Tyler Childers says Long Violent History still ruffles feathers
Tyler Childers revisited Long Violent History in a Newport Folk interview, saying the 2020 song still challenges some listeners.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Tyler Childers Long Violent History talk has resurfaced in a rare on-camera interview, with the Kentucky singer-songwriter saying the 2020 song has upset some listeners while also opening space for a harder conversation.
Childers spoke with Newport Folk’s Sea to Shining Sea series in an interview recorded in his barn in Kentucky, according to Rolling Stone. The conversation with host Jay Sweet covered John Prine, community, and Childers’ belief that music can help people find common ground.
The sharpest moment came when Childers looked back on “Long Violent History,” a song he released during the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the murder of George Floyd.
“It’s ruffled some feathers,” Childers told Sweet, according to Rolling Stone. He added that he hoped the bond he had built with listeners gave him room to raise difficult points, including the idea that “some things aren’t cool and here’s why.”
What did Tyler Childers say about Long Violent History?
Childers said the song had provoked some pushback, but framed it as part of a broader attempt to talk across divides. In the interview, he described music as a way to connect people who may not agree politically but still share daily problems.
“Long Violent History” became one of Childers’ most pointed releases because it arrived in 2020, when protests over Floyd’s murder and police violence were taking place across the country. Rolling Stone reported that Childers waited nearly five years before performing the song live.
That first live performance came in June of last year, when Childers ended his concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the track, according to Rolling Stone. At the time, immigration raids by ICE had sparked protests in the city.
Childers says music can cut through politics
Childers used a pothole as his down-home civics lesson in the Newport Folk interview. He told Sweet that if two neighbors share a road, the pothole between their homes and town will damage a car no matter how its driver votes.
He said music can act as “a medicine” that helps people notice the things that affect them all, regardless of politics. The point, as Childers put it in the interview, was less about winning an argument than recognizing shared stakes.
The interview also found Childers talking about the music that has been on his mind lately. He named New Orleans pianist James Booker, and singled out Booker’s “Make a Better World” as a song that has stayed with him over the past year and a half.
Childers called the Booker track a potential “ice-breaker,” according to Rolling Stone, and recited part of its chorus: “Whenever people shout/you gotta hear ‘em out/everyone is a beautiful soul.”
For an artist who does not flood fans with interviews or social posts, the barn conversation gave a compact look at how Childers thinks about his own catalog. His message was plain: songs can make people uncomfortable, and that discomfort can still be useful if it leads them to hear each other out.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.