Tyler Childers is officially on mainstream country radio.
The Kentucky native cracked the Top 50 on the Mediabase chart this week with his single “In Your Love,” which is one of two charts that labels use to officially track their songs performance (along with the U.S. Country Airplay chart).
The song was included on Childers’ 2023 Rustin’ in the Rain album, and according to country radio insider Chris Owen, it’s the first time he’s ever had a single chart at mainstream country radio:
Considering that Tyler came onto the country scene as an independent artist, released one of the best, most important albums of the decade in 2017’s Purgatory, and made himself a star selling out shows all over the world while continuing to release incredible music, it certainly feels like this is long overdue, to say the least.
He’s largely responsible for the wave of Appalachian artists finally being recognized and promoted on a level we’ve never really seen in mainstream country music right now, or at least, not in a very long time, and deserves all the credit in the world for that.
Tyler signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music Nashville in 2021, in addition to having a deal with Sony’s RCA Records, which is in partnership with his imprint Hickman Holler Records. The record deal is more of a distribution agreement, if you will, as Tyler maintains creative freedom with RCA and does still have ownership of the songs since they’re still releasing via Hickman Holler.
I don’t want to get too into the weeds on all of that, though, because it’s kind of old news at this point, but I think it’s pretty cool to see that local FM stations across the country are playing his music on the radio.
While he’s certainly the most popular and well-respected “non-mainstream” country artist right now, and has definitely made a name for himself that stands on its own already, the exposure from getting played on country radio has the ability to kick his career up into a very different level.
The trajectory of his career has been fascinating to watch, as he went from an independent Appalachian artist that most people discovered on their own, to finally getting played on country radio, because for so many artists it happens the other way around. They try to start by getting a hit on the radio.
Tyler’s never been one to do things the conventional way, though, and while only time will tell how far this song will climb up the charts, this definitely feels significant in that it represents the massive shift that’s taken place within the genre over the last 10 years or so having music like this back on the radio and welcomed into the mainstream world.
If they’re willing to play an artist like Tyler on country radio again (which they should’ve been doing all along, obviously, and that feels dumb to even say), I think we’re certainly headed in the right direction in terms of doors opening for so many other artists like him that we all know and love.
Or maybe this is a one-time thing and country radio will be done with it after this one cycle… who knows. It won’t make any sort of difference to Tyler, but as a longtime fan of his, I’m rooting for it to go the distance.
How damn cool would it be for him to score his very first #1 hit in 2024? A girl can dream… and I will.
“In Your Love”
