fighting back against the idea he must share his opinions on contentious matters”. That’s your preference for artists; it’s not what he’s doing or saying. You also try to explain it by saying he’s saying “It’s not really my place” to have an opinion on this matter. He’s clearly isn’t saying that either; he’s saying he has a “place” and he cares–obviously, cause he wrote the song–but that he’s writing from a perspective that’s outside of these tragedies and not from within, cause he’s a white boy from Kentucky. He’s defining his position relative to the issue; not saying he doesn’t have a “place”.
Grade or not, it’s an attempt to unpack the meaning of a song. This discussion is about the content of the music.I’d strike your comment too if I was you and be quick to want to to move on as well; it’s an embarrassing moment for a professional music blogger. But being really wrong and having people point it out does not make you a victim of their “agendas” or biases. It just makes you wrong. Totally agree with another commenter, just take the loss.
It’d be tedious to point out all of the times you’ve dealt with the cognitive dissonance of country artists you love expressing liberal opinions by saying “they didn’t actually say that” or implying that they “don’t mean it” because of coercive pressure. It’s your M.O.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:40 am
“The song is a direct challenge to your ahistorical and hopelessly futile preference for a wall between music and liberal politics.”
Again, this is an opinion based on assumptions you’ve crafted about who I am as opposed to anything I’ve ever said. This imprinting of lock step archetypal and characteristic portrayals of people we may disagree with is unhelpful and harmful.
“It’d be tedious to point out all of the times you’ve dealt with the cognitive dissonance of country artists you love expressing liberal opinions by saying “they didn’t actually say that” or implying that they “don’t mean it” because of coercive pressure.”
Yes it would be, because they’re somewhere between non-existent to few-and-far-between, but I trust you would find enough instances where you would twist my words and misquote me with quotation marks and exclamation points like I’m a cartoon character to fit your wild-eyed assumptions.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:15 am
Projection at work. You’re led around by your biases and then flail when they’re exposed. These are your biases. So much so that they lead to just terrible takes that are polar opposite of what’s manifestly the case because you desire it to be so like that in this article. Literally had to delete it it was so manifestly grounded in confirmation bias. But these are the nature of these psychological processes: they’re hard to see at work in self. Doing that requires a lot of security. Not totally surprising.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:17 am
It’s also deflection. You didn’t address the substance of the critique.
But that makes sense, it’s plain as day you got this one woefully wrong. Mostly their just regular wrong.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:48 am
You edited the article, didn’t you? You had a really bad take on the final song, got criticism and now are acting that all you said was “the final title track is an original new song written by Tyler Childers that speaks to the acrid moments we find ourselves in.”
I like your reviews but take this L man.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:19 am
Yes, I did edit a single sentence out of this news article, because it was clearly being misinterpreted and twisted to meet the objective and agenda of people in a way that did not represent my opinions on the final song of this album whatsoever. All I was trying to say was that Tyler Childers said as part of a much bigger expression that he did not see his words as any more valuable than anyone elses on a matter his perspective hinders from understanding fully. I take responsibility for not making myself more clear (I wrote this article at 12:30 a.m. when I was completely out of gas and well past needing to be in bed), and removed the sentence. But I will not, and cannot allow people to put words I never said or even implied into my mouth, especially when they’re using quotes around them as if they’re directly from me.
And again, this is not a review. It’s a news story. When I post a review, you will know. 95% of the time, it will say “review” in the title. There is also a “review” category where those articles go. This article was put in the “news” category. I was not in a position when this story was posted to share my opinions on the music or anything else, because it was too fresh for me to judge it fairly.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:22 am
“ All I was trying to say was that Tyler Childers said as part of a much bigger expression that he did not see his words as any more valuable than anyone elses on a matter his perspective hinders from understanding fully.”
Nope, ypu said Tyler was fighting back the idea that he had to share his opinions. That is literally what you said.
It was clear to most everyone (agreeing and disagreeing) that this was incorrect, so you got called out on it. And you removed that part. Own it.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:36 am
I did own it. That is why I took it down. What else do you want me to do here. Cue up the web cam and have you watch me slit my wrists? Offer my arms out to be nailed to a cross? I failed at fully expressing my sentiments about that specific stanza of the song. But if you don’t think that Tyler Childers is answering the critics who called him out for silence on these matters, including putting his name on an “Accountability Spreadsheet” by pointing out he’s just a white guy from Hickman—and by the way, we don’t even have the full facts at hand due to the malfeasance wrought in the media—then you’re not looking at the full context of how this song was written and delivered.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:46 am
Oh come on! I quoted you twice in the same post and no you didn’t “take it down for that reason” you took it down because “the discussion didn’t focus on the music”.
Listen Trigger, I appreciate your site, I don’t think we see eye to eye politically, but I never called you out on it nor answered any of it before. However this time around you took an artist, whose trumpet you have been blowing for years, and tried to water down his message because it didn’t conform to your views. That is why myself and others called you out on it.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:21 am
Again with the confirmation bias. There is NO evidence that that verse is Tyler Childers calling out the “accountability list”. That’s your hope. There’s a difference between what you wish and what is.
September 19, 2020 @ 9:19 am
Trigger, I don’t think anyone who follows Tyler on social media would characterize him as “silent” on these matters. He’s made his stance clear.
September 19, 2020 @ 1:29 pm
Did Tyler Childers address Black Lives Matter or racial injustice on social media before this song? If he did, I didn’t see it on any of his social media properties at the time. Just checking back on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and there is nothing on any of his official properties. Can’t speak if there’s some private or back channel pages he has, but there has definitely not been anything official. This is one of the reasons Tyler Childers landed on an “Accountability Spreadsheet” that caused quite a stir right around the time Tyler says he wrote this song in early June.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/willie-nelson-dolly-parton-more-on-misguided-accountability-list/
At that time—and right as Childers was writing this song—artists were being directly called out for not pledging allegiance to Black Lives Matter publicly, and Tyler Childers was one of the top names being bandied about as delinquent. That’s why when I heard him sing…
“Now what would you give, if you heard my opinion
Conjecturing on matters that I ain’t never dreamed.
In all my born days, as a 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.”
…I felt he was addressing this issue directly, and I still feel that way. I also think that is a very mainstream and intuitive conclusion when you consider the factors that went into writing the song. I also think that he’s saying other things in that stanza, undoubtedly. But he’s addressing his reluctance to wade into matters he’s unqualified to understand as a “white boy from Hickman.”
I also don’t think that in any way is me trying to couch this song as not addressing political or polarizing matters, which would be ludicrous given the lyrics, and the fact that I specifically transcribed them in the body of the article itself. Nor do I think coming to that conclusion is in any way bias. It’s based off of my long-standing coverage of Tyler Childers, and my intimate knowledge surrounding how artists were being called out directly for not addressing Black Lives Matter at the very instance he happened to be writing this song.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:43 am
Point of order: I’m listening on a phone so I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the lyric is “‘til WE come into town” not “‘til THEY come into town.’”
Not trying to be pedantic, just figured that might be a semi-important distinction in a discussion about whether this is observational commentary or a personal stance. (Before someone says it, yes, artists can obviously write first-person songs that aren’t literally about them.)
September 18, 2020 @ 11:21 am
You’re right, it’s definitely “we,” and it’s an important distinction.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:32 am
I think you are largely right Ryan. But to be fair Tyler does avoid speaking specifically on politics. He’s talking about human experience and empathy.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:17 am
https://youtu.be/QQ3_AJ5Ysx0
September 18, 2020 @ 8:40 am
I may have missed something in the 105 comments so far, but Tyler Childers released a 6-minute video address in which he clearly explains the intent of the song. HOOOO-WEEEE! It’s it’s as intense as the song itself.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:49 am
You missed something in the article as well, where the video and a partial transcript was added hours ago, and minutes after Tyler Childers posted it.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:52 am
Aah, cool. I read the article when you posted. Thanks for editing.
September 17, 2020 @ 11:56 pm
Ha! Heeeelllllllll yea! That’s some serious shit right there.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:03 am
Like his pal Sturgill he is going back to his roots which does nothing for me. I like what both were doing before these detours.
September 18, 2020 @ 3:33 am
Adios!
September 18, 2020 @ 11:50 am
Haha. I’m sure they will both be back to doing the kind of music that I like in due time.
September 19, 2020 @ 3:48 am
The only music either of them will release is going to be music they like
September 18, 2020 @ 3:30 am
Trig man,
I love you. But he ain’t fighting that people want to share his opinions. I believe you’re talking about this.
“Now what would you give, if you heard my opinion
Conjecturing on matters that I ain’t never dreamed.
In all my born days, as a white boy from Hickman
Based on the way that the world’s been to me”
He’s saying people like himself with their White privilege shouldn’t be going around throwing out their opinions on things like black lives matter and the protests when he, we, the people he’s talking about don’t know what black people in this country experience.
I still love you man but you got this wrong.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:15 am
“He’s saying people like himself with their White privilege shouldn’t be going around throwing out their opinions on things like black lives matter and the protests when he, we, the people he’s talking about don’t know what black people in this country experience.”
Todd,
This is EXACTLY what I was saying. That is EXACTLY what I believe. I’m not sure how or why my words are getting twisted here.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:25 am
White privilege lmao
September 18, 2020 @ 7:11 am
Yep growing up in a broken down trailer without electricity with everyone you know addicted to drugs and being dependent on the government is all sorts of white privilege.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:08 am
https://youtu.be/QQ3_AJ5Ysx0
September 18, 2020 @ 10:40 am
There’s more to identity than race. Sounds like you’ve been marginalized based on class, and that’s an issue that also needs addressing, but that doesn’t strip you of the privilege that accompanies whiteness. Oppression is not an on/off switch – there’s a whole lot of factors that all intersect, making you privileged in some ways and disadvantaged in others.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:59 am
Exactly – it really, really isn’t complicated.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:34 am
There are all sorts of advantages that people receive based on the luck of their birth. Some are privileged to be born into wealth, some have a loving family, some have good schools or teachers, some grow up in peaceful, stable communities, etc, etc.
Being born white confers an unearned advantage in the US. It isn’t the only one, but stop pretending that it doesn’t exist.
September 19, 2020 @ 9:58 am
It doesn’t exist. Stop lying by saying it does.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:53 pm
“White privilege” doesn’t mean your life hasn’t been hard. It means that your skin color doesn’t make your life harder.
When will people understand that?
September 18, 2020 @ 2:59 pm
Being a criminal makes your life harder, no matter what color. White males are the only people in the country you are legally allowed to discriminate against. Did you know that? Sounds like that makes my life harder
September 18, 2020 @ 3:06 pm
Good Lord you are an idiot. Do you just get all of your posts from Fox News talking points?
September 20, 2020 @ 10:39 am
I actually dont watch the news. I do research different news sources and try to gather as many facts as I can to make the best decision as I am capable. Maybe instead of calling me an idiot, you should show me why I should try to see it your way. Name calling just pushes me further away
September 18, 2020 @ 3:39 am
Oh boy. He should have left his opinions to himself. The whole premise of this BLM movement is that cops hunt down and murder black people. Which is an absolute lie. Tyler guess what the police kill white people too and you haven’t done shit from your holler. Police reform is a real cause to get behind. But pretending like they are some evil orange vested white demon hunting down blacks for sport is why we are so divided on an issue that should be unifying.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:34 am
Where do you think he says that?
What’s nice about it is that he doesn’t try to sort of the lies and facts. He’s just saying he knows damn well what people where he comes from would do under the same circumstances.
