Stephanie’s DJ Pick of the Week!
Today’s DJ Pick comes from genre-bending, Tyler Childers. Childers has a knack for bringing all fans of music together. No matter if you love country, folk, blues, or alternative, Childers has the talent to mesh these genres in a folksy package that everyone seems to love. As of recent, this Kentucky native is back with a surprise album, Long Violent History. This unexpected album dropped on September 18th; this album is mostly instrumental fiddle music, but transitions to a final hard-hitting on about racial injustice. He also introduced this album with a 6-minute video on police brutality and why he released such a poignant album. He urges “white rural listeners” to not be taken back by the Black Lives Matter movement and to stand up to injustice.
“Long Violent History” takes a look at the South in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement. Childers takes some unbelievably heavy lyrics and pairs them with traditional bluegrass instrumentation. This move is definitely calculated on Childers’s part, taking lyrics that stand up to racial inequality while at the same time getting fans of country and bluegrass to listen to socially conscious lyrics. Childers has a wide fan base and many of those fans are in rural areas where the BLM movement is met with skepticism. Childers grew up in the rural South himself, and he’s calling those like him to stand up against injustice.
“Could you imagine just constantly worryin’/Kickin’ and fightin’, beggin’ to breathe?”- lyrics from “Long Violent History”.
Childers is donating 100% of the proceeds of this album to the Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund, a foundation started in 2020 by Childers and his wife Senora. This foundation was started for philanthropic efforts in the Appalachian Region. Fans can also donate to this cause here.
Be sure to tune into 100.1 FM or lightning100.com to hear “Long Violent History” by Tyler Childers, featured as Stephanie’s DJ Pick of the Week. And we want to hear your thoughts! Tweet at us with #L100DJPick and give us your take on the track.
Written by: Madison Sharp
