A couple of years back, somebody shot Tyler Childers out of a country music authenticity cannon, and he’s still on an upward trajectory. Now, with a fresh album that reached number one on the country charts when it was released, it’s unlikely he’ll be coming down any time soon.
Country Squire was released in August while Childers and his band, The FoodStamps, were in Oregon performing at the Pickathon music festival. Luckily for the locals, Childers brought everybody back to the west coast to play back-to-back sold out shows at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom. On the first night, Sunday, October 20th, the band opened up with the title track to the new album, setting off a nearly two-hour singalong that left no doubt as to the devotion of his fans. In that time, the band played something like 25 songs, meaning lots of folks heard their favorites, whether from Country Squire, 2017 breakout album Purgatory, or 2018’s Live on Red Barn Radio series.
It’s little wonder that people find comfort in Childers’ songs about the common man. As he has said, rather than write songs about red solo cups, he writes about the people working in the factory making them. Childers has a knack for telling straightforward stories with poetic turns of phrase that paint very vivid pictures and bring listeners into the lives of the characters.
The FoodStamps have also added a member, so now, along with Rod Elkins on drums, James Barker on pedal steel, Craig Burlertic on bass, and Jesse Wells on guitar and fiddle, there’s also Chase Lewis on keyboards, helping fill the bigger rooms they’re playing in with even more depth of sound. The intro to “House Fire” was an extended jam that made it seem they were going to do the song sans lyrics, until they came back around and started the first verse.
Deep into the set, Childers performed a series of songs solo, with just his acoustic guitar, including “Lady May,” “Nose To The Grindstone,” and “Follow You To Virgie.” The band came back and continued to have some fun, with an “Oh, Pretty Woman” tease and later, a little section of “Wrecking Ball” interspersed between favorites such as “Honkytonk Flame.” The band ended the night with a cover of Charlie Daniels’ “Trudy.”
It must be mentioned that Courtney Marie Andrews, who opened the show, is a force to be reckoned with. Her amazing voice, and songwriting that belies her age, is a shining light for those looking for authenticity and passion in the emerging generation of country roots artists.