The word for this is empathy. The greatest song writers have it.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:12 pm
Isbell has a great tweet the other day for one of those “Love your songs, hate your opinions” folks, where he says, in as many words, “I’m good at writing songs because I have empathy. That’s not something I can somehow dissociate from my politics.”
September 18, 2020 @ 4:50 am
“The whole premise of this BLM movement is that cops hunt down and murder black people.”
Oh? Really? What reality are you living in?
September 18, 2020 @ 8:41 am
“you haven’t done shit from your holler.”
The entire net proceeds of this album are dedicated to the Appalachian Relief Fund he and his wife have created. Try again.
September 19, 2020 @ 4:09 am
He should have left his opinions to himself? Why? We are ALL entitled to our opinions. And the whole premise of this BLM movement is NOT that cops hunt down and murder black people.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:33 am
I appreciate Tyler’s take on current events. As was commented “confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance.” Folks will interpret this song (and events themselves) in unique and divisive ways.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:00 am
Cringe final song but I’m excited to hear the rest of the album
September 18, 2020 @ 5:16 am
Trig it’s ok to admit you were wrong. You wanted to rush out the article and you heard the one verse that spoke to you and you zoned out the rest. It happens.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:19 am
Really, really sucks that this is going to be yet another comments section descending into holy hell here. Can’t we just be happy that we just receive nine new unexpected songs from Tyler Childers?
September 18, 2020 @ 5:24 am
Just checked social media. All positive, no complaints about my reporting, the title track, just people happy to receive new music. Only one or two complains it’s not a full studio record of original songs, which is understandable. But overall, just gratefulness. Tyler has done a cool thing here.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:32 am
“Can’t we just be happy that we just receive nine new unexpected songs from Tyler Childers?”
Unfortunately, no. You’d think that a website that is founded on the premise of extolling the virtues of real country music, and visited by people who are fans of said music, would be exempt from the division that plagues this country today. But sadly, it’s not. More and more, I’ve come to firmly believe that it’s due to the anonymity of the internet and social media; you can hide behind a keyboard and say fuck all you want without the threat of real repercussions. It’s a sad state of affairs that I don’t see a way out of, unfortunately.
Personally, I was all excited to be listening to the new Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets live disc of pre-Dark Side Floyd tunes all day today (about as far from country as you can get), and now I see I have an alternative that will be vying for listening time.
To paraphrase Ice Cube, “I gotta say it is a good day.”
September 18, 2020 @ 5:44 am
No Trigger we can’t and Tyler is obviously not expecting that. He lays out exactly what he means here and there and he’s clear and unambiguous about it. His point in the whole record is to make people think about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ3_AJ5Ysx0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1kLuJ0G4tYkmEv_b2jkOuHkPjwMfJ-2kbxIYmK1WLSnFAQHE7K9L1cC-M
September 18, 2020 @ 8:54 am
Yes Trigger. We should be talking about the music. But your interpretation of a song is totally different from mine. I call this eight tunes and a song. You say he has been learning the fiddle for about a year. That does not mean that he is even close to being competent on this instrument. Nothing wrong with him passing the time and learning something new. I have listened to a few tracks and they sound a tad amateurish. Boring. And I like Tyler. Maybe I am not reading this project correctly. But a major name like Tyler pretending he can play fiddle with the big boys is frankly annoying.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:20 am
Again, this was not a review. I may offer a review of the album or the new original song at some point. It was simply a news story to let folks know what was going on.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:20 pm
Yer man’s a ways off from playing in a proper sesh.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:18 am
Well, Trigger, then report it that way. Why do you allow your politics to seep into so many things knowing what it will lead to?
September 18, 2020 @ 2:40 pm
I made no political statements in regards to this topic, despite the the best efforts by the same exact group of regular commenters who only come to this site when they smell a politically-contentious subject to imprint a stereotypical Trump-supporting bigot profile upon me so as to undermine any opinions I share, which in this case, I didn’t even do, despite them continuously calling this a review, corroborating that they have no idea what they’re talking about.
Was it one line from this article that some took exception with (that I removed before 90% of people even read it, just to avoid any drama, which of course, only made it worse), or was it a Tyler Childers song and video where he directly broached the extremely polarizing subject of Black Lives Matter? I may be conceited, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably Tyler’s efforts that turned this topic political.
September 18, 2020 @ 3:15 pm
Trig. Don’t listen to the ones who want to turn everything into a political issue. Just do what you do and ignore those who just want to fight. Social media has revealed the depths of mental health issues in our world (especially among artists who seem to think they have a special gift of knowledge no one else has).
September 18, 2020 @ 11:47 pm
“just to avoid any drama” I thought you “did own it”, which one is it?
It is also absurd that you of all people would make it out to be that it is others who make things political.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:18 am
Danny (and whomever else),
Let’s take a step back from the silly one-up, back-and-forth, I-must-win-this-internet-argument-at-all-costs mentality, and look at what happened here. In the article originally, which I published at 12:30 my time in the morning, I included a sentence that some took exception with where I said that it “appeared” (meaning not concrete, simply a possibility), that Tyler Childers was questioning why it would be his responsibility to address such matters, and if he was qualified to as a white guy from Hickman. Going back and reading that portion of the song, I still feel like that’s probably the case, and at the absolute worst, it’s a reasonable, mainstream interpretation of what Childers meant to convey. Now clearly—even though some are saying I was inferring otherwise, and I said so myself—Tyler Childers goes on to share opinions in a rather direct manner, however poetic in nature. I also physically presented those words by transcribing the lyrics to the song itself. If I was trying to hide or twist Tyler’s intentions, I would have never done that, nor would I have added the video he posted later.
All that said, when it became obvious that one single line in this article was becoming such a point of contention, I took it out of the article. That is what you and everyone else wanted, right? If not, why did you criticize it? What other recourse could I have taken? The sentence in question wasn’t even seen by 95% of the people who ultimately read this article. Yes, I do own the fact that what I was trying to convey with that sentence was ineffective, if not detrimental, and so I removed it. I’m not going to allow people to mischaracterize what I said. But I’m not so self-centered that I could see it was helping nobody.
But here you are, well past 24 hours after it was taken down, still busting my balls about it. You won the argument. I took the sentence down. And yet since then, I received even MORE shit about it, and that’s when the majority of these comments have been posted.
You want to know why most media outlets will post something controversial, or sometimes outright incorrect, and refuse to correct it? It’s because assholes on the internet will not give them credit for doing the right thing and making a correction. It’s because they will seize on it and dogpile just as you and others continue to do here about a stupid line in a simple news article I posted well past my beditme when I was running on fumes and dregs. And make no mistake, this instance will continue to be cited well into the future, even though I did exactly what everyone was requesting I do.
You won. Don’t let the lesson here be to never give into the internet mob, because it will only make it worse.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:29 am
Not interested in “winning” or “being right” just not letting you get away with reshaping what happened without calling it out as we were the ones having that discussion in the first place. Of course I am invested in this. We had a fundamental disagreement and you are not being honest about why you took that part down. First it is because “it should be about the music”, then it is because you “might have been wrong”, then it is because you “don’t think it is worth the drama”, etc.
And what gives that I am still taling about it?
You are aware that you do the same thing, right? Often days in end.
Me continuing the conversation (on a different continent and thus different time zone) in a civil manner doesn’t mean that a. I am looking to one up you b. I appreciate being on the receiving end of being called an asshole (by insuation) c. I forgot your moralizing over Dolly Parton’s words for days and days.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:21 am
Social justice garbage. His hipster fans will love it. You know what white country boys would do if police were shooting white country criminals? Not a damn thing. Acting like just shooting random black people. Lmao trash at least you tried
September 18, 2020 @ 5:53 am
I found it interesting that his analogy insinuated innocence in every case whereas in reality every single event people have rioted over involves a criminal committing a crime, always with a long history of crimes
September 18, 2020 @ 6:17 am
Did Breonna Taylor commit a crime? Even in the cases where crimes were committed, were those crimes subject to the death penalty, and should the police be judge, jury and the literal executioner? GTFO.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:42 am
She was managing her boyfriend’s drug money. Maybe the drug dealing boyfriend shouldn’t have shot at the cops? If he hadn’t fired at them from a dark room she wouldn’t be dead! A tragic death, but certainly not a case of cops looking for a random black person to kill.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:25 am
AD her boyfriend wasn’t a drug dealer, but don’t let facts cloud your narrative
September 19, 2020 @ 4:36 pm
What are you going on about? She wasn’t managing anything. Hey boyfriend didn’t know they were cops, because they busted the door down in the middle of the night unannounced like criminals. He was within his rights to open fire, and no one would have died had the cops not decided to dress up and play commando
September 18, 2020 @ 4:00 pm
Just because someone committed a crime doesn’t mean they deserve to die. We have a whole legal system and process that people have a right to. Cops aren’t judges and they aren’t executioners.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:05 am
Wish some off these “young” artists could ride along with a large city police department for just one week. Only color you think about is blue (your partner). Glad I put in my papers last month (along w ~45% of the other officers eligible) … I don’t need to deal with it anymore. If you think these police shootings are based on race I ask you to step the f up and try to do the job yourself. I’ll be sure to Monday morning quarterback after the fact! Good luck!
September 18, 2020 @ 12:31 pm
Oh, I definitely couldn’t do the job…and I definitely shouldn’t. Don’t have temperament for it.
Damn shame so many people like me are given a badge, a gun, and put on the street where they’re expected to handle situations for which neither of those things are useful.
I don’t think the fucker who murdered, say, Tamir Rice hates black people.
I think he’s afraid of them, and temperamentally unfit to be a cop (just like the neighboring department that had fired him did).
There are always going to be sociopaths like Chauvin, who only joined the force as a legal outlet for their sadism, but the bigger problem is that we ask the police to do too much, don’t give them enough support, and standards for joining are far too lax.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:27 pm
Wasn’t Sturgill’s dad a cop?
September 18, 2020 @ 6:14 am
“Social Justice Garbage”….
Im guessing you don’t listen to a lot of classic country that speaks on current events of the time, much…..
He’s not even really hammering any point except the media is divisive, cops kill black people (they do. It really is how the system is set up. That doesn’t mean they don’t kill white people too. That’s just what they do, but they *do* kill more black people. Period) and if the same thing happened on, the mountain; folks would be raging, too.
*Why* and how are you so fragile, to take that as a bad thing and\or so personal. The lyrics *can* be interpreted a few different ways. We can all see your preferred picture, of the world.
✌❤???? and good weekend, to ya.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:47 am
They actually don’t kill more black people. That’s literally false. They kill more % of the black demographic than they do the white demographic. That’s a huge distinction. What you wrote makes it seem like cops show any sort of discretion in who they decide to murder, which is demonstrably inaccurate.
The politicization of this real issue is so blatant.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:40 am
Police in the US do kill proportionately more black people than white. That is to say, a larger percentage relative to the black population vs the white population. Remember black a ericans are only about 15% of the population. That’s not a contentious issue or matter of opinion, it’s public record. But even if you take racial demographics out of the equation entirely, US police kill far more US civilians than any other western industrialized nation by far. We have more people in prisons relative to population than any other western industrialized nation by far, and many non western, non industrialized nations. That may be an issue for you, it may not but it’s a pretty big issue for those negatively impacted by the these systems and institutions. Tyler doesn’t do much at all but acknowledge these things and offer a unique perspective based on where he’s from and what he understands of it. You can take or leave it but to deny public record, cold hard statistics and the objective reality surrounding it is illinformed.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:30 pm
You’re right, they do kill more black people on average per capita than whites. That is a huge distinction. You’re totally correct. They don’t kill more blacks than whites.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:31 am
Your racism is showing
September 18, 2020 @ 7:45 am
Explain how what i said is racist. You can’t and you won’t but ill wait just in case
September 18, 2020 @ 9:15 am
Calling a statement about empathy towards a group of people who have been systematically oppressed and had a higher proportion of their population gunned down by law enforcement “social justice garbage” and then denying the existence. Seems pretty racist to me. Go ahead and try to convince yourself that you don’t have these biases against black people. You’re not fooling anybody.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:30 am
Tyler just released a spoken word update on YouTube, to put the album in context.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:52 am
Thanks. This video has been added to the article.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:43 am
Meanwhile…Alecia Nugent dropped her new album too.
