On July 28th, 2025 at approximately noon, Tyler Childers played a show at a sandwich shop in East Nashville. While that sentence reads more like a Mad Lib, it was reality for a few hundred lucky fans of the Kentucky native after he quietly announced the performance on Monday. With only two hours' notice, fans flocked to Turkey and the Wolf Ice House for a midday concert that promised new songs and sandwiches. Hot off the release of his new album Snipe Hunter, Childers planned to do a ‘soft-opening’ for the songs that he had yet to play live. The energy was nothing short of electric. Tyler and his band, The Food Stamps, took the stage to little fanfare. Tyler took a hold of the mic, thanked everyone for coming, and burst into “Old Country Church” in the style of Hank Williams. This track has become a staple of Childers’s live show and gives the band some room to stretch with its impressive organ and guitar parts. As the band wrapped up the song, Tyler almost immediately started playing the guitar intro to fan-favorite “Oneida”. This song, like many in his catalog, has been an unreleased classic for years before finally finding a home on Snipe Hunter. This beautifully orchestrated track is a personal favorite of mine that really shines with the new album’s production. It is slow and moving as it winds through a story of Tyler loving a woman who many see as too old for him. With the final note, there was a pause as the entire crowd realized things were about to pick up.
What followed can only be described as a road map of the best tracks on the new record. For many songs, this was the live debut and Childers delivered performances almost identical to the studio. The early favorite from the album, “Bitin’ List” was a fun and catchy tune with the brand of weirdness that Childers has become known for. With lyrics about giving his enemies rabies, it is hard to not laugh at Childers’s antics, but these chuckles are quickly stifled by the top tier performance of The Food Stamps and intricate vocals by Tyler. By the time Tyler reached “Eatin’ Big Time” it was clear the whole band was in the pocket. They would yelp in unison, hitting every note and having some of the most fun a live band can. When the track “Down Under” started to talk about koala bears with syphilis (or chlamydia, what's the difference?), it was hard to find someone not smiling in the crowd. This album and performance was, at its core, fun. The band steamrolled through the new renditions of “Getting To The Bottom”, “Snipe Hunt”, and “Dirty Ought Trill” with the veracity of a rock band in their prime. When the last chord of “Dirty Ought Trill” rang out, the crowd fell silent as Childers stood with his acoustic guitar. As his hands moved, the iconic riff from “Nose on the Grindstone” rang out through the quaint East Nashville neighborhood as troves of people started to sing along. This simple song dealing with themes of addiction and fatherhood has become monumental in Childers’s career through live recordings, but found itself studio-recorded for the first time on Snipe Hunter.
As if the show had not already delivered well above its ticket price (free), Tyler announced that his last song would be dedicated to a ‘pretty lady’. This pretty lady was of course Childers’s wife, Senora May, or as many of his fans know her, Lady May. The song “Lady May” was one of the first tracks where I realized that Tyler is one of the best living songwriters. The song captures pure love so wonderfully and I recommend it to anyone I know trying to delve into his discography. As the last riff was played, the crowd erupted into applause as Childers declared it was time to eat sandwiches. I would show you the photo I snapped with Tyler after the show, but it was a very hot day, and it may be the worst I have ever looked so just imagine it. To call this show unorthodox would be an understatement. With little to no announcement, this show was meant to be an experience for Tyler’s biggest fans. Being one of those biggest fans, I can say it was one of the most special concerts I have ever seen.
- Thomas W. Hagan
Photos Courtesy of Cheyanne Parkans (For Bell Music Magazine)
