Tyler Childers Turns Dinosaur World Into an Appalachian Altar

“Welcome to the most magical place on the side of the highway!”

Mary Beth Sallee

Editor

Hart Co. News-Herald

 

It’s not every day that a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter brings his guitar and band to a roadside dinosaur park. But then again, Tyler Childers has never been one to play by the rules.

Last week, Childers rolled into Dinosaur World, Cave City’s own prehistoric attraction, for a performance that felt more like a fun-filled Jurassic jamboree than a typical concert.

Members of Childers’ Hickman Holler Hunting Club received an email on July 25 announcing a “one-of-a-kind, top secret pop-up show” in central Kentucky. Only 500 tickets were available and sold through Childers’ fan club using a lottery system, which aimed to benefit genuine fans and avoid online ticket scalping. Those who were selected then received a confirmation email with the tickets and details of the location.

On July 30, the lucky fans made their way into Dinosaur World to experience an iconic moment, as Childers became the first artist to ever perform live at the park.

 

And Childers didn’t just show up. He made quite the entrance.

The Kentucky native and his band, The Food Stamps, were dressed head-to-toe as characters from the movie Jurassic Park, fully embracing the prehistoric vibe. Childers himself donned an outfit inspired by Dr. Alan Grant, complete with a wide-brimmed hat, dark sunglasses, and a red ascot. Bandmates channeled everyone from John Hammond and Ellie Satler to Ian Malcolm and Robert Muldoon.

With I-65 to his right and a giant T-Rex towering above the stage, Childers stepped to the mic and shouted to his fans, “Welcome to the most magical place on the side of the highway!”

The crowd erupted with excitement.

“This is a little show that we’ve been dying to do forever,” Childers said. “Figured there’s no better time and no better way to do it than right now, and here we are.”

Childers, who is known for his songwriting abilities that welcome the rest of the world into the hollers of eastern Kentucky, opened the show with fan favorite “Old Country Church”.

What followed was an hour-long experience in Childers’ own backwoods Opry as he performed songs from his new album Snipe Hunter. Although the album was just recently released, fans sang along word-for-word with new favorites like “Eatin’ Big Time” and “Bitin’ List”.

 As the show came to an end, the band stepped offstage, leaving Childers alone before the crowd with just his guitar in hand.

During his performance of “Nose to the Grindstone,” the ache could be heard in Childers’ voice like that of someone who had lived a thousand lifetimes over, carrying with it the weight of hard lessons learned.

The final song was “Lady May”, which Childers said he wrote as a tribute to his wife, Senora May.

As the last word echoed from the hill and the final chord slowly faded, the crowd broke into thunderous applause and cheers. Childers finished the evening with a little bit of fun by tossing toy dinosaurs into the crowd before exiting the stage.

 Childers later returned and stepped out into the area where a few devoted fans still lingered. There, he took photos, signed autographs, and chatted with those who waited for their moment to meet him.

Kim Hamilton said she has been a fan of Childers for several years.

“We’ve listened to him forever,” Hamilton said. “I like his take on everything.”

An art teacher for 17 years, Hamilton made the trip from Richmond, Ky., to Cave City with something special in hand: a portable Crosley record player hand-painted with Childers’ likeness by two of her former students.

From Lexington to New York, Hamilton has seen Childers in concert multiple times, and she can now add Dinosaur World to that list.

“This was quite possibly my favorite event,” Hamilton said. “We’ve went to Radio City Music Hall to see him, to Manchester Music Hall, and everywhere in between. But this is probably one of my favorite events just because it was so cool and more intimate. There was 500 people or less, so it was cool.”

A native of eastern Kentucky herself, Hamilton said what she loves about Childers’ music is that it reminds her of home. She also shared that her favorite new track from Snipe Hunter is “Bitin’ List”, a light-hearted revenge song about whom Childers’ would bite if he were to contract rabies.

