Tyler Childers’ Bandmates Drop Surprise Country Album Under The Name ‘El Dorodo’

El Dorado country music

From “The Food Stamps” to “El Dorodo,” Tyler Childers’ bandmates are full of fun surprises.

And lucky for us, we are reaping the benefits.

On Friday, the group of men in a band called “El Dorodo” released a ten-track album, Unincorporated.

The new band features the likes of Food Stamps drummer, Rod Elkins, bassist, Craig Burletic, and guitar and pedal steel player, James Barker, in addition to Doug Woodard on vocals and guitar.

This release packs a punch with symbolism, and it’s also got to be one of the best kept secrets in country in quite some time. In the era of sneak peaks, early track releases, and month-long anticipation for album drops, El Dorodo seems to fancy a much more organic approach, sneaking by most of the country music world with the exception of our New Music Friday Playlist and an article by Saving Country Music.

They placed the album in the hands of listeners to let them decide without forecast.

And frankly, I could see this album making a lot of top slots on the yearly roundup months from now.

Here are a couple of my fast favorites:

 “Cowboys/Cowgirls”

With its old western style sound, this song is a classic love story about a cowgirl looking for her cowboy, but as the song notes, cowboy-chasers of current are “mostly dreamers today,” but she embodies the heart and soul of a true cowgirl and steals the narrator’s heart listening to the coyotes howl on the back of an old pickup.

“In the back of my old pickup truck,
She snuggles up beside me,
Keeps her body warm from the cold,
We listen to the coyotes howl
And drift into a world all our own…”

“Bed of Roses”  

In much the same vein as Bon Jovi’s 1992 hit of the same name, this one is a heart-mangling break up ballad. But the narrator doesn’t shy away from throwing some subtle jabs at his lover’s choice to leave him:

“You had a look about you,
It was written on your face,
You found the arms of another,
You turned away from my embrace,
Now I ain’t one to stop you,
You can make your own mistakes,
You get to choose what you’ll have haunt you,
You found you wished you never strayed…”

“The Rose of San Antone”

A beautifully written metaphor, this song tracks with the same sound you will hear progress throughout Unincorporated. The song focuses again on the narrator’s lover who has returned to her hometown of Texas (without him), where he predicts she will bloom like a rose:

“In a house back in Detroit,
Cigarette smoke fills the room,
An empty room reminds me that she’s gone,
Lord she’s gone,
And tonight a lovely rose,
Will bloom in San Antone…”

Here’s a live version:

The band proudly states on their website that they have many musical influences that may peek into the album’s tracks throughout, and you can hear it loud and clear:

“El Dorodo appreciates, respects and loves all types of ‘good’ music. You may hear aspects of these different genres represented in our music. We are fans first. Our hearts lie in Country/Western/Old Time music and culture.

We represent true, honest Country music to be consumed by the masses and we do so with full hearts. Our aim is to get back to the basics of love… El Dorodo is country music.”

The group is also scheduled to make their Grand Ole Opry debut on April 12th.

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