Self-described as the “World’s Finest Purveyors of Mountain Rock,” The Cox County Clappers return with “Tully Jackson’s Hill,” a hard-driving single that hits with both sonic force and moral clarity. Rooted in Appalachian struggle and environmental resistance, the track is less a protest song in the traditional sense and more a battle cry from people who refuse to be erased.
Led by guitarist and songwriter Matt Rhoden of Acme Giants, the Cox County Clappers operate as a collaborative force, drawing in seasoned Nashville players to build out their mythic universe. On “Tully Jackson’s Hill,” that collective energy translates into a muscular, unflinching sound: snarling electric guitars grind against thunderous drums, while Gwen Holt’s harmonica wails like a warning siren across the valley.
Stylistically, the track sits comfortably alongside the grit and storytelling of Tyler Childers, the working-class fire of Drive-By Truckers, the bluesy weight of Marcus King, and the swagger of The Black Crowes. Yet it never feels derivative. Instead, it channels those influences into something rooted firmly in its own terrain.
At the heart of the song lies mountaintop-removal mining, the brutal process of blasting away a mountain’s summit to access coal, leaving waterways choked with debris and communities destabilised. Tully Jackson becomes both a character and a symbol: one of the people living downstream from destruction, navigating the fallout of decisions made far from home. Rhoden’s songwriting doesn’t rely on abstraction; it’s concrete, visual, and pointed. You can feel the dust in the air.
What elevates “Tully Jackson’s Hill” beyond topical commentary is its emotional undercurrent. There’s anger here, yes, but also resilience. The chorus surges forward with a kind of stubborn hope, the sense that even when the land is scarred, the people remain unbowed. It’s the sound of standing your ground.
Part of the song’s power comes from the broader world Rhoden has created: Cox County, a fully realised fictional Appalachian landscape populated by feuding families, labourers, musicians, and government men. This mythic framing allows the Clappers to blur the line between folklore and current events, giving their narratives a timeless quality. Cox County feels removed from the noise of modern life, yet the issues it confronts are painfully immediate.
Musically and thematically, “Tully Jackson’s Hill” reinforces what the Cox County Clappers do best: fuse storytelling and resistance into hard-rocking Americana that feels both lived-in and larger than life. It’s mountain rock with a backbone, loud enough to shake the hills, and clear-eyed enough to remind you what’s at stake.
