Exclusive: Tyler Childers Launches Hickman Holler Radio on Apple Music Country

Renowned country singer/songwriter Tyler Childers has launched Hickman Holler Radio, a series on Apple Music Country in which the artist takes listeners behind his recent release, Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?

A deeply personal collection of songs, Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? presents the same eight gospel tracks in three different ways. The “Hallelujah” version offers a more stripped-back sound while fuller arrangements are explored in the “Jubilee” renditions and the “Joyful Noise” takes are open-ended experimentations.

The album lies at the heart of the radio series, but the content goes much deeper than that. Each episode finds Childers, accompanied by a special guest, holding profound conversations on faith and music, sharing never-before-heard in-studio insights, playing the music that inspired his new album, and diving into the process behind crafting the multi-part record.

Guests include producer and mix engineer Kenny Miles, who brings his recording know-how to the conversation; Childers’ band, The Food Stamps, who speak on the gospel songs they chose for the project; and West Virginia-based DJ and producer Charlie Brown Superstar, who helped Childers translate the gospel-rock-soul blend that can be heard on the record.

In one episode, Childers recalls listening to now-megastar Lizzo for the first time while under the wash of psychedelics and how it inspired him to create the spacey “Joyful Noise” version of Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?

“I had that moment in the bunk listening to [“Juice”] while those chemicals were taking over in the darkness,” he explains. “And with every passing hour the album changed, different things were sticking out. And I was hearing these sounds this time around and then the next time it just felt like it was completely just her vocals.

“That was one thing I wanted to do with this album,” he continued. “What if it wasn’t the drugs making the album change, what if the album was just doing that on its own? How do you concentrate that psychedelic experience and package that for someone that probably has more sense than doing that to themselves? Or doesn’t have the wherewithal or the curiosity to do that. So that was another exciting part of the Joyful Noise version.”

Tune in and listen to all three episodes of Hickman Holler Radio for free on Friday, Nov. 18 from 4 pm PT / 6 pm CT / 7 pm ET on Apple Music Country, or anytime on-demand with an Apple Music subscription at apple.co/_HickmanHoller

Childers recently confirmed his 2023 Send in the Hounds Tour in support of Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? Kicking off in April, the artist will be joined on the road by Charley Crockett, Drive-By Truckers, S.G. Goodman, Wayne Graham, Abby Hamilton, Elle King, Marcus King, John R. Miller, Miles Miller, and Margo Price.

Tickets will be available for general on-sale on Friday (Nov. 18) at 9:00 a.m. local time.

2023 U.S. Tour Dates

Apr. 14 – New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore*
Apr. 16 – Georgetown, TX @ Two Step Inn
Apr. 20 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory†
Apr. 22 – Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP‡
Apr. 24 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre#
Apr. 26 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl#
Apr. 27 – Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley#
Apr. 30 – Indio, CA @ Stagecoach
Jun. 6 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre+
Jun. 8 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed^
Jun. 9 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis^
Jun. 11 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion+
Jun. 14 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory~
Jun. 15 – Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre~
Aug. 2 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall×
Aug. 3 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall×
Aug. 5 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
Aug. 6 – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point**
Aug. 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
Aug. 11 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion††
Aug. 13 – Raleigh, NC @ The Red Hat Amphitheater‡‡
Aug. 15 – Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre##
Aug. 16 – Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre##
Aug. 18 – Wilmington, NC @ Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park‡‡
Aug. 19 – Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium‡‡
Sept. 27 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre‡‡
Sept. 28 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre++

*with special guest Wayne Graham
†with special guests John R. Miller and Wayne Graham
‡with special guests Charley Crockett and Wayne Graham
# with special guest Charley Crockett
+with special guest Miles Miller
^with special guests Marcus King and Miles Miller
~with special guest Marcus King
×with special guest Elle King
**with special guest Margo Price
††with special guests Drive-By Truckers and Abby Hamilton
## with special guest S.G. Goodman
‡‡with special guests S.G. Goodman and Abby Hamilton
++with special guests S.G. Goodman and Wayne Graham

Credit: Hickman Holler Radio with Tyler Childers on Apple Music Country // Courtesy of Apple