Welcome to CalTimes’s Album of the Week series! We will review our favorite albums and artists, old and new, across all genres. If you have any suggestions, please email us!
Tyler Childers is a popular country singer from the Appalachian Region. His music combines bluegrass, folk, honky-tonk, and more traditional country. His first massive success was the album Purgatory. He famously expressed skepticism at the Americana Music Awards when he received an award for emerging artist in 2018; he criticized the award, stating he feels like an artist who is shoved into a genre like Americana because he doesn’t fit into a traditional country that it sort of feels like Purgatory to him. His music inspirations are very close to Appalachian music and culture, where he often writes about coal mining and poverty in the region.
Purgatory is still one of Tyler Childers’s most popular albums and still ages well, even though it is almost eight. Its religious metaphors and overall Appalachian feel create a surreal feeling for those who have lived in the region, such as myself. Let’s look deeper at the album that has defined Tyler Childers’ career.
As I said earlier, Purgatory has more heavy Appalachian storytelling and themes than his other albums. The album cover was outsourced to a local artist in Kentucky who drew a colorful outline of Lawrence County, Kentucky, where Childers was born. The sense of home, bluegrass, and Appalachian culture are heavily present in this album and are what it is about at its core.
A few songs, particularly, have caught my attention the most, and I consider them my favorites.
Track 2, “Feathered Indians,” is probably the biggest song of this album. It tells a love story between the singer and his love for a religious girl. Throughout the song, many religious metaphors compare his love for this girl to biblical themes, such as comparing her to an angel. Contrasting with the singer, who has many vices, he feels she is his savior. Using guitars, fiddles, and a mandolin creates a catchy and profoundly emotional song that Tyler expresses through his sincere vocals.
Track 10, “Lady May,” is another love song directed toward his wife, Senora May. He expresses his love in a natural setting, making the mountains blush when they see his passion and how he isn’t the strongest hickory, but he will still be tough. He expresses how even after a long day, he will want to walk around the forest and mountain with his love because he feels baptized by this overall lover. It is a soft melody with again raw vocals that appeal can appeal to anyone’s heart.
Track 9, “Universal Sound,” is my personal favorite song about the feeling of peace in nature and the bliss that comes with it. The idea is that we are all, in a way, connected to nature, and all living things have emotions that motivate us all. Once you hold onto this sound, which may be hard to hear with the vices in your life, it will offer you bliss once you focus on it. For Tyler, the moment he felt the sound was up on the mountains, feeling pure peace, he thought he could hear this sound that helped create the peace he felt he needed from his vices.
Rating: 9/10
The album’s imagery and sense of location do it for me, especially when the settings remind me of my own life, which creates a strong bond I cannot ignore when listening to the album. The album, in general, is unique from most country albums. I am not a country fan, yet I will listen to this album more than most. It branches from most modern country norms and brings something that feels like it has a soul and heart by adding different blends of genres and music to create the Appalachian story I so greatly appreciate.