The Other Side Of Town is wonderful.
But, but, but what about Tyler Childers? He can release whatever he wants…maybe it’s my “white privilege”…but i will not listen to the album again.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:45 am
Stay in your safe place lest you get triggered.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:19 am
Safe space lmao. Put up a MAGA flag or a Dont Tread On Me flag on a college campus and see how many of your liberal pals will be posting about feeling threatened and unsafe and you would be raising hell about it. Then come talk about feeling triggered
September 18, 2020 @ 7:36 am
You shouldn’t make assumptions. I’m from rural Pa. and left to go to a liberal college. I do know a bit about getting nailed with nasty stereotypes and bigotry from all sides.
There is all kind of crap wrong with the SJW crowd and their dogma. But putting up a Trump flag and complaining about how other people are being uncivil takes a profound lack of self awareness.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:23 am
You must be insanely confused to have such a double standard. And if you cant see that, you must have a complete lack of self awareness. You literally said dont make assumptions right while making one or several
September 18, 2020 @ 7:42 am
I just decided to buy Tyler Childers’ album.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:13 am
Not sure what you are talking about but you specifically made a point about putting up a MAGA flag which is all about Trump. I do get the point about the Gadsden Flag. But Trump is a separate issue because of how he ran his campaign and acts as president. He insults people constantly. The primary centerpiece of his campaign from the primaries on was making up nasty names for opponents and telling vicious lies about them. His did it to Cruz, Rubio and the rest just as much as anybody else. His whole schtick is pretty much being an asshole.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:44 am
Listen to his message on Youtube, there is no ambiguity, he very much shares his opinions and I was glad to hear them and know he is on the right side of history.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:58 am
“Right side of history” Can you huff your own farts any harder?
Ideology like yours is privy to decay and destruction. It has never created a successful society in all of time
September 18, 2020 @ 9:18 am
So buring, looting, rioting, destroying other people’s lives is the right side of history? Maybe your home or place of employment will be burned down and looted, at least you can take solace in that it was done on the right side of history. I would be mad, want change and protest also. I have been several places protesting. I didn’t loot, burn and riot un doing so.
September 19, 2020 @ 4:51 pm
What did he say about looting? Nothing. Maybe you ought to think about why you equate racial justice with looting, and the motives those in the right wing media have for making that connection.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:46 am
I love Tyler Childers…his music speaks volumes to me…I get it…how many times have I heard in my lifetime about dumb hillbillies from Ky to many times & no one doesn’t think that isn’t discriminatory…My parents both were raised in Kentucky & I have the sound of someone raised from Ky. even though I was born & raised in Indiana…I love Kentucky folks wish I lived there & I love Tyler’s sound also love the fiddle…my grandfather from Ky . was arrested and bailed out of jail in 1937 taken to a motel and his fiddling was recorded and now lies in the Library of Congress also a book written about how the music all was started from old timers such as my grandfather from Ky…I plan on sending Tyler the book written by Stephen Wade…”The Beautiful Music All Around Us”.I also am so happy to see an artist with someone in his band playing the fiddle another great…keep on keeping it on Tyler…my family & I love your music .
September 18, 2020 @ 6:28 am
Yer grandpa weren’t Luther Strong by any chance?
September 18, 2020 @ 5:54 am
Mountain boys make mountain music. Welcome home Tyler.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:15 pm
Tis also worth noting that this album features a murderer’s row of old-time musicians. We know who Jesse Wells and Dom Flemons are, but Andrew Marlin is better known as one half of Mandolin Orange. If you’re gonna go digging around in Hazard tattoo parlors for music, you could do a lot worse than John Haywood, who might be the best old-time banjo player in the mountains. Chloe Edmonstone and John R. Miller can flat out pick, Chloe’s family is clogging royalty, and their duo act ain’t to be missed. John does a lot more than bass too. I ain’t heard Cecelia Wright or Josh Oliver, but if this is any indication, I’m about too.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:06 am
As a centre-to right redneck, blue collar worker, I support this song a lot.
Its not agreeing with what’s happening, its just explaining why good black people have reached a snapping point.
This is nothing new, there have been riots throughout history when people felt scared and powerless. And its not about facts and figures, its about people being ignored.
As he said, if the cops start hurting on my friends, even if I know they have broken some laws, i’ll be sitting at the gate with the rifle. Because people stick together. Because its a foundation of our society thats its better that 100 criminals walk free than one innocent person is imprisoned.
Well written and nice. And in reply to an earlier comment with regards to Isbell’s comment, this song doesnt mean Tyler subscribes to any particular political ideology.
Class act.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:18 am
I think you are probably wrong about that based on watching his video this morning. I also have the impression that he and his wife pretty much see eye to eye on these things and she has been very clear about where she comes from.
But you are correct that this song lyric is about empathy not political ideology. He’s talking about putting yourself in other people’s shoes and understanding how you would react under the same circumstances.
On the other hand, in the Trump era empathy may be the real dividing line.
Also another note, a few weeks back some people were losing their minds after Chris Stapleton’s BLM comment and one person on Instagram said they were only going to listen to true patriots like Tyler Childers and Strurgill Simpson now. Sturgill saw it and responded that they were going to be so very disappointed. I figured he meant when they realized what he was like but the full context of the anticipated disappointment makes a lot more sense now.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:35 pm
I recall a group of people rioting and looting because the price of tea was too high.
Then there’s the Boston Massacre – is there a single doubt that these bootlickers would be gargling the redcoats?
September 19, 2020 @ 8:17 am
I might be in Internet love with you.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:08 am
To summarize. I’m confused. Glad to meet you. I’m Dave.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:47 am
Dave’s not here, man.
September 21, 2020 @ 10:01 am
No more Tyler for me. I support the boys in Blue. Look at the statistics. BLM is not helping anyone but themselves .
September 18, 2020 @ 6:12 am
uh oh. that explanation video is going to lead to a lot of calls for cancellation around here.
i for one applaud his stance.
as far as the record goes – last tune is classic childers. i don’t think most of the album will make it into my normal rotation, but it will have its place.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:22 am
a great songwriter, an excellent performer, he even built up a trailer for his wife to live in and now he ca also play the fiddle….is there anything Tyler can’t do?.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:42 am
Yes. Play the fiddle. You do not become a fiddle player in one year.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:32 am
Nice listen but I reject the idea cops go around hunting black people disproportionately. I strongly dislike cops and pretty much all authority but I have seen neither statistic nor observation based in reality that suggests cops are racially biased in their abuse of power as opposed to just being a standing one-man-army against anyone any unfortunate soul they choose to interact with. There are countless cases of unarmed white men being shot dead from cops. Cops kill almost 2x more white people a year than they do black people. And black people kill each other more than any other race, so it’s not surprising their communities get more visits from “law enforcement” (and I use that term loosely). But I digress, it’s a cop problem, not a race problem.
Tyler sorta touches on this ambiguity in his video but then tells us not to get freaked out by BLM. Well, I embrace Black lives matter conceptually and as a code of belief and I always have. But I absolutely reject the political ideology Black Lives Matter which has increasingly less to do with my code of ethics. I’m also less convinced of a political cure than perhaps he is; in fact I’m of pretty strong conviction that politics are the exact cause of these problems. The notion that we’ve just gotten the wrong people in the wrong places for so many decades is somewhat laughable to me, especially because he likely means here “vote Democrat” instead of just “vote”. There may be good cops and bad cops, but I hate all politicians equally for the most part.
I challenge his idea as well that drugged out white rural Kentucky mountain communities would somehow rally the troops to fight back against oppression when they’ve been by far the most marginalized and forgotten community in the last 40 years in this country. The reality is I have about as much in common with a Black kid living in the streets of Atlanta as I do with a white man in a Kentucky trailer high on Oxy stealing copper wire for a living. This is not the case with Tyler, so I find it a bit surprising he’s purposefully drawing a distinction between the two in this song and then choosing one battle over the other just because it’s en vogue.
Regardless, I appreciate him being gentle with this country boy, as opposed to his contemporaries who I think might hate me.
Again Tyler demonstrates to me he is wise beyond his years and his writing and spoken word reflect it. Even though I don’t exactly agree with every word, I have to praise this song, lyrically it’s brilliant. So many political songwriters like those named Jason Isbell are incapable of preaching to anyone other than the choir, which is not only overwhelmingly boring but somewhat insulting as a listener to boot. Tyler approaching this subject with humility while still speaking with conviction is supremely impressive from a craftsmanship perspective.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:41 am
you reject the idea cops go around hunting black people disproportionately? do you also reject math? it’s a simple equation – by population cops kill far more black people than white people.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:00 am
Crime statistics overwhelmingly skew towards Black people and Black communities, so police spend the majority of their time there.
My neighborhood is white and has low crime. I never see cops. Is that because I’m white? Or is it because the biggest crime in the last two years was a disputed fender bender?
Cops kill – not average, not demographics, not percentage – actual cold bodies – more white people every year than they do Black people by a tremendous margin.
So yes, I reject the idea that those several hundred white corpses are nothing but a statical blip. It is much more apparent to me that cops show ZERO discretion in who they choose to murder. And I find it an incredulous concept that cops would go patrolling Black neighborhoods because they hate them and want an excuse to murder them.
What the prevailing logic dictates is actually the most insane perspective you could take, because it suggests that if Black people, a statical minority, stopped commiting a majority of the crimes, then the cops would somehow spread their murder out among a more diverse group of people. Does that sound like a solution to the problem? The implications of what you’re suggesting fail any logical scrutiny.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:52 am
“Crime statistics overwhelmingly skew towards Black people and Black communities, so police spend the majority of their time there.
My neighborhood is white and has low crime. I never see cops. Is that because I’m white? Or is it because the biggest crime in the last two years was a disputed fender bender?”
Yeah man do you think communities that continue to be over policed are just gonna bend over to the people causing them further problems in their life? When you were a kid and your parents kicked your ass for doing something stupid did that actually teach you to not do stupid things or just piss you off more? Or was it the compassion and love they gave you that made you the person you are today? This is how we should be viewing how we address crime in our communities. Violence only leads to more violence and fucked up people.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:22 am
Nice lack of critical thinking. Cops police black neighborhoods more because they commit a large, disproportionate amount crime. They wouldn’t be there if there were less crime!
September 18, 2020 @ 10:22 am
Do you know what a feedback loop is? And if they police so much why aren’t crime rates going down? Also, maybe let’s talk about what causes them to commit crimes. I think 300 years of slavery and jim crow laws might have an impact on a communities well being over generation. Coupled with lack of economic opportunities due to entry level jobs being shipped overseas and under investments in education in poor communities.
Please man can we all do a better job at looking at these issues as not just “black and brown people commit high crimes therefore we need more police” when clearly that has had no effect on our crime rates.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:17 am
Do you reject math? 60 – 70% of all violent crime is committed by 6% (black males) of the population. Astronomically more interaction with cops leads to more chances for bad things. I’m not taking up for racists or bad cops! I’m bringing up there other side of the math equation you left out.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:19 am
Do you know what a feedback loop is? And if they police so much why aren’t crime rates going down? Also, maybe let’s talk about what causes them to commit crimes. I think 300 years of slavery and jim crow laws might have an impact on a communities well being over generation. Coupled with lack of economic opportunities due to entry level jobs being shipped overseas and under investments in education in poor communities.
