Tyler Childers has always seemed comfortable in his contradictions. He’s an old-soul traditionalist whose throwback ballads regularly go TikTok viral, a recovering alcoholic who still releases some of the 21st century’s best drinking music, a stadium-sized star who hasn’t performed his most popular song in a half-decade.
For the past 10 years, Childers has been preaching his righteous Kentucky gospel (see “Long Violent History,” written in the wake of George Floyd protests). Part of that project is showing that, in contrast to how it’s typically portrayed, Childers’ home region of Appalachia is just as contradictory, complex, and full of surprises as he is. Until now, he’s anchored that message to Purgatory, his 2017 debut LP. It remains his bestselling…