Tyler Childers Joins Town Mountain for New Song “Down Low”

Formidable bluegrass power group Town Mountain must have left the back door to the studio open while recording their new record New Freedom Blues due out October 26, and in walked a stark raving hilljack covered in goat’s blood, also known as newly crowned Americana Emerging Artist of the Year Tyler Childers. The result was a brand new track called “Down Low” that was sprung upon us by surprise Friday (9-21), and it’s just the type of dirty and down low stuff you would expect from a collaboration of this type.
Recorded live at the iconic Echo Mountain Studios in Town Mountain’s home base of Ashville, North Carolina, “Down Low” is one of eleven tracks from the new record produced by the Hank Williams of the West Coast, Caleb Klauder. Along with banjoist Jesse Langlais, mandolin player Phil Barker, vocalist/guitarist Robert Greer, fiddle player Bobby Britt, and bassist Zach Smith, the bluegrass band was also joined on drums for portions of the new album by Miles Miller, also known as the drummer for Sturgill Simpson, and the guy who introduced Sturgill to Tyler Childers.
“To me, ‘Down Low’ has a Waylon vibe, which is a damn good vibe to have,” Town Mountain’s Jesse Langlais says, who co-wrote the track with Tyler. “My favorite line in the song, which was a Tyler line, is, ‘I’ve been getting into meanness on the dark end of the street.’ Ahh, that’s downright lonesome.”
Since Town Mountain’s debut album Original Bluegrass and Roots Country in 2007, they’ve been drawing fans from the bluegrass world and beyond. They’re not your typical bluegrass band, adding a bit of grit and country swagger to their songs as evidenced in “Down Low.”
Tyler Childers and Town Mountain have been seen performing this song together on tour this summer, and the studio effort holds up to expectations. Tyler and Town Mountain will also be playing some shows together in Texas and Oklahoma in December (see dates below).
September 21, 2018 @ 7:06 pm
Great tune! Straight fire. Can’t wait for the album to drop
September 21, 2018 @ 8:29 pm
Now that’s what I call country music!
September 23, 2018 @ 4:03 am
…56!
September 21, 2018 @ 8:54 pm
This shit will not stay on the low down for long. Killer tune!
September 22, 2018 @ 6:16 am
Agreed!
September 22, 2018 @ 7:26 am
Drums on a bluegrass album? That ain’t no part a nuthin’! 😉
Great sounding song. I’ve never heard of these guys. I love a lot bluegrass, but lately I tend to just follow the bluegrass/newgrass artists that I already know (e.g., Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Jim Lauderdale’s bluegrass stuff, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien) and haven’t done much seeking out of other stuff. I have a feeling these guys might be up my alley.
September 23, 2018 @ 2:05 pm
If you’re looking for more bluegrass/newgrass, you should check out The Infamous Stringdusters. Andy Hall is one of the best dobro players in the world.
https://youtu.be/PNLlw9B0pBI
September 22, 2018 @ 7:55 am
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I ran to Amazon, but they they only had a few Town Mountain albums to purchase or stream. iTunes has a more complete catalog. I purchased their latest (Southern Crescent) on iTunes, will stream the ones available on Amazon ahead of their new album.
I just heard a cut from then new Nick Dittmeier & the Sawdusters! I’m very excited for that album too!
September 22, 2018 @ 8:50 am
Photos by me. 😉 Taken at Kickin It On The Creek last weekend.
September 22, 2018 @ 10:05 am
I will advise as the album releases.
September 22, 2018 @ 10:19 pm
Killer tune. Not surprising coming from a dude who’s never written (or co-written, in this case) a bad song.
September 23, 2018 @ 4:09 am
The Farm Aid 2018 review you didn’t ask for!
Mellancamp’s son : The most awful thing I’ve ever seen. Who gave this ambercrombie model a guitar and told him he could sing?
Partical Kid : Willi’s son’s band… pretty cool. Not my thing on the whole but he’s got talent and he’s got balls
Lukas Nelson and Promise Of The Real : HOLY SHIT SO FUCKING GOOD. Huge new fan of this guy.
Margo Price : Ruled. Girl is such a bad ass.
Jamey Johnson : Pretty cool! He could maybe act like he wants to be there performing a little more? But he’s got a good voice. It’s great that he had some time out of his Sons Of Anarchy schedule to perform
Kacey Musgraves : So god damn good even if she was struggling with sound issues the entire set that obviously frustrated her. Still pitch perfect and all the performances of the band were stellar. The Brooks & Dunn cover was gold
Sturgill Simpson : Well the band certainly rocked a whole lot, but half the set was just jamming in blues boxes, albeit well done, i wanted a LOT more singing and ya know, actual songs. Kind of a let down performance even though they were technically awesome? Hard to explain
Dave Matthews & TIm Reynolds : Really damn good
and then i left ’cause my drive was 2 hours and i got up at 3am. Was it a crime to miss Neil Young and Willie Nelson seeing as though i haven’t seen either yet? Well, yes, but i’m ok with being an idiot ’cause i could barely keep my eyes open on the drive home. Any later and i probably woulda been roadkill.
September 23, 2018 @ 5:07 am
I forgot Chris Stapleton, who was quite good musically, but that band needs to move more… like have more energy. That’d make their live show a lot better IMO.
And that Nathaniel band… they were fun. Not my thing, but i think they had the biggest reaction
September 23, 2018 @ 5:34 am
Musgraves’ disco rendition of Neon Moon was awful… it sounded like something out of a low budget 70’s porn. However, she was very chatty… her banter with the audience was the best part of the set.
How about Jamey Johnson? Although he did an early solo set… he played his own songs for the most part. He played “The Dollar.”!
Stapleton was excellent, but the awkaward breaks between songs… is that his thing? It really killed momentum especially in an abbreviated set.
It was the most political Farm Aid in decades. Trump’s immigration policies and his tariffs were the targets of many f-laced tirades.
God Bless Willie
September 23, 2018 @ 4:27 pm
Wow, now that’s f*in’ music right there!
At this point I don’t think Tyler Childers is even capable of being involved in a musical project that I wouldn’t absolutely love.