Photos and Review by Max Stewart
Tyler Childers is a generational talent. He has the lyricism, musicality, infectious songbook, and preacher-like charisma that make for a mighty-fine night of live music. What he has managed to do with his career is somewhat unconventional, and in many ways he has turned country music on its head. Without compromising his artistic integrity, he has made catchy country music that has mass appeal to a wide-range of listeners. The crowd was littered with traditional boomer country fans in Willie Nelson t-shirts and high schoolers enjoying a weekend out with some friends.
Over the two sold-out nights at Alpharetta GA’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Childers had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he navigated some of his songs like “Whitehouse Road”, “All Your’n”, and “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?” His show also featured an impressive video and light production and a ‘down-home’ on-stage aesthetic complete with vintage lamps and a wooden console television circa 1975.
His band (dubbed “The Food Stamps”) features Craig Burletic (bass), Chase Lewis (keyboards), Rodney Elkins (drums), James Barker (pedal steel), Jesse Wells (various other guitars, fiddle, etc.), and CJ Cain (guitar). The musical collective have the chops to stretch the songs into long instrumental jams, most notably on “Honky Tonk Flame” and a cover of Charlie Daniels’ “Trudy”. When Childers individually introduces the members of his band with colorful and wild descriptions, it is almost like he is an auctioneer in his home-state of Kentucky, full of life and clear admiration for those he plays alongside.
For all of his talent, Childers is most certainly humble and recognizes and appreciates where he has come from. “I played Eddie’s Attic and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me at that time,” Childers said as he recalled winning a songwriting competition at the famed Decatur venue. He credited this as giving him much-needed wind in his sails as he faced some doubts about his musical ambitions. For further local nods, he even teased “So Fresh, So Clean” by ATL legends OutKast during “Cluck Ol Hen” on Friday night’s performance.
From having witnessed Childers ascension from his early days of playing a sold out Variety Playhouse in 2018 to him playing to 12,000+ two nights in a row, it is encouraging for the state of music to see artists with a unique voice getting widespread recognition. Childers no doubt has paved the way for artists list Zach Bryan, and hopefully more will follow in his wake.
