Hear me out… Tyler Childers is back in the studio working on a brand new record with the famed producer Rick Rubin. According to RCA Chairman and CEO Peter Edge, it’s one of the projects he is most excited about at the label, and it should be coming out in the next few months. “I’m really excited about Tyler Childers’ new album, which is produced by Rick Rubin. 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.” The excitement for the forthcoming record is already building fans are beginning to speculate that longtime fan favorite, “Jersey Giant,” could make the tracklist. Childers has set up fans to wonder if he will release a studio version of “Jersey Giant” after performing it for the first time in years during his Kentucky homecoming show. Since that night, it appears that “Jersey Giant” has become a consistent song on this tour’s setlist, further fueling that speculation and wonder. @whiskeyriff Wild card on the Lexington setlist. @Tyler Childers // : @Brittany #whiskeyriff #tylerchilders #krogerfield #jerseygiant ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff As someone who loves to see him perform the song again, I am unlike the average Tyler Childers fan, hoping this song makes the tracklist. I don’t love the idea of him releasing the song on this record. Now, I’m not saying that Childers should not release “Jersey Giant” one day. But given that we already have a few covers of the song, it almost feels like it’s lost a little bit of its punch. Evan Hone released his take on the beloved song with Julia DiGrazia in 2022, and the duet went mega viral. His vocals heavily remind me of how Childers delivers the song, but then Elle King got Tyler Childers’ blessing to record a version of it for her 2023 country music debut Come Get Your Wife, and Childers himself said he felt like the song did not serve him anymore. As we have seen from him in the past, he’s not afraid to give the chop to songs that don’t serve him like “Feathered Indians,” which he rarely performs live these days. “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.” And then Josiah and the Bonnevilles released a version as well in 2023, and Sam Barber recorded it for his debut album, Restless Mind, in 2024. Needless to say, we’ve heard it a lot, and it’s a great song, but do we really need it from Tyler now, too? Tyler Childers has a massive catalog of unreleased gems, and given that he’s blessed other artists to cover the song, I am pining that we get a studio version of a song that he hasn’t made accessible to other artists. I’m bucking for “Her And The Banks,” “Redneck Romeo” or “Oneida.” And that hardly scratches the surface of the unreleased songs fans have begged Childers for over the years.  Tyler Childers creates very intentional tracklists, with his last album featuring seven songs. So, I’d rather he include a different song from the archives on the record than “Jersey Giant.” In fact, I’d rather get some new material all together. If there’s one criticism of Tyler Childers over the past couple years it’s been the lack of new material, and rather “thin” nature of his new albums. You just don’t feel like you’re getting a full, brand new record. Outside of that, Rick Rubin, who has worked with a catalog of artists like Marcus King, Johnny Cash, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and Run DMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica, Adele, Tom Petty, The Dixie Chicks, The Strokes, Eminem, Ed Sheeran, System of a Down, Audioslave, Justin Timberlake, Avett Brothers… and it goes on and on…  has always been great about encouraging artists to select great songs. His superpower seem to be crafting a cohesive tracklist, oftentimes pushing the artist to consider a different perspective or work outside their comfort zone. He’s not a “technical,” sit behind the mixing board and turn the knobs kind of producer, he doesn’t even know how to play music… he’s all about the emotion and the feel of the album, how it connects with the listener, and I just don’t think “Jersey Giant” still has that kind of visceral connection we’re looking for. Plus, if it sounds different than the initial arrangement, which according to Peter Edge, this album will defy expectations, Childers fans are gonna freak out. All that said, if Childers chooses to include “Jersey Giant” on the forthcoming record, I will still stream the heck out of it. But between partnering with Rubin on the album, playing it live lately, and what’s said about the song in the past, it also feels just too obvious… gives us the curveball, Tyler. Fire up a few of Tyler Childers’ unreleased songs before you go. “Her And The Banks” “Redneck Romeo”  “Onedia” The post Sorry, But I Don’t Want Tyler Childers To Release “Jersey Giant” On His Upcoming Album… Here’s Why first appeared on Whiskey Riff.