“I first saw David Childers perform on a hot, humid night in July 2000 at the legendary Double Door Inn in Charlotte, NC. Most of the songs he performed that evening were filled with the subject matter of Jesus, damnation, salvation, the devil, forgiveness, and redemption. I will never, ever forget it. It was such an inspiration that the next day I wrote David a personal letter asking him if we could make a record together about those things in which he was singing about. We have been friends ever since. No record or manager contract. Just a handshake.
It is my hope David’s greatness as a songwriter and artist will be recognized and appreciated by many in years to come. Please lend an ear to his latest release, ‘Serpents of Reformation,’ and experience for yourself the same power that moved me so, that mesmerizing Summer night some fourteen years ago.”
— Dolph Ramseur
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David Childers is one of those “your favorite songwriter’s favorite songwriter” kind of musicians. His decades of sardonic, existential songwriting have made him a favorite of roots rock staples like The Avett Brothers, and his most recent effort has proven one of his most subdued to date.
Childers has dampened his fiery energy from previous releases for an understated mixture of country and folk aesthetics. The bulk of his record features powerful original tracks like “Kiss Me Like Judas” and “All Our Good Times Are Through,” but Childers brings some exciting new takes on beloved old tracks like Prince’s “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man.” Melancholy Angel shows a sense of restraint to Childers’ renown sound, but still posits the musician as one of the state’s finest songwriters.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RICKY GARNI
ABOUT COLIN CUTLER
“[Tarwater is] one magnificent tapestry of roots music.”
~No Depression
“Wickedly funny.”
~Susquehanna Folk Music Society
“Devastating.”
~Americana Highways
An Army veteran who traded in his rifle for a banjo and guitar, Colin Cutler is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, folk musician, poet, and storyteller. Whether solo or with his band, Hot Pepper Jam, he is a wide-ranging performer whose musical roots draw from the breadth of American folk music—from Appalachian oldtime to blues to gospel to country to rock’n’roll—to form what No Depression has described as “one magnificent tapestry of roots music.”
The 2022 Winner of the Susquehanna Folk Festival’s Emerging Artists Competition, the last couple years have seen Colin Cutler and Hot Pepper Jam playing across the Southeast, with appearances at Merlefest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, the North Carolina Folk Festival, Antlers and Acorns Songwriters Festival, and the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival.
