Modern country music has fallen into pop culture in the worst way possible over the last decade. Many artists, such as Zach Top, Jake Worthington, Sam Barber, and Dylan Gossett, are among the few men who continue to embrace the southern, Appalachian culture that country music was originally intended to represent. An anti-elitist, anti-establishment sentiment that represented the men and women forgotten by the media, the government, and the upper class.
One man, Tyler Childers, was thought to be the redeeming voice for the region, with his albums Purgatory and Country Squire creating anthems that represented a new, rebellious generation that hated the establishment, such as the record labels in Nashville, yet sought to celebrate Appalachian culture and its people. Unfortunately, like all good things, his reputation as the next Waylon Jennings or Hank Williams Jr. came to an end as Childers fell victim to Nashville, progressivism, the mainstream media, and the "hick lib" mindset, a term used to describe culture that looks like it embodies rural values but is actually elitist, progressive ideology disconnected from what it purports to be.
After the success of his first two albums, Childers was destined for stardom, and his fans waited anxiously for his next release to be the soundtrack of a new country music icon. That release, which ended up being Long Violent History, instead ended up being a dressing down of his own culture and people in response to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. White guilt, Appalachian demonization, rejection of the Confederate flag, and a dressing down of his fans and culture riddled the album, along with fiddle instrumentals that no one enjoyed in the least. A man who had an apolitical, working-class base had now talks down to the very men and women who had made him a superstar, and his fall has just continued since.
Childers then began not only to align himself ideologically with the left but also to incorporate politics into his music. He began to get involved with Kentucky Democratic progressives, such as Charles Booker, in his 2022 bid against Senator Rand Paul, and his alignment with Governor Andy Beshear was seen during his inauguration. This shift in his political stance, from a seemingly apolitical, working-class base to a more progressive ideology, was a stark departure from the values and culture he once celebrated in his music.
While Childers is free to vote for who he wants, when an artist starts wearing campaign shirts and playing at political events, they are no longer solely singers, but activists. Childers began his career by leveraging rural authenticity to connect with his fan base, but he has now chosen to utilize that reputation to promote a progressive ideology.
The cardinal sin of them all came in 2025 when fans noticed that Childers had refused to play his famous hit, "Feathered Indians," at any of his live performances since March 2020. On the cusp of his new album Snipe Hunt, produced by Hollywood leftist Rick Rubin, Childers explained this omission of the song, stating that, "If there's conversation amongst those individuals about whether they should be using that word or not, then it ain't for me to be using. It's not mine... Not playing that song is going to make people think. We must leave behind that which causes harm to others, even if we never meant harm to begin with. We must all be willing to change as part of this journey on the road."
As if it could not get any worse, the once critically acclaimed new outlaw of modern country music canceled himself for a song that no one thought was even offensive, and robbed his fans of enjoying his art by instead making them "think." The people who made him, the ones who supported his humble upbringing, are now prohibited from enjoying his music at his concerts because his elitist, hick lib buddies have made him feel bad about saying a term that Indians themselves use. Childers has betrayed his fan base by catering to a class of people who have made him feel guilty about the color of his skin, his upbringing, and his origins. Now, his fans have to suffer through it.
Once, Childers was revered as a bluegrass bard from the heart of Appalachia —a man who could convey its misunderstood values to a larger audience without selling out. Sadly, Childers sold his soul to the devil of coastal elitism and left behind a generation that sought authentic rural representation in modern music. His career will continue to falter, and he deserves all the failings that are coming his way shortly.