Please man can we all do a better job at looking at these issues as not just “black and brown people commit high crimes therefore we need more police” when clearly that has had no effect on our crime rates.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:23 am
Sorry meant to reply to AD
September 18, 2020 @ 10:25 am
True story, 2 days ago 3 black people ran into my yard with guns, trying to escape the police because they just committed armed robbery. I called the police and then grabbed my own gun BECAUSE THEY HAD GUNS, not because they were black. The police came and arrested them and returned the stolen property. End of story, nobody got shot, there was no struggle, and the 3 were 100% guilty. The police potentially saved lives, saved the 3 robbers lives for sure because the whole neighborhood was looking for them. We should be more harsh on bad police and also celebrate good police more.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:32 am
Wow- he can’t sing much better than Woody Guthrie- but he writes something in the same vein that Guthrie constantly wrote about and people are accusing him of what? I loved the lyrics (just as I do This land is Your Land, especially the Bruce Springsteen version) and trust me when I say, I ain’t a “hipster” nor do I *group* myself or anyone else. Everyone is wired different and their environment and upbringing affects that wiring. He doesn’t come across as sanctimonious like SS or Isbell so he does have that going for him.
Funny though, in an ironic way, he says he was an addict, ala SS and Isbell and many other weird people we call song writers- what is it that these days that’s cool. I don’t get it.
Is it a prerequisite you have to be an addict to gain perspective or introspect to be a good song writer? It sure seems like it.
Anyway, I like the lyrics and I look forward to seeing them in print so I can do my never addicted to anything (but cigarettes and coffee) interpretation.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:35 am
Damn, this escalated quick. Anyway, cool surprise and good the proceeds are going to a good cause, but the music itself is fairly inessential.
Tyler’s strength is his lyricism and storytelling, not fiddle playin’. 90% instrumentals from Tyler just isn’t that exciting to me. First run through I think “this is nice” but it could literally be anybody else’s album and you’d play it once and not think much about it again.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:35 am
Tyler Childers just told all you Law and Order Trumpkins to suck it. No worry about Dolly Parton misinterpretations here Trigger.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:41 pm
Not a Trump guy but this is the rhetoric that makes things more divided. Congratulations on contributing.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:31 pm
What Tyler Childers said was not especially polarizing. Some of what he said was outright prophetic. But politically-incited people using Tyler’s words against his own fans to inflict pain on them is what will make this situation damaging to Tyler Childers.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:39 am
God Bless Tyler Childers.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:41 am
6 months sober?!
I love this guy. He said things our politicians are too afraid to say.
I’d add the Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu. You can’t pick and choose which one best fits your narrative or views and ignore the others. The right to keep and bear arms is as equally important as the right to due process of law. If we us the Bill of Rights as a compass (all amendments), we’d have a map out of this mess.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:38 pm
It’s a damn shame that we can’t buy bazookas in vending machines.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:48 am
I think he shows a lot of perspective from different angles. He seems to empathize with what black people have to deal with, but says there’s no way he could know what they’ve had to deal with since he’s white. Toddxolsen, I don’t think he’s saying he had white privilege in any way, being poor and white from Appalachia.
“It’s called me belligerent, it’s TOOK me for ignorant” is the lyric by the way.
He asks what would happen if they shot white kids from off that mountain. Yes, he says the towns people would come out Angry and armed, but he leaves out the rest of the nation…because he knows no one in our nation would care about of bunch of white kids from Appalachia. The only people who’d care would be Appalachians.
He also gets on the media pretty heavy and everyone having hidden causes, telling lies, and spinning stories.
September 19, 2020 @ 12:04 pm
Truth.
This is the best comment I’ve read on this thread about this song.
Most Americans don’t have time to worry about things that don’t directly affect them .We’re too busy just trying to make it through our own day.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:58 am
I hope that now Tyler is sober that his writing doesn’t turn into Isbell’s writing. Isbell’s albums post-Something More Than Free have all been clunkers.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:14 am
Let’s not do this. The idea artists can’t write or their music sucks after they get sober is a dangerous myth.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:44 pm
Here’s my take on this, as someone who has made a living from creative work for more than 20 years.
When you are just starting out as a creative person, it does in fact help to drink and smoke weed (heavier drugs, never good. Don’t do coke, kids.) Because you are insecure in your artistic abilities and substances block out that inner critic that tells you what you’re doing is crap, so you can let your imagination loose.
Once you are established and feel confident in your creative pursuit you do your best work sober because you are better able to focus, organize, notice details, engage in strategic thinking about your project.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:39 am
I haven’t been drunk since the pandemic and my cocaine usage has been less. I tend to only do those things when out.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:33 pm
Have you gotten into a fight with your garden knome? ????
September 18, 2020 @ 12:22 pm
Oh wow. I didn’t even know that he had a drinking/drug issue until now.
To Trigger’s point, it is bad to assume that one’s music sucks after sobriety. But we can’t deny there is a change. Some artists have become better musicians or writers after sobriety. But also some have gone downhill.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:40 pm
…Southeastern and SMTF are both sober album, champ.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:19 pm
I know right? Like, if you want to troll Isbell fans, at least put the effort forth to insult using some semblance of facts. Otherwise, you just look like a childish idiot. Not that I would call MH a childish idiot, cause that would be trolling and lord knows I would NEVER do that…
September 18, 2020 @ 10:03 pm
Dude, Having not had to deal with that stuff because he’s White is what white privilege is. It has nothing to do with money, struggle, being rich or poor. It means your life was never negatively affected because of the color of your skin.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:58 am
This shit tickles me here.
Don’t worry about these dudes Trig. Fine article. But it is the sky screamers time for a bit longer.
Tyler can say what he wants. Being so closely joined at the hip with Sturgill, I felt like his political stance was already known. It is world’s apart from mine but I’m not going to stop listening to Tyler. Not will I quit listening to Sturgill, Sturgill and I agree on the premise of blowing the whole fucking thing up…we just come into it from opposite ends of the spectrum.
Isbell is a prima Donna. A bitch. A crybaby.
Lastly, Tyler gets it wrong. And I am a bit shocked. They actually did take boys off the mountain and riddle them with holes. A whole damn bunch of them. They are still doing it today on my mountain in Newton County, Arkansas.
And yes, there are people in Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and other mountain communities in this country who have it vastly worse than anybody else in America.
They don’t expect free shit. They don’t beg for shit. They have too much pride for such things.
Tyler’s comment is off the mark…..
And I’m sure he knows it.
But you got to be on the “moral” side of history these days, right?
Give me a damn break.
I’m glad Shelton is staying low.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:42 am
“They don’t expect free shit. They don’t beg for shit. They have too much pride for such things.”
Are you high or just blissfully naive? The Appalachia’s have the highest proportion per capita of folks on a government draw of anywhere in the country. There are counties in rural SWVA where 65% or more of the populace receive either SSI or SSDI. Are all of these people truly disabled and unable to work? Nope. Not by a long shot. But suggest to them they aren’t and can go back to work and watch their anger rise at the suggestion.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:22 am
I live amongst it.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:42 pm
They work hard for their unemployment, dammit!
The real key is to keep the government away from their food stamps and Medicaid.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:22 pm
What is always ignored in that calculation are the rich welfare loafers who work/own/run companies that subsist on government contracts or work for government agencies or work in industries with government set asides, etc. DC, and all the surrounding suburban counties only exist because they are sucking at the government teat. DC would be a malarial backwater if it were not the seat of power and all of those lawyers, lobbyists, agency workers, etc. are just rich welfare loafers. They do nothing productive and only live off the middle class taxpayers and foreigners who buy our debt. The pittance given to the rural and urban poor is minuscule compared to what all of the monied interests steal from us. So, the next time someone tells you that Alabama is the biggest welfare state, tell them to sit on a flagpole til it come out their mouth.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:40 pm
What was the 2008 bank bailout other than a giant welfare payment to rich banksters, Wall Street gamblers, and insurance fraudsters from the corrupt, compromised politicians that they own?
September 18, 2020 @ 9:08 am
“Isbell is a prima Donna. A bitch. A crybaby.”
100%. It’s easy to see why he hangs out with David Crosby.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:42 am
I haven’t heard about the cops in Newton county Killin a bunch folks and I live the next county over. Who are you talkin about? When did this happen?
September 18, 2020 @ 7:15 am
This is dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard. Police “brutality” “unaddressed?” Eat shit.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:16 am
And one other thing….
When will one of these “woke” musicians take on the black on black violence in this country.
When will they say, “let’s just cut to the chase”, and say
if black lives really matter, and I agree they do, we have to address this little problem. It ain’t cops killing the majority of black men.
And when will someone say mountain boys lives matter?
It’s been 15 years since my cousin, Josh Middleton went missing off this mountain. 15 damn years. The cops chalk it up to him just walking off…even though every single sumbitch, up and down this mountain, know exactly what happened.
But the cops only mess with the black folks, right?
Right? Right.
In these mountains, when they kill you, you ain’t getting picked up off the street, taken to the funeral home, where momma and them come and cry over your casket….
Nope. Up here, you get a burial in a well, maybe a mine shaft or kicked off the side of a cliff where mother nature and the critters work on you long before anybody knows you’re gone.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:38 am
I agree with you, but I think Tyler would probably say the remaining 99% of his catalogue is a testament to “mountain boy lives matters”.
I wish Tyler would record his song “Honest Work”.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:53 am
Black on black violence is crime. Just every day crime the same as the white woman who, with gun in hand, robbed the white person next to me at the drive-up ATM a few months ago. Equating street crime with crime committed by persons in power against those with no power is whiny bullshit.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:47 am
Black lives matter. Black on black murder accounts for the largest loss of black life in America, by far. Ergo, black on black murder matters and, based on the sheer numbers of lives lost, should be the top priority.
Both problems can be solved simultaneously, it’s not one or the other, but while BLM and their supporters prioritize the deck furniture, the ship keeps sinking and nobody seems to really care. It’d make more sense to prioritize the integrity of the ship itself right?
September 18, 2020 @ 9:10 am
Indeed. But the things it would take to make a dent will be fought and whined about by the same who nitpick over the term BLM. Just sayin’.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:27 am
I disagree, Liza. The people “nitpicking” are the same people who look at BLM and sniff bullshit.
It’s like catching your preacher beating up the hooker they just banged in an alley. How are you ever gonna trust what that guy’s saying about how you should live your life, when they can’t even keep their own house in order?
Those who nitpick about BLM see it for what it is. By its founders’ own admission, BLM is a marxist political action group. Cultural, political, and economic warfare is their stock in trade. Destruction of lives for the “revolution”, not saving lives.
Most of us know and believe absolutely that black lives matter, but also know that Black Lives Matter is not the answer. We stand with black lives, we don’t kneel to Black Lives. See the difference?
So what would “make a dent”? Prioritizing family, education, discipline, economic independence. What “things” did you have in mind? Generational poverty and dysfunction are a bitch, but somebody’s gotta break the cycle. I doubt anybody would nitpick or have issues with that. There’s a reason why penniless African immigrants (and other immigrant POC) arrive in America and leapfrog African-Americans economically within one generation. Same color. Different outlook and priorities.
