Tyler Childers Previews New Album ‘Country Squire’ With Yearning ‘House Fire’

Since the release of his excellent 2017 album Purgatory, Tyler Childers’ rise, from logging millions of Spotify streams to consistent sold-out tour dates around the country, has been one of the genre’s biggest success stories — in part because the Kentucky native did it all completely independently. On August 2nd, Childers will release his second LP, Country Squire, via his own Hickman Holler Records, under exclusive license to RCA Records. At RCA, he joins a roster that includes a diverse group of artists from Grizzly Bear to SZA to Cam. Like Purgatory, Country Squire was produced by Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson, and was recorded at the Butcher Shoppe in Nashville. The album’s first single and video, for “House Fire,” is also available today.

Known to fans on occasion as “Cinder and Smoke,” “House Fire” has popped up in sets with his band, the Food Stamps, dating back to 2015. A bluegrass-tinged ode to unchecked yearning, “House Fire” debuts with a video of a couple enthusiastically dancing, as Childers sits around a campfire.

Country Squire comprises other songs that Childers has honed on the road, including the title track, “Bus Route,” “Gemini,” “Everloving Hand,” “Creeker,” “Peace of Mind,” “All Yourn” and “Matthew.” In fact, every song on the album should be familiar to fans, proving that though Childers might now be signed to a major label, he’s clearly held on to artistic control. To support the album, Childers will launch the headlining Country Squire Run Tour.

“I’ve been writing a lot of road songs. Writing a lot of homesick songs,” he told Rolling Stone last year. “But once you start playing them out, it all ain’t no secret anymore. Everyone knows how you feel.”

The winner of last year’s Emerging Artist of the Year Award at the Americana Music Association Honors & Awards, Childers has gone from beloved local artist within Kentucky to internationally lauded Appalachian prophet, telling the stories of love, loss and the left-behind in forgotten America. But what has made his songs resonate far outside of his home state’s jagged borders is his emotional connection and his grasp at translating subtle feelings into gripping, resonating tales that unroll sometimes like a diary and sometimes like vivid snapshots from a movie. Whether about longing for his partner or envisioning the life of a blue-collar worker, they all ring true. “Songwriting is writing about the human experience,” Childers said.

Childers also appears on a limited edition 7″ vinyl release from John Prine, which includes a live version of “Paradise” the two sang together on tour last May. Net proceeds from the record will be donated to the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, a non-profit law firm that represents coal miners and their families in the Appalachia.

Country Squire will be available via Hickman Holler Records/RCA Records  on August 2nd. Here’s the track list:
1. “Country Squire”
2. “Bus Route”
3. “Creeker”
4. “Gemini”
5. “House Fire”
6. “Everloving Hand”
7. “Peace of Mind”
8. “All Yourn”
9. “Matthew”

Country Squire Run Tour dates:

May 17 — Knoxville, TN @ Rhythm N’ Blooms Festival
May 18 — Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company
May 19 — Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company
May 25 — Cumberland, MD @ DelFest
May 31 — Minden, WV @ Mountain Music Festival
June 5 — Nashville, TN @ Mary Stuart’s Late Night Jam
June 6 — Nelsonville, OH @ Nelsonville Music Festival
June 8 — Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival*
July 3 — Corpus Christi, TX @ American Bank Center Selena Auditorium†
July 4 — Kerrville, TX @ Louise Hays Park†
July 5 — Galveston, TX @ The Grand 1894 Opera House†
July 13 — Greenfield, MA @ Green River Festival
July 14 — Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
July 19 — Peoria, IL @ Tailgate N’ Tallboys @ Peoria Riverfront
July 26 — Floyd, VA @ FloydFest
August 1 — Bend, OR @ Bend Summer Concert Series‡
August 2-3 — Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon
August 11 — Lexington, KY @ Railbird Festival
August 14 — Sedalia, MO @ Missouri State Fair
August 22-23 — Tonder, Denmark @ Tonder Festival
August 24 — Amstelveen, Netherlands @ Once in a Blue Moon Festival
August 28 — Brighton, UK @ The Haunt
August 29 — Nottingham, UK @ Bodega Social
August 31-September 1 — Salisbury, England @ End of the Road Festival
September 30 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre†
October 4 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival
October 5 — Thackerville, OK @ Winstar Casino
October 7 — Fayetteville, AR @ Town Center
October 8 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
October 11 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival
October 14 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
October 15 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
October 17 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern‡
October 18 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater‡
October 22 — Vancouver, BC @Commodore Ballroom‡
October 25 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre‡
October 26 — Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House‡
October 29 — St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre‡
November 2 — Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater‡
November 3 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue‡
November 4 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue‡
November 11-15 — Punta Cana, Dominican Republic @ All the Best Fest
December 6 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore§
December 8 — Toronto, ON @ Rebel§
December 10 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues
December 11 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
December 13 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
December 14 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
December 15 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
December 18 — Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz§
December 19 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore§
December 21 — Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle§
*with John Prine
†with Robert Earl Keen
‡with Courtney Marie Andrews
§with Liz Cooper & The Stampede