Tyler Childers Will Donate Profits From His Surprise Anti-Racism Album

Tyler Childers dropped a surprise album on Friday, and he’ll donate all the net profits to charity. The country music artist announced that 100% of the net profits from “Long Violent History” will go to The Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund.

Childers and Senora May, his wife and fellow musician, established The Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund this year to bring awareness and financial support to the Appalachian Region. The fund was created as part of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Childers’ album is not only a surprise release, but the subject is also unexpected. The white country artist addresses the racial unrest in the U.S. He wrote the album in June in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s killing and intended to let the album speak for itself. However, he worried that it could be “misinterpreted if not given some sort of explanation to set it in context. A writer can write an essay, but the writer can never control how that essay is interpreted by the reader,” he said in a video.

He explains that the album “Long Violent History,” which is almost entirely instrumental fiddle songs, is an “observational piece on the times we are in.” The six-minute video gives listeners more context and makes it clear that Childers supports those fighting for racial justice.

“We can stop being so taken aback by Black Lives Matter,” Childers says. “If we didn’t need to be reminded, there would be justice for Breonna Taylor, a Kentuckian like me, and countless others. We can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily defending a flag with history steeped in racism and treason.”

His final song, the album’s titular track, is the only one with lyrics, including these: “In all my born days as a white boy from Hickman/ Based on the way that the world’s been to me/ It’s called me belligerent, it’s took me for ignorant/ But it ain’t never once made me scared just to be/ Could you imagine just constantly worrying/ Kicking, and fighting, and begging to breathe?”

“Long Violent History” is available now to stream or download. Childers has album bundles, complete with autographs, t-shirts, vinyl, pencils and more, on his website.