Making his Dublin debut Tyler Childers brings his brand of honky tonk to a sell out crowd in the Grand Social. It was an interesting mix of age and gender in the room, somewhere between 50% on the plus side of 40 and the rest on the lower side. These were obvious fans who responded with enthusiasm and exuberance, often singing along with the songs to the extent that at times it wasn’t that easy to hear Childer’s own vocal. Unfortunately, some folks idea of attending a gig is to talk all through the evening while yelling “yee-haw” at inappropriate moments.
But before we get into his show proper there was a six song set from The Local Honeys, a duo consisting of Kentuckians Linda Jean Stockley and Montana Hobbs on guitar and banjo. They were joined at the end of their set by a local violinist friend. Although steeped in the traditional old-time music they write contemporary songs that deal with issues that are current today. Though they have just released an album titled GOSPEL, they noted that one of the best parts about religion was when you could laugh about it.
They spoke of the way that large companies had destroyed the land in Kentucky and had taken all the profits away away leaving a lasting legacy of pollution in their wake and played Dyin’ To Make a Livin’ about the plight of miners and Cigarette Trees about the black sludge left behind in large pools. That they were environment and socially aware was apparent, but that they conveyed these views in a strong musical setting was welcome. They finished with the song by Elizabeth Cotton from their album LITTLE GIRLS ACTIN’ LIKE MEN and will be back in Ireland in February for further dates.
While the girls between songs banter was easy to follow, Tyler Childer’s drawl competing with the raucousness of the audience wasn’t as easy to discern. During the show he introduced his band but the names escaped me. However, there were all good players, the line up of drums, bass, banjo, fiddle, guitar/steel and keyboards were used effectively throughout the night and the band were able to stretch out some of the songs which allowed then to blur the boundaries of what might be expected of a country band. Childers himself stuck mostly to acoustic guitar but above all his vocal ability and range shone through.
As with most bands the transition from album/studio versions of the songs to the live setting pronounced the heavier rockier side of the line. As you would expect the set list mainly focused on his two Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson produced albums. Childers said that it was good to be here and to play some music before launching into a selection without further word until he began to introduce the band further into the set. One that kicked off with Whitehouse Road and went through Honky Tonk Flame, House Fire, Bus Route, Tattoos, Creeker and the current album title COUNTRY SQUIRE. The themes look at life in a small town, with all that that entails from the good to the subjective negativity of that situation for those seeking wider horizons.
There are a number of covers thrown into the mix including Tulsa Turnaround, best known by Kenny Rogers when he was in The First Edition and the Charlie Daniels’ song Trudy, which he plays as a final song of the set after teasing the audience about his all time favourite song … by Miley Cyrus. He plays the first line of Wrecking Ball before swiftly moving on. Thus, ended an evening that was notable by a sell out crowd, something that augurs well for the future of such more traditionally-minded country/roots acts that may get the opportunity to play the capitol outside of the mixed bag that is the C2C Festival. The individual level of enjoyment will have depended, to a degree, on how you like to hear your music as this was not the best sound I have heard in the venue. However, Tyler Childers and his band made their mark tonight.
Review by Stephen Rapid Photography by Kaethe Burt-O’Dea