Lexington Kentucky’s Red Barn Radio is VERY well known for their ability to spot up-and-coming artists with bright futures and give them a platform to perform and share their music and stories.
I suppose it also helps when some of the best in the business come out of Kentucky…
Tyler Childers’ performance from 2016 is very well-known early in his career, and perhaps one of Red Barn Radio’s most prominent performances.
Fans may not be aware that this was not Childers’ first performance on the platform. In May 2013, he took the stage with a band just months before making his first solo appearance.
Due to a last-minute cancellation of the scheduled performer, Arthur Hancock, a founder of The Wooks and now with Wolfpen Branch, filled in with his band.
At the time, his band, High Wall, was composed of Kentucky bluegrass natives, and little-known (for the moment) Tyler Childers was the front man. I was jaw dropped watching the videos that Red Barn Radio released from this night nine years later.
Now, Tyler Childers is a megastar but hearing him this young, Tyler is still Tyler. He has known his sound and what works for him. These videos prove it.
They opened their performance with Childers’s song called “Cap’n Jerry.” The song’s premise is about Estil County, Kentucky, where he was residing at the time. This song screams classic bluegrass in all the best ways, and Childers lyrics are killer.
“Cap’n Jerry”
The second video Red Barn Radio released from the performance is the last song of the night, “Redneck Romeo.”
A much softer tune, but still had classic Childers written all over it.
“Redneck Romeo”
Crazy to think that three years later, Tyler Childers would retake this stage for one of his most iconic sit-ins.
Through each of his performances on the platform, his presence continues to grow. Each one, he keeps getting bigger, and he belts out his songs even more powerfully than the last time.
Tyler from his 2013 solo appearance.
“Shake the Frost”
“Harlan Road”
From his 2016 appearance.
“Follow You to Virgie”
“Rock Salt & Nails”