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FARMVILLE – When will Oliver Anthony release more music? That’s been a question since the Prince Edward County resident released his single “Rich Men North of Richmond” back in August. And the answer is not for a while, but there’s a good reason. 

“Every new YouTube (or) streaming release we’ve put out since ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ was part of the same weekend recording session RadioWv and I did that day in August before things blew up,” Anthony wrote on his Facebook page. 

To be clear, he pointed out, these aren’t exactly new songs and weren’t really intended to be followups for his hit. 

“These are just higher quality, simple acoustic style recordings of previously released Android songs,” Anthony wrote. “We had no idea when we recorded them then that I’d be sharing for such a large audience.” 

And so that brings us back to the answer to the question. You can expect new music from Anthony coming in early 2024. The new father, whose wife Tiffany just gave birth to their third child, a son, this past weekend, said he’ll be home most of November and December, helping with the baby. While he’s there, he’ll also be writing. 

“I’ll be home most of November and December and working on writing brand new songs for early 2024 release,” Anthony wrote. “I have dozens of unfinished songs that have been put on the back burner in the whirlwind of the last two months.” 

JPB concert still a go 

The baby arrived just a bit early, originally expected to show up at the beginning of November. But both mother and son are healthy and recovering. And the early birth also won’t change his plans for this coming Saturday.  Anthony plans to perform on Saturday, Oct. 28 in the new Joan Perry Brock Center on Longwood University’s campus. The show is set for 7:30 p.m. and is the first major concert at the new facility, which just opened this fall. 

“Even with (the) baby coming early we’re still all set for playing the Longwood show on (the) 28th,” Anthony wrote on Facebook, in response to a question. “Don’t want anyone worrying about it.” 

But if you want to hunt for a ticket, don’t bother. That show sold out in minutes on Friday, Oct. 6. A pool of 250 discounted tickets were made available first to Longwood students on a first-come, first serve basis one day earlier. Then as soon as Friday rolled around, the rest of the tickets were quickly snatched up. And to be clear, these weren’t just priced out of sight or anything. We’re talking tickets at $25 each, keeping true to Anthony’s word that he wanted to play concerts with affordable prices. 

It will be a fairly large concert. The Joan Perry Brock Center can hold more than 3,000 fans for basketball games, while concerts and other performances can accommodate more than 4,000.  That’s definitely the case here, with more than 4,000 tickets sold. And this is set to be the first of many such events at the facility, school officials say. The Harlem Globetrotters, for example, have already been booked to perform at the JPB coming up next April. 

Who is Oliver Anthony? 

And if you’ve been living in a cave or just turned off social media for the last few months, here’s some more information as to who this Oliver Anthony guy is. 

First off, his legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. His musical handle was done as a tribute. 

“My grandfather was Oliver Anthony, and “Oliver Anthony Music” is a dedication not only to him, but 1930’s Appalachia where he was born and raised,” Anthony said earlier this year. “Dirt floors, seven kids, hard times. At this point, I’ll gladly go by Oliver because everyone knows me as such. But my friends and family still call me Chris. You can decide for yourself, either is fine.” 

Anthony said he dropped out of school at age 17 in 2010, later earning his GED in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. 

“I worked multiple plant jobs in Western NC,” Anthony wrote in a Facebook post, “my last being at the paper mill in McDowell County. I worked 3rd shift, 6 days a week for $14.50 an hour in a living hell. In 2013, I had a bad fall at work and fractured my skull. It forced me to move back home to Virginia. Due to complications from the injury, it took me 6 months or so before I could work again.”

Anthony said from 2014 until earlier in August, he worked outside sales in the industrial manufacturing world. 

“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,” Anthony wrote. “I’ve spent all day, everyday, for the last 10 years hearing the same story. People are so d*** tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated.”

As for where he lives now in Prince Edward County, Anthony said he paid $97,500 for the property in 2019 and still owes about $60,000 on it. Currently, he says he’s living in a 27′ camper with a tarp on the roof that he got off of craigslist for $750.