"I first heard of David Childers in December 2014, at an Avett Brothers show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. As soon as Scott Avett sang the opening verse—“It was a New Years Day at the seaside bar / there was a special on PBR / the ocean roared outside the door / no one but us and some hardcore drinkers / lost in the stormy day / how blue were the blue of your eyes / against the sky of grey”—a good segment of the crowd cheered and began to sing along. I hadn’t been to many Avett shows yet, so I was lost. I turned to my equally clueless sister and said: “that isn’t an Avett song, whose song is that?” We looked it up on the way back to the hotel, discovered it was called The Prettiest Thing, and immediately downloaded Childers’ excellent 2011 album Room #23. I realize now that The Prettiest Thing is a wildly popular part of the Avett Brothers live show. They have played it almost 100 times in the past five years and the 10,000 member Facebook group Avett Nation recently voted it as the top cover song performed by the band. The beauty and narrative power of David Childers’ music was clear to me the first time I heard his work. Based on my preview of his new album, Run Skeleton Run, Childers is poised to win even more fans—if they have the opportunity to hear his music. So consider this your heads up." Read More