"‘We Got to Yakkin’ About Being From Kentucky’ - How A Chance Meet In Nashville Sparked the Legendary Partnership of Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson

Seventy miles is all the dirt road that lies between Lawrence County and Jackson in rural Kentucky. In the heart of Appalachia these two towns sit and, unknowingly for a while, raised a couple of country’s greatest modern outlaws: Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson.

Each making their names known on the Kentucky country circuit, Simpson surged out of the holler and onto main stages, carrying modern country music into the new decade, before shaping a genre that is somewhat indefinable. For those like Childers, he was a figure to follow, a man who could guide and had planted the signposts towards a home for honest and authentic personalities in a complicated world. The pair have now both cemented themselves as two of the most important voices in the genre, and the story of how they finally came to meet is a pretty good one.

Sometimes, it’s the everyday people that know best; neighbours, regulars at the bar, organisers of small town events, the ones that tune into their local radio stations. They were the people that saw the innate spark in Simpson, before recognising the same thing in Childers. As Simpson’s original band Sunday Valley paved the way, Tyler Childers and The Food Stamps filled those footsteps with a slightly different sized pair of shoes.

Although the Kentucky community acknowledged these similarities, it was Miles Miller - the phenomenal keeper of rhythm in Simpson’s band to this day - who made the initial introduction between the two. Finding connection through regionality, Miller saw the young Kentuckian playing a show in Nashville, and it didn’t take long until the two “got to yakkin about both being from Kentucky”. From that point, it only took getting Simpson out to a gig for the trio to find their way into the studio and for a legendary partnership to bloom.

Between a young Childers, a confident Simpson, an under-the-radar immense talent in Miller and Simpson's long-time collaborator David Ferguson, the boys forged the foundations that would become 2017’s Purgatory, Childers' now near-mythical album. “Purgatory is hell, with hope. You have a fighting chance,” Miller said about the album. Perhaps it is a regional thing, a connection that goes beyond talent and instead is something that sits within the Kentucky soil these Appalachian boys were raised on; that’s where the hope comes from.

2018 saw a wave of performances from the crew, several highlights of which came from Childers’ residency at the holy Ryman auditorium, a stage that was keen to welcome the artists that were both embracing the most traditional of country music, and blazing forwards with unpredictable originality. Purgatory favourite ‘Whitehouse Road’ delivered to the world a blessing: Childers’ pure vocals and Simpson fiercely shredding on guitar. At Hinterland Festival, the duo reunited again for a handful of Childers songs, and then took a step towards a different kind of outlaw country as another Kentuckian joined them on stage: the infamous Wheeler Walker Jr.

In what would’ve been the next chapter in their story, Childers and Simpson were supposed to hit the road together in 2020, a joint tour that would’ve inevitably led to some truly treasured moments of music. Unfortunately, like many things in those dark years, the Covid-19 Pandemic brought an indefinite pitstop to that ride. Despite both being in a position to be co-headlining sold-out tours, Simpson was still the No.1 Childers fan, saying “I would open for Tyler - he’s fucking great.”

Today, with Sturgill being hailed as one of the best in live music on his ‘Who the Fuck is Johnny Blue Skies’ tour, and Childers dropping his new album ‘Snipe Hunter’ imminently, who’s to say what the future holds.

Although the performances and producing might have taken a backseat, and the Kentucky-born brothers-in-arms both going great lengths to avoid the public eye, there’s no doubt that they’ve still got each other to rely on.

At a 2023 New Years Eve performance in Lexington, Childers shared that he’d drank his last beer a day before he and Sturgill played a show at Rupp Arena in February 2020 - his friend, producer and hometown hero playing a big part in Childers’ personal journey towards sobriety.

As somewhat of a brother figure, Simpson paved the way for Childers to find his voice, cutting down the branches that were stopping independent country artists from finding their way to success - now, they seem to be guiding each other. “I’m really happy for Tyler, he’s been busting his ass off,” Simpson said a few years ago. One thing’s for certain though, they started in Kentucky, and neither of them have lost that independent Appalachian attitude - it’s just spurred them both on.

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