Tyler Childers Works Hard in Country Squire

Now I am not a huge listener when it comes to country music. The only country artists I have ever listened to in my entire life are Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. However, I am always up to a challenge when it comes to new music genres and ‘Country Squire’ by Tyler Childers definitely was an interesting challenge.

Starting off, the album circles around the life of a hard-working country man who is in a happy relationship. I personally could not get into this album at all since I don’t live in the countryside and don’t quite understand that lifestyle, but I did enjoy a few songs like ‘All Your’n,’ ‘Bus Route,’ and ‘Country Squire.’ I also liked how most songs on this album transitioned so smoothly and the unique lyric choices. 

Although, the main thing that threw me off was the album cover. At first, I initially thought this album was going to be rock due to the graphics but wow was I wrong! The album cover doesn’t fit the vibe of the album at all. It is hard to interpret what Childers’ message is with it, especially the hand gestures and the four strange characters which form around him while in distress. From what I can interpret, Childers is struggling from some inner conflict while surrounded by things that should bring peace such as the joint one of the hands is holding and the rooster which could represent his home. 

The album opens with the song of the same name ‘Country Squire’ and gives a glimpse of the country life he wishes to achieve one day for his partner. While this song and many others have a traditional country sound to them, Childers got experimental with ‘All Your’n’ and ‘House Fire,’ Both play with modern instrumentals like the electric guitar mixing with traditional country instruments such as the banjo and fiddle which I found to be very entertaining. To add, the transitions especially between the first three tracks on the album were my favorite part next to the lyrics. At times, I could not tell when a song ended since the instrumentals carried on into the next one perfectly. They were a great way to show the ease of his storytelling and the fun he was having creating them. However, most of the traditional country sound of the album bore me and I even found myself yawning listening to songs like ‘Peace of Mind’ because the sound sadly got too repetitive for me.

‘Bus Route’ really stood out to me lyrically. I had the most fun listening to this song because of how much Childers played around with the songwriting. The beginning is a funny way to show how he got rejected by his school crush. ‘Face down in the gum on the floor’ was a clever way to say he fell hard for her on the school bus the day he tried to kiss her. Another lyric that stood out was ‘Blisterin’ punk kids alive.’ I have never heard of the word ‘blisterin’ used in a phrase like that before. It was a pretty intriguing way to say the bus driver would punish misbehaving kids on the school bus. However, I did not understand a lot of the words used in the songs since they were country slang. In ‘Matthew,’ Childers uses phrases such as ‘On a lock wall fishin’ muskie’ which I could not understand at all. It made it hard to enjoy the song since I did not know what he was saying. 

Overall, I personally wasn’t a big fan of ‘Country Squire.’ If I knew more country slang besides ‘yeehaw’ I honestly think I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more. Although, I do believe that active listeners of traditional country music will find this album relatable and captivating to hear. It gives the feeling of home within the countryside which listeners will definitely love.