Tyler Childers Surprises Home-State Crowd For Incredible Duet On Unreleased Song He Gifted To Elle King

One of the biggest hits on Elle King's new album 'Come Get Your Wife' was actually written by Tyler Childers. 'Jersey Giant' has since taken on a life of its own.

Thus, when King was in Childers' home state of Kentucky over the weekend, it presented the perfect opportunity for the two to finally get on stage together. They surprised the sold-out crowd in Lexington with one of the coolest duets in today's "country" sound.

Childers' song, though occasionally performed at live shows, was never released. He never cut 'Jersey Giant' on any of his records.


I wrote ‘Jersey Giant’ over ten years ago and only performed it for a short period of time. I was pleased with how it turned out structurally (it even has a bridge, which is rare for me), but I was over performing it pretty fast.
I reckon that’s just how songs go sometimes. They can be like that coat you saw and had to have, only to get it home and think, ‘Why gah, I ain’t never gonna wear this thing.’ Or, one that you got from an ex which you would rather just toss out.
But that’s not saying anything against the coat, it just doesn’t fit me anymore and hasn’t for some time.

Audio exists, but it's about as raw and unrefined as it comes.

Tyler Childers retired the song a few years back and gifted it to Elle King.

It currently has the most plays of any song on her new album that doesn't feature Dierks Bentley or Miranda Lambert!

King was extremely grateful for the track, obviously.


Tyler Childers is not too far from where my family lives and he’s a legend. The life of a song is something so beautiful to me, and country music has taught me to see that the opportunity to sing a song written by someone else, is nothing short of a gift, a blessing.

After a few weeks of King performing 'Jersey Giant' alone, the two finally got together on stage on Sunday. Manchester Music Hall was treated to a duet between the original artist and his successor.

It doesn't get much cooler than that right there! King and Childers have two of the most unique sounds in music right now and the pairing could not have been more perfect.

King will also open for Childers at Radio City Music Hall as part of his tour on August 2nd and 3rd, so you likely didn't miss your only chance to hear them together. Her tour continues across the country this spring.

(Side note: I saw King in Asheville three days before she played with Childers — she wails!)