by James A. Bacon
Who do you think provides the more authentic insight into the mindset of the American working class: elite media, which filters its portraits of blue-collar Americans through the cultural and ideological lenses of its Ivy League reporters, or a home-grown balladeer like Farmville resident Oliver Anthony?
Anthony (real name Christopher Anthony Lunsford) became an overnight musical sensation with his YouTube song, “Rich Men North of Richmond.” He is the real deal, singing raw country music unaffected by the wokeness that has infected the new generation of Nashville superstars. His “lived experience” clearly informed the lyrics to the song.
“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers,” he wrote in a recent Facebook post reacting to his sudden fame. “I don’t want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don’t want to play stadium shows, I don’t want to be in the spotlight.”
Lunsford dropped out of high school at age 17, earned a GED, worked multiple manufacturing jobs and fractured his skull from a bad fall at work. Since then, he’s worked in manufacturing sales. “My job has taken me all over Virginia and into the Carolinas, getting to know tens of thousands of other blue collar workers on job sites and in factories,” he says. “I’ve spent all day, everyday, for the last 10 years hearing the same story. People are SO damn tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated.”
In 2019, Lunsford paid $97,500 for a piece of land; he still owes about $60,000. He lives in a 27-foot camper with a tarp on the roof that he found on Craigslist for $750.
“There’s nothing special about me. I’m not a good musician, I’m not a very good person,” he says. “I’ve spent the last 5 years struggling with mental health and using alcohol to drown it. I am sad to see the world in the state it’s in, with everyone fighting with each other. I have spent many nights feeling hopeless, that the greatest country on Earth is quickly fading away.”