I don’t think anybody, certainly not me, are claiming to know all the answers – but I’m betting they’re a lot simpler than most imagine.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:28 pm
Education for one. It should be funded equally throughout the country. I live in city suburbs where the schools are well funded. My home town an hour from here has not much to speak of. Teachers ask for basic supplies on donorschoose.org. It’s pitiful to see. Without equal access to good education, there is no chance for most. The chances of there being equal opportunity with education in this country in my lifetime is nil.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:48 am
Number one cause of death of black males in the US is heart disease, same as white dudes. Followed by cancer and unintentional injury. Whoever told ya it’s black on black crime is sellin a bill of goods.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:46 pm
@Chucky
I should’ve been more clear but, I mean, I honestly would rather not get into it because the statistics are pretty ugly and unflattering.
According to the CDC (I’m guessing that’s where you got your data from too), homicide is the #4 cause of death of black males across all ages (it doesn’t even crack to the top 10 for white males), and homicide is the #1 cause of death of black males under 45 years of age. That’s honestly insane.
If you cross reference that with FBI statistics, the overwhelming majority of murders of black males are by committed by other black males. A black male is 5x more likely to be murdered by another black male than a white male (including cops). Also, over 50% of all homicides in America are committed by black males, who comprise about 7% of the total population, even less if you consider the age group of the murderers (adolescents).
Sorry but BLM’s narrative is entirely disingenuous. Take it from me, living on a city block that’s had multiple shootings and at least one juvenile homicide this year, I’m not buying what BLM is selling.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:33 am
For girls and women 19 and under, homicide is the #4 cause of death. For ages 20-44, it slips to #5.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:16 am
Jesus….
9 unarmed blacks killed by police in 2019.
We got a hell of a problem don’t we?
Meanwhile, 9 people killed in Chicago on any given weekend, is hailed as progress.
Do not give me the whole black men are killed by people in authority is a big problem in America.
That is whiney bullshit….
And a lie.
Fight the police, try to take their gun, pull a gun, pull a knife and your ass is gonna get shot….
If you are white, black, from outer space, doesn’t matter, you are gonna get shot.
Take your whiney bullshit somewhere else
Go outside and scream at the sky Linda.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:41 pm
sure or like these played out…
walk to your car, get shot in the pack seven times. be a kid with a toy, get shot in the park and die. get arrested, have someone kneel on your neck for eight minutes and die. be asleep, get shot and die.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:11 pm
Chew on some fentanyl….start struggling to breathe before anyone has laid a hand on you. Long before the knee was applied.b
I notice you don’t mention the Whitey’s who have died with a knee on their neck, or the Whitey’s who have been shot, while unarmed, by the police.
You want to bitch about the police, I’m right there with you hoss.
Want to sky scream that the cops only do it to black folks, that is where your little argument hits a snag.
If you want to shout out “black Lives matter”, and I agree with you that they do….
Then you need to be screaming about black on black crime. And please don’t cry out like someone else did earlier about “yeah, but them dudes shooting each other, it’s no different than other crime. It’s a crime. These folks are being hunted by the police.”
9 unarmed black men were killed last year by Andy and Barney’s. 9.
GTFO with that nonsense. Blacks have a higher chance of being killed by a shark, struck by lightning, being mauled by a bear or striking gold, if you are following the law.
Gotdamn…folks are stupid.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:26 am
I am a white right winged conservative man. Others would tell me not to listen to Childers anymore because of this one song and his explanation behind the song. I’m going to buy this album and keep listening to him as much as always. We may have a difference of opinions but that’s just how it goes.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:07 am
The way it should be. Cheers, Rusty.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:36 pm
I don’t even see how anything Childers says here conflicts with being a conservative, haha)
It pretty much boils down to “We have a moral obligation to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”
Of course, the fellow who came up with that line DID end up getting executed at the behest of the conservative Pharisees…but anyone claiming to hold faith, honor, and family values dear should be exactly on the same page as Tyler.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:26 am
Keep doing what you’re doing highlighting good new music by hard working American artists! I’ve discovered several artists that I enjoy listening to off of this site, and like your candid commentary on the music. I think it’s great that Tyler Childers was able to record and release some music during the quarantine time, it is definitely much easier to criticize other’s work than it is to put in the work of recording and releasing music, so kudos to him and to you for highlighting music you enjoy on this site!
September 18, 2020 @ 7:28 am
Let me summarize the lyrics:
Things are bad. Not everything you read or see can be taken at face value, and there is more nuance to things than the news or social media wants you to believe. It sucks that this has become such a big issue and is being shoved down our throats on TV, sports, Twitter, etc., but how would you feel if you or a group you closely associate with were in a similar position, dealing with similar circumstances? Would you fight back, or keep taking it on the chin while doing your best to conform to societal expectations?
Obviously these problems aren’t black and white (in the metaphorical sense). But by approaching others with empathy, which goes both ways, we can come to a greater understanding, and start working towards being united to improve the lives of all Americans.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:53 am
I agree with your assessment. To answer the question, I wouldn’t: blame another race, put my trust in a politician, demand every corporation launch a hearts and mind campaign on my behalf or else, dilute the problem into cowboys and indians, hate my fellow man for showing discretion or scrutiny, expect any sort of amends from people I’ve never met, or judge people for the color of their skin instead of the content of their character.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:06 am
Then what would you do? How would you address the problem?
September 18, 2020 @ 6:37 pm
Think you’re on to one hell of a good start with “approach others with empathy.” If more folks would try to put themselves in anothers shoes before opening their mouths, including their metaphorical mouths on the keyboard, we’d be off to a pretty good start. Then I’d go with – stop talking so much and listen a little more. Next, never be afraid of information and education, it should be a lifelong endeavor pursued without prejudice for ones findings. Put those all together and we’re near cooking with gas. There is real potential for change in these times, for the good of everyone. Just seems folks are so set on backing into their little corners, hanging with their “kind” who parrot only what they want to hear or agree with that if things don’t start to change some we’re probably screwed. Seems somewhere, at one time someone smarter than me wrote that the best way to manipulate folks was to keep them divided. Or something like that, something to ponder anyhow.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:57 pm
Right on.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:31 am
What a disappointment to see TC signing on with the bullshit. Breonna Taylor, sweet angel shot in bed by racist cops. A flag that represents racism. Fuck off dude, keep your politics to yourself.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:29 am
Keep yours to yourself.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:35 am
You triggered Spike?
September 18, 2020 @ 7:43 am
Listened to Tyler Childers a couple of times and he initially did not rock my boat, okay but didn’t grab me. But will totally listen to this and give him another shot. It makes me so happy when country artists speak out about politics. I hope MAGAts start burning his albums with great fanfare, that is always great publicity! ????
September 19, 2020 @ 3:41 am
I may be assuming here, but from your comment it seems that you let artists’ political persuasions directly influence your fondness of their music. My advice would be to allow the songs speak on their own. When we start letting our politics choose instead of our ears it causes everyone to run to their corner.
(Not an attack on you, just simply sharing my thoughts)
September 19, 2020 @ 9:07 am
The music is still the primary factor but artists do get plus and minus points for their political beliefs and who they are as people.
Celebrities have the opportunity to influence during a critical moment in history and I try to support those who are fighting the good fight.
(Side note: Rest in Power Ruth Bader Ginsburg you were a goddess and a warrior and your death breaks my heart.)
September 18, 2020 @ 8:32 am
Just trying to imagine what the SCM comment section would’ve looked like in 1964 under the review of Johnny Cash’s “Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian”…
September 18, 2020 @ 8:33 am
I was so stoked this morning when I woke up and heard there was a surprise Tyler Childers album!
…then I find out that the album is instrumental fiddle tunes – what a huge letdown.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:00 am
Happy Friday – Enjoy your fiddle tunes with a side of political posturing and sanctimony!
I kid. Childers’ strikes me as a good guy, and I think his heart’s in the right place, but some actual lyrics/songs would’ve been preferable to this. I’m just a beggar though, not a chooser.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:01 am
The fiddles tunes are cool. The new song is okay. Nothing stellar. Boy this album is getting so much political bs. He wrote the song is based on his opinion. Why is everyone freaking out about it? I agree with some of it and disagree with some of it. Politics suck…. Cool side project.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:10 am
I think people are mostly freaking about about his somber, six-minute soapbox diatribe on Youtube. When somebody starts off saying “far be it from me to get on a soapbox, but. . .” Strap in.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:00 pm
THIS IS NOT AN OPINION ON THE VIDEO, JUST A SIMPLE OBSERVATION.
But I was up very late last night, and got up very early this morning, knowing this was going to be a very contentious subject. To my surprise, the sentiment about the song “Long Violent History” remained mostly positive here, and everywhere I checked on social media. It was not as politically contentious as I was expecting.
As soon as the video dropped, all hell broke loose. The video, not the song, is where the hatred for Tyler Childers, the song, and the album is primarily coming from. Just too many dog whistles, too many polarizing subjects broached that had nothing to do with the project, and it dilutes the mystery and impact only music can have as a medium of expression. The song could have changed hearts and minds. The video just has everyone running back to their established positions, and even worse, is being championed as a dagger in the heart of “Trumpers,” and “racist bastards” that the song was designed to reach to reshape hearts and minds. Whomever assuaged Tyler Childers to not Allow the song to speak for itself—which was his instinct—steered him wrong.
Again, I’m not passing any judgement on the video itself from a personal standpoint. At some point in the future I may offer a review and give my opinions on the song, the album, and perhaps the video too. All I’m saying is, the dropping of the video is when the room went from near universal excitement about new music from Tyler Childers, to many people lashing out in anger, on both sides.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:15 pm
Good points. I don’t know why TC had to offer additional “context” for the album/song. It wasn’t needed, imho, and his video talking about the song is twice as long as the song itself!
September 18, 2020 @ 2:17 pm
Trigger rewriting the events of today im real time.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:31 pm
I think if you look at the time stamps in this comments section and scan social media, it’s very easy to corroborate this observation. Don’t shoot the messenger.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:53 pm
I did. We were knee deep in a discussion about it long before the video dropped when you misrepresented his lyrics in order to feel good about being a fan of his.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:56 pm
This also must be the reason he put out the video, because -as obvious and in your face as those lyrics were- people still tried to act as if they ambiguous and he wasn’t sharing them willingly.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:20 am
“people still tried to act as if they ambiguous and he wasn’t sharing them willingly.”
Nobody ever said that Danny. It was in reference to one stanza early in the song that now and forever will be able to be interpreted that Tyler is questioning the legitimacy of a white boy from Hickman having the answers to racial injustice.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:33 am
Many people were saying that, Trig. I am not just refering to your post here.
September 20, 2020 @ 8:52 am
I love that Tyler waited a few hours to put out the video to give Kyle the chance to put his dumbass foot in his mouth, and then pretend that he didn’t. I came here for this.
But also, I unexpectedly have found a bunch of comments disappointed in the fact he put out an instrumental fiddle album that is absolutely beautiful. This site is littered with people that don’t actually like country music. Fitting.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:02 am
This announcement by TC has no doubt caused an ocean of cognitive dissonance to flood the minds of ignorant, backwards, hateful, bigoted bastards everywhere.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:03 pm
Have you ever been convinced of anything by someone who started by calling you “ignorant,” “backwards” and a “bastard?” Are we looking to shape hearts and minds, and educate? Or are we just looking to inflict pain on people who think differently than ourselves?
