Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on Campbell Law School’s website on Oct. 15.
David Childers ‘81 has been called one of North Carolina’s most underrated song writers.
The Campbell Law School alumnus practiced law with his father, Max Childers, in his Gaston County hometown of Mount Holly after graduation. For more than a decade, Childers handled everything from criminal to domestic cases to DUIs, ”just whatever was thrown at me,” he told music writer Mark Kemp in this story from The Charlotte Ledger in August 2025.
Childers began writing songs on his acoustic Gibson guitar, basing them loosely on some of the characters and their lives he saw through his law practice. He started performing in small Charlotte clubs. He released his first CD when he was 45 with his then group, The Mount Holly Hellcats.
Childers continued to practice law along with his music making throughout the late ’90s, recording three more albums with a variety of notable musicians, including members of Charlotte bands Lou Ford and The Rank Outsiders and the late West Coast guitarist Duane Jarvis, who played with Lucinda Williams.
But on a hot, humid night in July 2000, Dolph Ramseur of Ramseur Records, an independent label that would go on to produce Childers along with The Avett Brothers, happened to catch Childers at the legendary Double Door Inn in Charlotte.
“Most of the songs he performed that evening were filled with the subject matter of Jesus, damnation, salvation, the Devil, forgiveness and redemption,” Ramseur is quoted in Childers’ bio on his website. “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.”
That record, “Blessed in an Unusual Way,” ended up being recorded in Ramseur’s home. “David’s been a kind of a rock for me in many ways,” Ramseur told Kemp. “Much like it is with the Avetts and me, David and I speak the same language — that Southern Piedmont mill town thing. We’re all made from the same stuff.”
Ramseur adds on Childers website, “It is my hope David’s greatness as a songwriter and artist will be recognized and appreciated by many in years to come.”
Turns out, on Thursday, Oct. 16, that hope will come true as Childers will be inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, which is home to musical legends, including James Taylor; the late, great Doc Watson; John Coltrane; and the aforementioned Avett Brothers.
Childers is being inducted alongside country music star Luke Combs, Clyde Mattocks, Dexter Romweber, Hattie “Chatty Hatty” Leeper and Robert Deaton. The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place annually to honor music legends with roots in North Carolina. The ceremony is open to the public for a night filled with music, celebration and nostalgia. The 2025 class to be enshrined during the annual induction ceremony at the Mooresville Performing Arts Center.
The ceremony is a commemorative occasion in which music industry professionals who have made a significant impact on American Music are introduced as new members of our Hall of Fame. The ceremony will feature each inductees’ acceptance of their induction, video presentations and live performances. Tickets are $50 and $80 and are available at this link.
Childers’ Hall of Fame induction comes at a time when the musician, poet and artist could use some good news. In summer 2024 Childers was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. While he tried to keep his illness quiet, once his friends and other musicians found out they created a GoFundMe account to help with his bills. To date, they’ve raised more than $30,000.
Childers told Kemp, “I had no idea how appreciated I was … I mean, the amount of love that just poured in. And not only that, but also the financial help. I get checks in the mail for $500! I’m like, ‘What’s this for?’ and they’re like, ‘Well, just because of what you’ve done. You’ve meant a lot to me — your music.’”
His latest song, about a vagrant in the Durham bus station, includes the lines, “Sometimes bad things happen… Keep your focus. You might get an answer. There might just be an angel standing next to you.”
Kemp writes, “Childers has put his trust in angels his entire life. His songs and paintings are all about darkness and light, sin and redemption, hard times and freedom. He doesn’t know where life will take him from here, but he knows he’s going to be OK.”
Childers continued, “That’s one thing I want people to understand, I’m doing fine. I get out there, I walk about a mile and a half a day. I cut grass with a push mower. I lift weights. I paint all the time. I’m back to playing gigs…I’m probably the happiest I’ve been in my life. I ain’t planning on dying anytime soon.”
Fans can catch Childers performing songs from his most recent album, Melancholy Angel (2023), among others at the Wake Forest Listening Room on Dec. 12.
Learn more about Childers and his love of music, art and his family in this video produced by the Gaston County Museum at this link.
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