Tyler Childers is an American singer and songwriter from Lawrence County, United States. His work sits within alternative country, Americana and country, with music that also draws on bluegrass and folk. He grows out of a Kentucky background that shapes much of his writing, especially songs about coal mining and its effects.

Early life and background

Childers is born in 1991 and raised in Lawrence County, Kentucky. His father works in the coal industry and his mother is a nurse. He learns singing in church, where he sings in the choir, and begins playing guitar and writing songs at around 13. He later moves to Paintsville, Kentucky, where he attends Paintsville High School and graduates in 2009.

After school, he spends a semester at Western Kentucky University and then several semesters at Bluegrass Community and Technical College. He leaves college, works a range of odd jobs and continues pursuing music. He begins performing in Lexington, Kentucky and Huntington, West Virginia.

Recording career

Childers releases his first album, Bottles And Bibles, in 2011. He later records two EPs at Red Barn Radio, a Lexington radio show, in 2013. After the success of Purgatory, those EPs are issued together and reach No. 5 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

Purgatory becomes his breakthrough album in 2017. It is produced by Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson and recorded at The Butcher Shoppe in Nashville. Simpson also plays guitar and provides backing vocals, while Miles Miller plays drums, Stuart Duncan plays fiddle and Russ Paul contributes other instruments. The album debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart, No. 17 on the Country albums chart and No. 4 on the Americana/Folk albums chart.

His third album, Country Squire, is released through his own Hickman Holler Records under exclusive licence to RCA Records. It follows his second overall studio album and is again produced by Simpson and Ferguson. The lead single, “House Fire,” has a video released alongside the album campaign.

Recognition and style

In 2018, Childers wins Emerging Artist of the Year at the Americana Music Honors & Awards. At the ceremony, he criticises the Americana label and identifies himself as a country singer. His songs are described as challenging stereotypes about poverty and backwardness, while his own approach to songwriting is rooted in lyrical detail and short-story-like storytelling.

Influences and themes

Childers’s writing is closely tied to Kentucky and to country and bluegrass traditions. His songs often reflect coal mining life, rural identity and the working conditions associated with his family background, giving his catalogue a strong sense of place.