Tyler Childers: Kroger Field concert ‘really big moment for me and the fellas’

Tens of thousands of fans — some long-time Tyler Childers concert goers and many seeing him for the first time — all came together for two hours of musical fellowship on Saturday night, and Kroger Field was the church.

“Me and CJ (Cain) were back here doing the math and I think we’ve got 250 Al’s Bars here right now,” Tyler Childers hollered to a sold-out crowd at the University of Kentucky’s football stadium on Saturday night before tearing into his song “Rustin’ In The Rain.”

While there was definitely enough people on hand to fill more than 250 Al’s Bars — the northside dive bar Childers frequently played prior to bursting onto the national music scene with 2017’s “Purgatory” — the Eastern Kentucky songsmith managed to bring a similar intimacy featured at those gigs of long ago to what was his biggest Lexington show to date by far.

Central to that was his four-song flourish mid-set from a platform in the pit, led off by a solo rendition of “Lady May,” a heartfelt ode to his wife and fellow musician, Senora May Childers.

At its conclusion he was joined by Central Kentucky based bandmates Cain (guitar) and Jesse Welles (fiddle) to run through “Nose On The Grindstone,” “Bottles & Bibles” and “Follow You To Virgie” before bringing the rest of his band — James Barker (electric guitar/pedal steel), Rod Elkins (drums), Craig Burletic (bass), Matt Rowland (keys) and Kory Caudill (organ/synthesizer) — for the remainder of the evening, but not without reflecting on the moment at hand.

“This has been a really big moment for me and the fellas,” Childers said of the show, only the second ever held at Kroger Field following Chris Stapleton’s maiden voyage there with Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Madeline Edwards in 2022. “So much of my life, so much of my memories growing up and cuttin’ teeth and playing music ... so much of that has happened in this city. I did three semesters at (Bluegrass Community and Technical College) and I hated every minute of it. I was like ‘Man, it’d be really cool to be able to play music and not do this’ and that would not have happened if it wasn’t for you-all’s support.”

In addition to that stripped-back excursion, the concert had plenty of other surprises, led by a drone show over the northwest end of the stadium during an extended jam on the instrumental “Cluck Ole Hen,” with the aerial devices first arriving in the sky as a blue amorphous blob before rearranging itself to appear as a hen bobbing its head to the beat of the music.

A rare performance of “Jersey Giant” — a song Childers penned over a decade ago but rarely plays that has been covered by the likes of Elle King, Sam Barber and Wyatt Flores — also made its first appearance with his band, to the awe of the crowd.

From there much of Childers’ set was standard formation with songs like “All Your’n,” “In Your Love,” “Shake The Frost,” “Country Squire,” a cover of Kenny Rogers’ “Tulsa Turnaround,” a set closing “House Fire” and even “Whitehouse Road” holding down spots in the rotation.

“Just as much as all the wonderful music that has happened this evening — the jingling and jangling of the keys and the beating of the strings, banging of the drums and all of that — the other important thing is the fellowship,” said Childers during a segue into fan favorite song “Way Of The Triune God.”

Wynnona Judd, S.G. Goodman perform

Country Music Hall of Famer Wynonna Judd brought a similar energy. Judd preceded Childers with a spicy set of her own that included hits from both her own and The Judds catalog along with a tease of what’s to come on her next solo record.

The Ashland-born singer’s portion of the program kicked off with a call to the post at Kroger Field (Judd got Friday at Keeneland’s spring meet going by singing the National Anthem) before jumping into “What It Takes” from her 1992 self-titled solo debut.

Cuts like the ever-popular “Born To Be Blue,” “No One Else On Earth” and “Why Not Me” were included as well, serving as exhibit A for Judd’s blending of Eastern Kentucky twang with southern blues. From start to finish Judd showed that over 40 years in, she’s still going strong, thanks largely to her late mother Naomi, who she credited for getting her where she is today.

“I was raised by a single mama on welfare, and now here I am tonight playing freakin’ Kroger Field. Unbelievable,” said Judd before giving fans a preview of a new song about her Kentucky roots.

Prior to Judd, Murray native S.G. Goodman opened the show with a six-song set that included several tunes from her forthcoming album “Planting By The Signs” out June 20, including “Satellite” and “Fire Sign.” Also squeezed in were the sweaty, high-octane swamp rock of “Old Time Feeling” and “Space & Time,” an original that Childers has covered frequently in recent years and even recorded for 2023’s “Rustin’ In The Rain” (unfortunately a collaboration on the song didn’t materialize Saturday.)

Goodman returns to Lexington to celebrate the release of her album at The Burl on June 27 and 28.

This story was originally published April 20, 2025 at 8:38 AM.