September 18, 2020 @ 3:49 pm
You are absolutely right in that using these words will not help change someone’s heart or mind. I guess they were more directed at those whose hearts and minds seem galvanized to their racist beliefs. Before I moved to the south this past year, I was ignorant to the level of racism and bigotry present in America. When Chris Stapleton spoke out recently about racial inequality, it seemed that there was a sentiment among certain folks that well at least we still have Tyler on our team. My comment was perhaps not worded as well as it should have been. It was meant as a snide remark to say that I hope any racists and bigots who were finding shelter in TC up to this point are now suffering some cognitive dissonance.
I greatly appreciate your work Trigger and your mediative calm tone. This country needs more of that. But as a peanut gallery commentator I took the liberty of releasing some built up vitriol and angst at a mindset that seems unfortunately here to stay in America. I hope I am wrong, but now that I’m living in middle TN it appears that racism and bigotry are passed down through generations as strongly as any genetic characteristic. I truly hope that education and awareness will curb this. But my own experience recently leaves me doubtful.
September 19, 2020 @ 9:42 am
Using nicer words isn’t going to convince the intentional non-learner racists. You can’t reason with the unreasonable.
September 18, 2020 @ 3:08 pm
And you wonder why the country is so divided…
September 18, 2020 @ 6:44 pm
I’m not so sure this country is any more divided now than it was at any other time. We may be yelling at each other over social media but we’re not fighting the battle of Shiloh.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:57 pm
You’re one to talk.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:20 am
“We” it’s a pronoun that includes myself. But as I explained, I was speaking out against racists and bigots. So if you’re not one of those….
September 19, 2020 @ 8:31 am
Was talking to Rusty
September 19, 2020 @ 8:43 am
My apologies. I just caught that. Carry-on 🙂
September 18, 2020 @ 9:23 am
I think this is a great album – the content surprised me just as much as everyone else. Completely instrumental until concluding with a (based on the comments here) PRETTY provocative message.
Highly encouraging message from Tyler. Country music needs less Toby Keiths and more Kris Kristoffersons.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:35 am
Willie is ultimate class act. The way he handles politics and his fan base is perfect.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:37 am
I didn’t know that TC was in recovery – can’t imagine a harder time to get sober than quarantining with nothing to do for 6 months (but I’d imagine that’s probably easier than being a touring musician).
Love the tunes and love the self-awareness by Tyler in the title track.
I need more surprise quarantine albums!
September 18, 2020 @ 9:47 am
I believe it’s pronounced Trig-gah. COMEDY!
September 18, 2020 @ 9:52 am
“We can stop being so taken aback by Black Lives Matter … we can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily defending a flag with history steeped in racism and treason…”
Sigh. This is the problem. Nobody is allowed to have any pride or fun anymore. “Well America is racist so how can anybody ever be happy at all!” And these modern progressives can’t ever stop at saying yes racism is horrible, violence is horrible. It then has to be well America is awful, racist, never been great, burn the flag and destroy the history. If you disagree with ANY of those points, you are a racist, nazi, white supremacist, conspiracy theorist. We can’t have a dialogue when one side is so desperately clinging to absolutes that aren’t even backed up by fact.
That being said, I love Tyler’s music, really enjoyed the album, and I respect that it is his opinion. I am just exhausted by the non-stop political barrage, all somehow echoing the EXACT SAME feelings word for word. Kinda like they read it somewhere and decided to just go with it? Also, in before comment “you think you’re tired of hearing it? Imagine how tired they are of living it MAAAAAN.” Whatever. I just know fans of country like me that use it as an escape from real life are going to be very turned off by the next couple years worth of albums all saying the same thing.
Tyler, I bought a digital copy. If it comes out on vinyl, I will buy that too. Peace, brother.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:27 am
Yes, I’m also aware he is referring to the confederate flag in this case. However I’m speaking on the American flag burners.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:06 pm
I think his main point there was that there is a ton of tradition and heritage to take pride in as a southerner or rural American that aren’t as historically and culturally troubled as the confederacy. Of all the amazing things the south and rest of rural America has to offer, that’s the one most widely associated, and it’s a damn shame. It’s kinda something that’s widely associated with country music as well so it’s hard to separate the two. I’d imagine he feels this as someone who comes across as valuing the good aspects of southern culture and life and being so directly associated with it through his music. I get frustrated by this as a rural southerner who knows how diverse, beautiful and important these places, communities and traditions are. Especially when people just can’t let the damn civil war go. It lasted acouple yrs, over a century ago and to some folks you’d think that was the only thing worth mentioning about the south. Unfortunately it can over shadow all the amazing heritage, tradition, people and beauty here….I’m not disagreeing with ya, just adding to your statement. I’d say the rest of the album is pretty fun. I like the tune ‘Sludge river stomp’. It’s a barn burner!
September 18, 2020 @ 12:14 pm
I’m not really disagreeing with Tyler or you either on a lot of these things. We need peace, discussion, understanding from both sides. It just seems to me, in my own personal opinion and not fact, the more militant pro-BLM people WILL NOT discuss. They are right and anyone who isn’t 100% drinking the kool-aid is racist. That’s what I was referring to. I respect Tyler’s opinions as an artist and I feel he conveyed his message is a rather diplomatic manner.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:42 pm
I hear ya but I’d say that anytime you get opinions from the most extreme sides of any issue (this one included) you’re gonna get more volume than communication. This is true on both ends. Reasonable, considerate, practical discussion usually happens somewhere in between in the quieter spaces. I think that’s why I appreciate Tyler’s sentiment. It doesn’t put anyone down or attempt to invalidate any one or group as much as it offers a reasonable, pragmatic look at the bigger picture from a rural, southern perspective which many value. This is the tone I think will encourage reasonable, albeit uncomfortable and contentious, conversation….in the meantime there is a lot of fun music on that album. I love fiddle and a couple of my all time favorite old school country recordings are of fiddle tunes. I particularly like ‘Sledge River Stomp.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:00 am
I find the back lash against artists, or anyone it seems, speaking out against racism such a strange phenomenon in American culture right now. “Keep politics out of music”? Where have you been? The racial politics in country music has hardly been quiet of late, from Beyonce at the CMAs, to “Small Town Road”, to some really insightful pieces on this very site.
“Keep politics out of music”? Are you kidding me? How far back you wanna go? Nitty Gritty Dirt Band? Pete Seeger? Josh White? Woody Guthrie? Joe Hill? Aunt Molly Jackson?
Country music has always been political. Labor movements, class, war, civil rights… When has the genre ever hidden itself from these things?
Politics in everything. Like Childers says here, it’s in life’s tiniest things like going fishing with your son. It’s in a child carrying a toy. Its’ in sleeping in your own bed. You gonna chuck out every political country record? Gues what. You ain’t gonna have any damned records left.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:31 am
Black Lives Matter and black lives matter are two very different things. The police killing anyone but an African American rarely if ever makes the news because that doesn’t fit the narrative. How about we just have an uprising against the system as a whole and reform the tactics used by the ALL police against ALL people instead of acting like they don’t do this to poor white/asian/hispanic folks too? You don’t have to dig too far to find the facts or the truth on many cases in which the police aren’t properly trained and kill. Breonna Taylor and Tony Timpa cases are both tragic, the sad part is you’ve probably only heard one of those names in the news. I think folks need to listen to “All American Singer” by Zephaniah Ohora.
September 18, 2020 @ 11:59 am
Fuck yeah Tyler.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:17 pm
Well, scrolling through the comments has been interesting.
I love the album. I’ve listened twice to his version of Bonaparte’s Retreat on first go. I’m going to have this in my rotation a lot from now on, I think.
‘Long Violent History’ is as honest a song I’ve heard in awhile. Appalachia is messy – anyone here read ‘Hillbilly Elegy?’ – and it’s a part of the South that people try to romanticize or ignore in turn. And Tyler’s wrestling with where he’s from and what he knows people in the rest of America think of when they think of where he’s from. He’s trying to make sense of all the opinion and all of the judgement. I don’t know if he and I would see eye to eye on politics and I don’t care. We do see eye to eye on the larger issue – this is an awful time we’re living through, and it isn’t the first time, and yeah, we need to look at what’s happening with empathy, not prejudice. I felt like that was what he was trying to get across, and he’s done an admirable job.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:19 pm
I am a part of the most hated class in America right now. I’m white, straight, and a Police Officer. I’ve listen to Tyler for several years and have seen him play live which was awesome. In my opinion Tyler among a few others have been a shinning light for country music which in recent times have changed to a horrible monstrosity. I am disappointed to hear that he too is effected by liberals in their quest for US domination. Like I said before I’m a Police Officer and have been for 7 years. I work in AZ and I can honestly say I have never seen one instance of racism in the LE profession. People don’t know the complexities of use of force and what is governed by case law and state law. People don’t want to know or care to know the reason for the contact, and what transpired after, their only concern in the skin color of the officer and suspect. It is important to note especially in a big city most citizen contacts are a result of a call for service aka a victim crime. I know their are shooting and killings that are wrong, I am not saying it does not happen. But it is NOT the norm. What the issue is more and more people do not want to take responsibility for their actions.
What BLM and and Antifa are pushing in socialism period. Honestly I am at the point in my career I would be happy to walk away from my job and watch from my porch as the world burns, but I see the faces of the citizens in the town I work in and it keeps me coming back every week. I honestly don’t know why I went on such a long rant on a county music website, but I felt like I had to say something. I’m sure I will be dismissed for how I stared this comment, or for my point of view. I just wanted to give some prospective from a person who wanted to do a job to help people, but is now targeted for what I do.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:10 pm
You are frighteningly ignorant, and the fact that you’re a cop says a lot about what is wrong with our justice system. Please leave your job. Your community will be better for it.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:49 pm
You are the worst and most ignorant Andrew I have ever known. Please leave your name and change it do dumbfuck.
September 19, 2020 @ 4:36 am
what portion of JC’s comment rings out as ‘ignorant’ Andrew? or were you simply triggered because he called out BLM and Antifa for what they are? why should he quit the force? how about instead you join the force or at least go for a few ride along’s in cities like Chicago, Portland or New York and actually see for yourself what a LEO faces day to day so you can empathize before you criticize.
people who truly want change don’t go out to the street actively seeking a fight while holding up cardboard signs blocking traffic and screaming at anyone who doesn’t agree with them, instead they work with their communities by joining the police or fire department or working with them as a volunteer or volunteering at shelters or with search and rescue and attending town halls etc..if anyone’s post screams ignorance its not JC’s but yours
September 18, 2020 @ 1:43 pm
Hey mate, thanks for giving us your personal experience.
Please don’t write off Tyler so soon. I don’t think he is blaming law enforcement. In the video he talks about “how would you like it if every newspaper headline story was about someone like yourself being killed”
Right now, so much of the internet is anti police, and as you say, you would be happy to watch “their” bubble world collapse.
This is what a lot of black people felt when every news story seemed to be talking about black people getting killed.
Honestly, I think the media on all sides is to blame for stirring up hatred making division.
Tyler seems to be pointing out that everyone has a breaking point, and when they get there, they need empathy and support.
Right now, I can’t imagine how many good cops are at the same breaking point.
It would take balls to write a pro-cop song at the moment, but it would be a great time.
I won’t do it though, I’ve had enough one sided police authority in my life to make me want to watch them all getting payback.
But payback is not going to fix anything, so all I can say is, once again, thanks for your comments, and I hope things get better for you.
September 18, 2020 @ 3:42 pm
JC…Thank you for your honest post. And thank you for being on the frontline. It’s easy for keyboard warriors who have no idea of what it’s like doing your job to flap their lips. Ignore Them. You’re out there making the world a better place. Don’t lose faith.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:25 pm
Thanks for your service JC. My family and I support law enforcement, and we are grateful that individuals such as yourself are willing to lay down their lives for others everyday. The silent majority in the country DO support you.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:15 pm
First off, thank you for your service.
