Simpson or Childers: Who wears anti-establishment country stardom better?
One came to Nashville, largely rejected what he saw and moved on to make music of his own choosing, regardless of its country content.
The other conquered Nashville by making it bow to the inspirations and influences he grew up with instead of the other way around.
Best of all they are essentially Eastern Kentucky neighbors who grew up within 60 miles of each other, fashioning music that made them regulars in Lexington clubs before both set off into the great country music unknown. Their paths have converged at times, mostly in the recording studio. But this weekend, they team up for a night at the big house.
Yes, Friday marks the evening Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers play Rupp Arena.
In listening to their latest albums, however, you would think Breathitt County native Simpson and Lawrence County hero Childers hailed from different artistic planets.
In a direct departure from the hardened country inspiration he first revealed in local clubs beginning in 2004 with two incarnations of the country/roots band Sunday Valley, Simpson is at present traveling a synth-savvy arena rock sideroad with his newest album, “Sound and Fury.”
The song stylist began to shed and shred a country outlaw image he had long ago rejected with “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” a 2016 record that turned its Americana vision southward for a mix of brassy soul and psychedelia that often sounded like the more progressive ‘60s records out of Muscle Shoals (listen to the closing track, “Call to Arms,” for proof.) Country radio and corporate Nashville shunned the record, much to Simpson’s seeming delight, even though it took home a Grammy for Best Country Album the following February.
But “Sound and Fury” tossed any lingering sense of country congeniality into the trash. In its place was a dark, beefy sound overrun by dense layers of keyboards and a storyline devised as accompaniment for an anime film simultaneously released through Netflix.
“It’s hard to think of another recent artist who, at the peak of his success, jerked so sharply away from the decisions that had led him to that point,” wrote Jon Caramanica of the New York Times at the time of the album’s release.
As stunning as the stylistic turnaround seemed, “Sound and Fury” earned favorable reviews and still managed to debut at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
Has that settled a wary view of the music industry in and out of Nashville? Not exactly. In one of the few interviews he has given since the release of “Sound and Fury,” Simpson told Steven Hyden of Uproxx about mounting frustration with his label, Elektra Records – or, possibly, his former label.
“Maybe if you don’t want to be on a record label anymore, you make a record they can’t market, then you get them to spend a million bucks on an animation film and refuse to promote it and leave them holding this giant un-recouped debt,” Sturgill said. “Maybe the bean counters will make a decision for me. I can go back to just doing it myself better than they do. That’s what I’ve learned, because they don’t know what the (expletive) to do with me.”
There is a certain irony in having Simpson and Childers on the same concert bill. It has little to do, however, with their mutual Eastern Kentucky roots and even less with the fact that Simpson co-produced “Purgatory” and “Country Squire,” the two major label albums that brought Childers international acclaim beginning in 2017.
As vexed as Simpson seems to be with the music industry and his place in it, Childers appears to utterly unflustered by it. While he’s not exactly the toast of a country radio environment accustomed to more user friendly acts like Luke Combs, Childers seems to maintain a cordial relationship with Nashville. “Country Squire” debuted last summer at No. 1.
Don’t be fooled, though. Childers is every bit as independent as Simpson. But instead of feeling the need for leaping off one stylistic offramp to another, Childers stays rooted in a songwriting sensibility reflective of his Eastern Kentucky heritage. It doesn’t pander to pedestrian boasting of trucks, beer and spring break. Childers’ music instead emphasizes a sense of regionally driven narrative songwriting that country music was built on, an attribute that been warped and commodified through the years to fit the more image conscious, pop reared acts that now dominate country radio.
You saw that sensibility on brilliant display when Childers served up the starkly emotive imagery of “House Fire,” arguably the finest tune on “Country Squire,” during a performance on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” last summer. The sentiments echoed the darker corners of Merle Haggard’s catalog (“You can set my house on fire, baby, you can turn it into cinder and smoke, ‘cause this house is mighty cold and I feel like melting all the snow away”). The music, though, reveals a more rural luster.
Of course, there are lighter moments on “Country Squire,” too, from the kingdom-in-a-trailer saga inhabiting the record’s title tune to the more regionally whimsical “Bus Route.” Lexington audiences have come to know these designs well from Childers’ many shows through the years at The Burl, Manchester Music Hall and numerous local benefits and festivals. Cumulatively, Childers’ music reflects an Eastern Kentucky upbringing he seems especially proud of sharing with everyone.
That was emphasized during the second Saturday night show in a performance residency at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium that was completed just prior to the start of the arena tour with Simpson. Nodding to a pair of Lawrence County elders, Ricky Skaggs (a surprise guest) and Larry Cordle (who opened the show), Childers told the world the next day via Instagram how the concert emphasized just where his musical inspiration came from.
“Lawrence County was well represented last night.”
Sturgill Simpson/Tyler Childers
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb 28
Where: Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine
Tickets: $50.50-$90.50
Call: 859-233-3535, 800-745-3000
Online: rupparena.com, ticketmaster.com, sturgillsimpson.com, tylerchildersmusic.com