Following comments from secondary sources and the launch of a mysterious website, it appears Tyler Childers is getting ready to announce a new album. Here’s everything we know.
The latest clue arrived on the Kentucky singer-songwriter’s official channels first thing Wednesday morning. In the 48-second clip, a young man gets a haircut for “a meeting at the hunting club.” As he walks out, the barber calls for the next customer, Oneida, who exchanges a brief, awkward glance with the male protagonist. As he walks out, an instrumental acoustic guitar can be heard on a distant radio. The video ends with the date June 12th, 8am ET—which is also the video’s title—flashing on the screen.
Now, on its surface, this video looks like a half-abandoned PSA for kindness or something. But the video is filled with subtext. So let’s unpack it.
June 12, 8am ET
First, the “hunting club” the man mentions is likely a reference to the mysterious Hickman Holler Hunting Club website that launched on Saturday. Though Childers has made no official comment about his possible connection to the site or its Instagram page, the name is reminiscent of his Hickman Holler Records label. Then, if you visit the page, the initials “TC” can be seen in the masthead above a timer counting down to June 12th, 8am ET, the same time advertised in Childers’ official video.
So, it’s safe to say something is going down at the Hickman Holler Hunting Club tomorrow. But what’s the deal with the bearded man and Oneida? Well, first of all, that man bears a striking resemblance to Casey Campbell, a musician and frequent actor in Childers’ music videos dating back to 2019, including his striking 2023 video for “In Your Love“. Then there’s Oneida, who happens to share her name with an oft-requested but never officially released original Childers debuted back in 2016. Finally, that acoustic guitar on the radio seems to be “Nose on the Grindstone”, one of Childers’ most popular songs that has never gotten the studio treatment but has racked up over 300,000 Spotify streams from a solo, acoustic OurVinyl session from 2017.
Tyler Childers — “Oneida” — Red Barn Radio
So, in 48 seconds, this video references two fan-favorite, unreleased Tyler Childers songs. Add in the fact that Childers offered his first-ever full band performance of “Jersey Giant”—one of his most mythologized unreleased songs—earlier this year, and it appears that Tyler may be finally giving his most sought-after songs the full studio treatment, direct from the Hickman Holler Hunting Club. Additionally, Childers also released a proper recording of “Song While You’re Away” for the Twisters soundtrack in 2024, seven years after he originally debuted the song.
In addition to all the cloak-and-dagger, RCA chairman/CEO Peter Edge confirmed last month that Childers had a new album coming with famed producer Rick Rubin. But that wasn’t nearly as fun to try and unpack.
“I’m really excited about Tyler Childers’ new album, which is produced by Rick Rubin,” Edge told Hits. “He defies expectations, and this new album goes even further. The great thing about Tyler is that he does it the way he wants to do it. He’s playing giant venues, and he’s making the music he wants to make.”
Sign up for the Hickman Holler Hunting Club here and stay tuned for some sort of revelation tomorrow, June 12th, at 8am ET. Childers is currently traveling the United States on his On The Road tour, with support from Wynonna Judd, Charley Crockett, Robert Earl Keen, and more. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.