That being said, I have to admit to being turned off by the attempted “martyrdom” running through your post. Nobody forced you to choose the line of work you chose and it’s borderline ridiculous to paint yourself as some sort of “warrior” against the horde of BLM and Antifa members that wouldn’t sniff small-town America if they even got the chance.
Lots of jobs suck, and right now yours does and that SUCKS. Cops have been asked (with no training) to basically deal with societal problems much bigger than them so the upper-middle class and wealthy can stay content in their HOA-run subdivisions. But I don’t know what reaction other than trying to troll for responses you expected when you open your post saying how awful your line of work is, only to follow it up with paragraphs trying to paint yourself as a hero against socialism.
Bluntly–thank your for your service, but if the only way you can stand to bring yourself to work is by demonizing the boogeyman that is BLM or Antifa, you probably need to explore that early retirement that you indicate you desire.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:48 pm
I wasn’t posting a comment on here to get atta boys or troll responses, I wanted to post on my point of view as a fan of Tyler’s and give some perspective on what’s going on from a law enforcement point of view. I do love my job and will continue to do it until the cons out weight the pros. You can interpret my post how you want and criticize me for it, that’s what makes our country great. I guess I’m just upset that politics are now making its way into the music that I love, when it was a good distraction from it.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:36 am
Music and politics/social issues have ALWAYS been synonymous with each other. It’s only a relatively recent phenomena that artists have become more hesitant to speak out, mostly because the record labels exerted their control and told any artist who wanted to say something that “Republicans buy sneakers too” essentially.
I just don’t understand how damn sensitive everyone has become on both sides of the political aisle on this crap. Okay, Tyler Childers is a liberal (spoiler alert — most artists are), does that mean you can’t listen to any of his other songs?
David Allan Coe is a piece of crap human being. I can still listen to his music, even though he is a racist scumbag. It really isn’t that hard to separate the man and the music and the artist from the art.
September 19, 2020 @ 2:05 am
“What BLM and and Antifa are pushing in socialism period. Honestly I am at the point in my career I would be happy to walk away from my job and watch from my porch as the world burns”
Yep, just look at Western Europe with their socialist system. Burning to the ground as we speak – not to mention the free healthcare, low crime rates, job security….the horror!
September 19, 2020 @ 8:12 am
Yep, it always gives me a good giggle when I hear Americans (whose left wing part of the government would be considered pretty much full on right wing in Europe) talk about socialism, Marxism and/or communism. The fucking 50’s never stopped man… the red scare is still in full swing!
September 19, 2020 @ 8:49 am
It’s also ironic because these same people that scream about socialism seemingly have no issue with corporate socialism, which is pretty much exactly what America (under both R’s and D’s) gleefully participates in.
Those same Southern States that can’t be bothered to pay out people’s unemployment checks during the pandemic, have no issue giving Toyota and Wal-Mart, and Amazon massive public subsidies.
The cognitive dissonance present in this Nation is truly astonishing.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:58 am
@Danny
Not sure where you’re from, but, as ridiculous as it sounds (because it is), the philosophies of Marx, Engels, and other socialists are still very much in vogue in schools and universities in America and many people here have carried those pernicious and highly flawed, however romantic, ideals into almost every facet of life.
Those ideals and philosophies have bled into American life over the decades, since the 60’s, and we’re reaping what’s been sowed right now, with mobs of woefully ignorant useful idiots doing their best to tear the country apart, both in the streets and in popular media
September 19, 2020 @ 9:03 am
It’s not like capitalism is doing that well either. Rich people get richer the poor get poorer.
September 19, 2020 @ 9:43 am
@Danny
“It’s not like capitalism is doing that well either. Rich people get richer the poor get poorer.“
Keep coming with those ignorant tropes and platitudes.
Not doing that well? Capitalism is the most egalitarian and still, thankfully, the most successful economic system that’s lifted more people out of abject poverty than any other in a matter of several millennia.
Give us a single successful primarily- socialist country? I’ll wait, comrade.
September 19, 2020 @ 7:16 pm
All of Scandinavia.
Also, me not being on board with the way capitalism is doing is in no way an endorsement of Marxism. I think a healthy mix of systems is preferable. Unfortunately the American mix is not healthy.
September 19, 2020 @ 8:42 am
Nothing‘s “free” my friend, and you been to Europe lately, especially the Mediterranean countries? I’m guessing not.
Spain, Italy, Greece etc. Even prior to the pandemic, local economies were crumbling, with astronomical unemployment, civil unrest, regional strife, crime, not to mention frequent soft-target terrorism including attacks on local Jewish communities by Muslim immigrants.
Let’s be real. The US has its own problems, but let’s not perpetuate the notion that Europe totally has its shit together, and the myth that “socialism works, just look at Scandinavia.”
The Scandinavian countries are well off economically because they’ve been steadily moving away from socialism over the decades.
There are other factors at play there too, not least of which is a homogenous cultural identity and work ethic. No doubt when a society is peaceful, collaborative, educated, law abiding, and unified, upholding classic liberal ideals like free thought and free association, economic freedoms and protections, they tend to do well.
September 19, 2020 @ 9:07 am
Not “free” no, but as everybody knows, Europeans spend much less money on healthcare all the while making sure everyone has access to it. So what’s the advantage of the US healthcare system?
Have been in Europe for the last 41 years (guess my age…). UK and France. In the last few years have visited Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Finland and quite a few others. I would never try to make you believe that things are perfect here. Unemployment, crime? Sure, where aren’t those things a problem? (But compare your US unemployment benefits and murder rates with European ones.) Civil unrest? It happens, same as in the US (Watched Fox News lately?) Terrorism? Yes, but again, on a par with what you’ve got in the US. Are you going to explain the link between socialism and terrorism? Good luck with that.
Also, see Mike W’s comment above for why the US is already a socialist country, it just suits you to ignore the fact for some strange reason.
September 19, 2020 @ 10:10 am
Alright, most of your reply is just cliche “whatabout’ism” so forgive me if I don’t comment, but you say Europeans spend less on healthcare? Huh? I assume you mean individually, on a case by case basis? That’s because they all pay for it through exorbitant tax rates, whether they want to or not, and whether they need the care or not. They pay for things they may not need, and when they do need it they don’t have immediate access. Need life-saving heart surgery? Wait years.
That’s why wealthy foreigners and statesmen frequently come to America for medical care. We have some of the best doctors, technology, and access to care on the planet.
I once spent time in a small Italian village, next to a woman I thought was 90 years old, struggling to get up the steps of her own home. She was actually about 70 but hunched over and walked with a cane.
She needed simple knee surgery, easily acquired in the US in a matter of days, but there her doctor wouldn’t send her to a surgeon because it was “unnecessary”. They gave her a cane and told her to fuck off. Her quality of live was near that of a cripple, because a simple fix was denied to her.
Moral of the story, you get what you pay for. Socialized medicine means everyone gets shitty care, and that’s the point of socialism. Everybody shares in the misery.
September 19, 2020 @ 11:35 am
Don’t see how it can be whataboutism when I literally took your list and commented on it. It’s been proven that the tax hike to pay for socialised healthcare is less than the money you’ll save by not paying your premiums as they currently are. No exorbitant tax rates here.
Here in France I’ve never had to wait for treatment of any kind. Are there problems? Yes, nothing’s perfect, there can be wait times for certain things. That’s the case in the UK. The reason for that is successive right wing governments since the 80s who have cut funding because they believe the free market, aka, capitalism.
Best access to care on the planet? That’s a good one. For the rich, perhaps. Over here we value a system which serves everyone, not just the best off. By the way, nice anecdote, but Italy has one of the highest life expectancies in the world – much higher than the US. All with evil socialised medicine.
September 18, 2020 @ 12:28 pm
Wow.
Every example he used about what white people would do if we were hunted down and killed the way “other groups of Americans have been”. THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN. Innocent people of ANY COLOR are not HUNTED down by the police. Numbers don’t lie and for every non-white person killed by police, HOW MANY were NOT resisting and UNARMED. Factual statistics are there to counter your “belief” Tyler, but in the name of victim hood I’m sure you could argue how those statistics are “systemically skewed”, right?
How would we react if one of our own people were gunned down by a game warden while fishing because he was reaching for his license in his box and the warden thought he was getting a knife? Or someone in NC was speeding home on the freeway to help his elderly mother and was pulled over and beaten to death. Because that’s what f**king George Floyd was doing, right? Completely innocent and devoid of any questioning by the police at all, right? No history of being a s**t bag at all either right?
He even criticized “lazily defending a flag steeped in hatred, treason and racism to defend our “heritage”.
He said grow a garden of our own vegetables, process our own meat, sew a quilt to preserve that “heritage” instead.
Does everyone who uses the buzzword “treason” to describe what The Confederate states did get a dollar for using it? Along with that dollar for the word use, they also display not knowing history or that according to our constitution secession was NOT “treason” either.
If that’s all that flag meant to the people who defend it meant then I’d agree. Put it away and “heritage something else”, but for MOST of us southerners it’s a symbol of much more than that and not related to “race” for us.
I appreciated his sound and his music but inserting this has lost me. I know I’m one listener and my loss of streams and purchases don’t mean s**t to him, but that’s my right to have my opinion too, from my throne of privilege, right?
September 18, 2020 @ 1:00 pm
This is what happens when you sit in a room for 30 days and watch nothing but CNN then decide to write a song. America bad! Kill the evil privileged white man.
He’s acting like if police killed white people there would be some sort of uprising from mountain folk (lol).
Police kill more white people and their hasn’t been an uprising yet. I definitely agree that the police need to get their shit together but I’m tired of hearing about all this “white privilege” shit.
You pretend you don’t want to stand on a soapbox preaching yet that’s exactly what it seems you’re doing with ‘Long Violent History‘
September 18, 2020 @ 5:07 pm
The problem with the term “white privilege” is that is gets lazily tossed around. I don’t blame working-class white people getting pissed off at the term being thrown at them, when they live in run down homes and barely make ends meet working a crappy job.
That aside, I do think it is fair to throw the term white privilege at people who clearly did nothing to earn their wealth or spot in society other than come from the right sperm. See Trump’s children who have accomplished nothing in life, other than having the right last name. And before people jump on me for saying that, I will say the same for Obama’s daughters who are going to have an easy ride in life despite being black and female cause of Dad.
September 18, 2020 @ 10:24 pm
White privilege has nothing to do with being rich or poor. It has to do with your life having been negatively affected because of your race.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:28 pm
So wasn’t Breona Taylor’s boyfriend a criminal and drug dealer who shot at police? Be careful the company u keep folks. Also the cofounder of blm Patrisse Cullors is a self identified “trained Marxist” who accepted funding from a group Linked to the Chinese communist party. I guess blm is ok with communism and forced slave labor? Not me and I along with many other are willing to prevent this at any cost. Don’t believe msm they have an agenda, do your own research. Add him to the list of DBT, Isbell, Sturgill and any other virtue signaling artist trying to shove their political bs down my throat.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:22 pm
Okay… now settle down, Alex Jones.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:32 pm
Ok… Now wake up, sheep.
September 18, 2020 @ 1:51 pm
Thanks for the meaningful reply which contributes to an equal discussion.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:13 pm
As Tyler Coe pointed out, if you’re mad at Childers for this, feel free to throw out all your Johnny Cash records and merch as well.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:47 pm
Did Tyler Mahan Coe make sure to cite Johnny Cash’s “God Bless Robert E. Lee” or “Johnny Reb”?
Johnny Cash wasn’t a political artist. Johnny Cash was Johnny Cash.