“‘Oneida’ is an all-time favorite and ‘Nose to the Grindstone.’ I love all of them,” Hamilton said. “It’s a solid album. I was very pleased with it.”

Fans Matt Davis and Dana Hardin, both of Bowling Green, also attended the concert.

Davis said he has been attending Childers’ shows since 2016.

“The first time I heard him, I was like, ‘Wow! Why isn’t this guy more famous?’ Because he was playing in bars when I saw him,” Davis said. “Then when I saw him at Railbird (music festival) the first year, I said, ‘The secret’s out.’”

 For Davis, Childers’ music hits close to home.

“The music speaks to me because it relates to Kentucky and where some of my family is from,” he said. “Somebody finally represents that area like it should be and is not trying to capitalize on that area.”

 Hardin, who attended the concert at Dinosaur World with her daughter Lacy, said she is drawn to both Childers’ sound and roots.

“He’s a Kentucky artist,” Hardin said. “I just just love the sound.”

 Hardin’s current favorite track from Snipe Hunter is “Bitin’ List”, though one of her all-time favorites comes from Childer’s 2022 album Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?

“‘Way of Triune God’ is probably my favorite,” Hardin said. “It just hits home. It just completely hits home.”

 Hardin said she has seen Childers live before, with her first time being at Kroger Field in Lexington. But seeing him at a place like Dinosaur World?

“Absolutely unreal,” she said. “It was fantastic.”

 Waiting nearby as Childers met with fans was Dylan McDowell, a dog trainer and close friend of Childers’ who was the inspiration behind “Dirty Ought Trill”, the last track on the Snipe Hunter album.

McDowell said he met Childers nearly four years ago in front of the Noelle Hotel on Fourth Avenue in Nashville.

“I seen him walking his dog downtown, and I used to work at a hotel downtown,” McDowell said. “I literally just walked up to him and started talking about the dog…I got his phone number. We stayed in touch. I didn’t know he did music at first. Every time he would come in town, he would contact me. Me and him would visit each other, see each other, and then probably about two to three months after me and him first became friends, I realized he was a famous singer. I didn’t even know at first…because he was so down to earth and humble.”

A friendship was built, and McDowell said he now goes on tour with Childers.

“It’s fun. It’s unusual and unfamiliar territory to to me because originally, I only listened to rap music and stuff,” McDowell said. “But it’s cool. Like, he opened up my mind and made me versatile to the music world, and I get to see a different side of music because I had never been to a country music show, never been to a meet and greet, album party, or nothing. So it’s pretty cool to be around him with it.”

For McDowell, picking a favorite track off Snipe Hunter was easy – “Dirty Ought Trill” – because it’s about him and his dog.

When asked what it felt like to have Childers give him that kind of recognition, McDowell was nearly at a loss for words.

“I can’t even describe the feeling,” McDowell said. “It’s just super cool that my big brother put me in a song.”

Jobe Publishing was also able to secure a brief exclusive interview with Childers. When asked what it was like to perform at such a unique venue, he responded without pause.

“This is something that I wanted to do forever,” Childers said. “It’s like, wouldn’t it be crazy to do a show at Dinosaur World? We’ve driven by this, you know, me and the boys, since we were kids. Right? It’s like now we get to drive by and say, ‘I played on a stage right there.’ It’s just super cool.”

The concert in Cave City was the second secret pop-up show Childers played during the month of July, promoting songs from his new album.

“The majority of them are new and fresh,” Childers said of the album’s tracks. “We’ve never really played any of them, so they’re all fun.”

 As the evening came to a close, Childers took a moment to extend his gratitude to the crowd.

“I just really appreciate everybody coming out and making this such a cool and special night,” he said.

 And what a special night it was. For one legendary evening, Dinosaur World roared with something louder than a T-Rex: the sound of Tyler Childers doing things his own way. He didn’t just play a set of new songs and fan favorites. He claimed the roadside attraction like it was his own Appalachian altar – an altar for the weird, the wild, and the homegrown.