Besides, Coe lost all credibility when he chose to side with record labels over artists when it comes to master rights and equitable contracts—an issue that disproportionately affects black and minority performers, by the way.
Can’t wait for that Season 2 of Cocaine and Rinestones! 3+ years and counting! Keep that Patreon money coming!
September 19, 2020 @ 11:14 am
Nailed it Trigger. Most folks genuinely misunderstand Cash. I have a book written by his daughter Tara and him called Recollections. Tara asked him specific questions about himself and he replied in his own handwriting. She asks what political party he considers himself. In his own hand he says neither, and that he never voted in a single election! Pretty sure this point would shock many. Its always been a laugh to me how people on both sides try to hijack Cash to support their politics…like it really matters what Cash thought…it comes across to me anyway, that hyper -politicized people need to make celebrity’s trophies for their side. (Whether or not the celebrity even wants to be seen that way.)
I could care less what music artists opinions are. I dont worship them, don’t make them my gurus, dont use them as a moral compass or consider them superior in any way. Musicians are simply people like you and I, and dont have any more insight into the human condition than any of us. As for Childers, have at it. He can think and believe anything he wants to…won’t affect my views in the slightest. What I do admire musicians for is good music.
September 18, 2020 @ 2:21 pm
Well I do believe we have an issue in regards to the role of law enforcement in this country.
They act often times more as tax collectors for the city, county or state instead of peace officers.
The poor are disproportionately adversely affected by traffic and criminal laws in this country. Take for the example of the law enforcement practice of civil asset forfeiture or our drug policy that leads to mass incarcerations.
In regards to the charge that there is some sort of large scale racially motivated police shooting, people SHOULD BE taken aback by Black Lives Matters and their claims. The data does not support their accusations.
Look no further than the research of a black Harvard economist who began his study under the belief that there was police bias towards black Americans. His findings proved otherwise.
Roland G. Fryer J. An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police
https://scholar.harvard.edu/fryer/publications/empirical-analysis-racial-differences-police-use-force
We should be pursuing policies that maximize economic freedoms which would greatly benefit black Americans. Disparities do not automatically equate to systemic racism.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:05 pm
I have an issue with a couple of things involving cops- first and foremost; Law enFORCEment- they used to be called peace officers- most are now simply revenue generators for the Empty Suit brigade(s) across the Country- secondly; all lives matter or none do- one murder under the color of law is one too many- yet it’s done all the way to the top of the food chain- the rule of law is old hat and antiquated in today’s world and it got that way, because law enFORCEment exists and not peace officers. Their handlers, the Empty Suit brigades, believe they exist and have a pay check because they deserve it never stopping to think where it comes from, only that it isn’t enough to “fix” all they claim another law will “fix”-
There are so many federal laws on the books they can’t be counted and it’s estimated every adult in this country breaks at least 3 a day- to enFORCE the draconian circus rules requires less than honorable people- and they’re training doesn’t help. Most cops spend less that 5% of their time solving crime- so, that means what? They have to do something to justify their pay check-
September 18, 2020 @ 5:40 pm
The biggest problem with the American Police is that so little of their time is dedicated to policing…leaving them nowhere near trained to do 95% of their daily duties.
Policemen should do police work. Medical workers should do medical work. Social workers should do social work.
That statement shouldn’t be controversial.
September 18, 2020 @ 3:34 pm
If you’re looking for unity go listen to Justin Wells New album The United State.
September 18, 2020 @ 3:52 pm
I listened to Cody Jinks on his twitter page from Whiskey Riff cover Waylon’s version of “Ain’t Livin Long Like This”- pretty good! Especially considering it’s a solo environment, not in a studio or on a stage-
Also, Colter Wall’s song, “Cowpoke”, done in what looks like an airplane hangar is pretty good too- and did y’all know Joe Rogan has now found Colter Wall?
September 18, 2020 @ 4:20 pm
If Tyler wants to be part of change, then move to the westside of Louisville!! I’m sure his views would change if he did.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:52 pm
If you disagree with anything Tyler said in his video, you are racist garbage and hate this country. Leave. You are not a patriot or an American. Pretty simple.
September 18, 2020 @ 5:15 pm
You left out calling me a homophobe and a misogynist.
September 18, 2020 @ 4:54 pm
The poor black man and poor white man have more in common than either will ever admit. Maybe we should all direct our anger and angst at Wall Street and the crony capitalism that pretty much defines the modern American experience. Heaven forbid we invested in public assets the way local and state governments are all too happy to invest in publicly subsidized stadiums that are used (maybe) half the year.
September 18, 2020 @ 6:07 pm
Love the whole album and listened to the last song on repeat probably 30+ times this morning. I have pretty strong views on all this BLM shit and the faulty notion that blacks are killed by cops at some rate that is more unsettling than the rest of the population but I totally get the sentiment of the song and his melodies are phenomenal.
September 18, 2020 @ 7:21 pm
Who cares how good he is at fiddle, and I don’t think he’s “pretending he can play fiddle with the big boys” either. He learned a new instrument and wanted to record some songs. Simple as that. I applaud the attempt to take on a whole new instrument when he could just ride out his days strumming a guitar and singing. We all gotta start somewhere right?
September 18, 2020 @ 7:31 pm
Depending on where you are from or where you have lived shapes your worldview. I got the experience of growing up in both Appalachia and in large urban areas. I doubt Mr Childers really has any understanding of what it’s like to live in those cities and what the black communities deal with and also what the police have to deal with there too. It ain’t pretty on either side and there are bad cops ought there that commit violence against innocent people. That is song worthy material right there. But the vast majority of police are not bad and deal with a lot of shit and deserve some song material too. And calling out crime and criminals (not just Wall Street or politicians) would be refreshing to hear from some of these brave and caring singers.
However, these artists that are only courageous enough to address one side come across to me as pandering and in it for the attention and money to ride the whim of the moment. There’s a lot wrong on all sides but it’s going to be hard to get it fixed turning a blind eye and not addressing the whole picture because you’re only safe to sell albums addressing and singing about only the pc point of view. This isn’t a one dimensional problem with a one dimensional solution and needs more than one dimensional songs.
Johnny Cash probably would have supported BLM in some manner but he would have also sung about good cops and against the rioters destroying things too. He was wise enough to see all sides and not afraid to speak his mind for fear of being cancelled. The guy was much more complex, thought provoking and unpredictable than many of the social commentary singers of today. This is a new trend of “Safe” controversy singers . I don’t see them as courageous folks as much as masquerading superficial opportunists.
September 18, 2020 @ 8:29 pm
This whole thing is such a mess. Everyone’s talking passed each other. Much of the rioting is being done by white kids, often saying racist shit to officers of color. Saying that the rioting is understandable frustration is actually racist because you’re saying it’s only being done by black people and for some noble reason. This is all tribal identity based politics. You can see in the comments all the armchair experts purporting to know what’s best for us, how the police should be, and how much of a utopia we’d be living in if only……
I’d bet that 95% of people critical of BLM aren’t actually racist people, wouldn’t wish harm on anyone, and support police reform. The problem is they are reacting to the ACAB mantras and the defund the police movement, as they have watched businesses burn in the faces of inept virtue signaling politicians passively supporting the criminal activity. There’s legitimate protesting going on and there’s opportunistic criminals and disenfranchised anarchists. This whole situation is too complicated to generalize and reduce to “the right side of history” and other nonsense. As bad as things might still be, they’ve never been better throughout history. Yet here we are, almost uniformly agreeing that actual racism sucks, but digging in on some angle of this complicated mess, as a way to feel superior to other people because we’re emotional crybabies. It seems like no matter how far we progress from our dark past, many of us will always pretend like things haven’t gotten better and we need to hate each other for it, because we identify with struggle, opposition, and resisting. Tyler can say whatever he wants. Good for him. I’m just surprised he has such a shallow view and had to release a companion explanation video justifying his position. Hopefully he won’t go full Isbell and be a constant sanctimonious preacher, because there does seem to be some sort of correlation with virtue signaling and a decline of quality music.
September 19, 2020 @ 10:54 pm
Hear, hear. I’ve got me a little homestead in portland, and you are welcome to come visit, Jake, to see this shit up close and personal! It’s entertaining, to say the least!
September 18, 2020 @ 8:58 pm
Tyler needs to educate himself on what BLM truly are (which is a Marxist Anti American Anti Caucasian (not pro Back) Anti Law Enforcement collective who are dead set on dividing and not unifying Americans) – before ignorantly defending these race baiting separatist traitors in his accompanying six minute video with this album,
he also needs to educate himself to the fact that over 90% of the media he blindly accepts as ‘fact’ is controlled by five corporate conglomerates ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media_in_the_United_States with little to no oversight who are counting on his laziness and willingness to shill a virtue signaling agenda in order to create the same infighting he supposedly decries while remaining obsequiously unaware of the irony of his own hypocrisy
are his intentions good? i have no doubt they are, but we all know where good intentions lead.the fact he chooses to block comments on this video reeks of the same spineless wave of recent censorship that has plagued all the so called liberal news outlets from USA Today to Yahoo to NPR recently and as much as i love his music i cannot and will not tolerate racism masquerading as equality , it is disingenuous and cowardly ,hey Tyler if you are by some chance reading this there’s something else you need to know mr self appointed morality advisor, since you seem to want to blame the current administration for the worlds ills you need to know a few more facts – Joe Biden is apart from suffering late stage dementia , plagued by a history of racism and supporting police brutality, but don’t take my word for it https://www.leftvoice.org/joe-biden-is-a-racist-who-loves-police-brutality,
i wont stop listening to your music anymore than I stopped listening to Ted Nugent ot Hank Jr when i disagreed with them on political views, we are all entitled to our own and i’m enough of an adult to separate the artist from the fallible human (aren’t we all) . fact is i could not in good conscience support either candidate in the upcoming election and believe the two party system in America is woefully steeped in corruption and needs a complete overhaul, but the last thing any of us need is another popular musician abusing their celebrity by lording a holier than thou attitude over their audience.you break my heart kid you really do.
September 18, 2020 @ 9:12 pm
Hey, the song is #39 on the iTunes chart!
September 18, 2020 @ 9:14 pm
Everyone has big Dumb Ass moments in their life.
Tyler just had his.
Shut Up Ty.
And by all means, keep sawing away on that fiddle!
Very cool that that instrument is calling, and you are answering.
September 20, 2020 @ 7:02 am
Ty’s “Big dumb ass moment”?
It’s the #1 all genre album on iTunes right now.
Seems to me he’s doing just fine.
September 20, 2020 @ 10:38 am
Cool that the album is #1
September 19, 2020 @ 6:02 am
I can’t agree with his views as, awful though George Floyd’s death was, it wasn’t part of any actual trend. Unarmed black men are incredibly unlikely to be killed by the police in America.
That said, love the guy and his music and he should feel free to express whatever opinions he wants.
September 19, 2020 @ 6:11 am
Listen to the music on its own merits and don’t try to pick it apart. I like his 2 albums prior to this more, but i respect his wanting to put this out. Its not for everyone.
September 19, 2020 @ 10:02 am
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Creative arteests are emotionally unstable people. That emotional instability makes them creative, but it also prevents them from looking through the lens of objectivity. It forces them to be driven by their feelings. This is why creative people should not involve themselves in politics.
September 19, 2020 @ 11:16 am
Nailed it. Post of the year as far as I’m concerned.
September 19, 2020 @ 11:48 am
Dude, it’s why the best songwriters are leftists. I agree with Isbell on that. They’re nuts, and we love them for it, but they have no business involving themselves in policies that impact the whole world.