Oliver Anthony is the surprise folk hero of 2023. He penned and sang a song that has grabbed the attention of ordinary Americans because of its message. “Rich Men North of Richmond” speaks to the issues on many people’s minds today.

His real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. He took the stage name of Oliver Anthony as a nod to a grandfather who grew up poor in Appalachia. The success of his song has made him an overnight sensation.

The “rich men north of Richmond” refers to the power base in the Washington, D.C. area. The song speaks to the economic hardships felt today. He sings in terms of conservative Reaganesque opinion while delivering a warning to populism. He didn’t finish high school but he did earn a GED, lives in a trailer in Farmville, Virginia, and sings about the political power and economic sway over the state that those men north of Richmond wield in his state.

The lyrics are Reaganesque in economic terms as he sings about inflation and taxes and people on welfare instead of working. It addresses the disconnect between wealthy legislators in Washington, D.C., and the people they represent. His frustration with working for low wages that are eaten up by taxes is palpable.

On his Facebook page, he is brutally honest about his surprise in becoming an overnight sensation and he introduces himself by telling his story.

My legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. 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. 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.

In 2010, I dropped out of high school at age 17. I have a GED from Spruce Pine, NC. I worked multiple plant jobs in Western NC, 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.

From 2014 until just a few days ago, I’ve 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. Ive 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, I paid $97,500 for the property and still owe about $60,000 on it. I am living in a 27′ camper with a tarp on the roof that I got off of craigslist for $750.

There’s nothing special about me. I’m not a good musician, I’m not a very good person. 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.

That being said, I HATE the way the Internet has divided all of us. The Internet is a parasite, that infects the minds of humans and has their way with them. Hours wasted, goals forgotten, loved ones sitting in houses with each other distracted all day by technology made by the hands of other poor souls in sweat shops in a foreign land.

When is enough, enough? When are we going to fight for what is right again? MILLIONS have died protecting the liberties we have. Freedom of speech is such a precious gift. Never in world history has the world had the freedom it currently does. Don’t let them take it away from you.

Just like those once wandering in the desert, we have lost our way from God and have let false idols distract us and divide us. It’s a damn shame.

His story isn’t a unique one, it could be the story of millions of Americans. It is such a strong everyman kind of story that the song was included in a question asked of the Republican candidates during the RNC debate this week. Ron DeSantis took the opportunity to address our country’s decline is “not evitable.”

“So, Governor DeSantis, why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now?” MacCallum said.

DeSantis replied the country is “in decline” but that the decline is “not evitable.”

“We also cannot succeed when the Congress spends trillions and trillions of dollars,” DeSantis added. “Those rich men north of Richmond have put us in this situation.”

He then finished by saying government needs to work to lower gas prices.

Decline is a choice. Those in elected office have to be held accountable for the direction our country is taking. The answer isn’t more control. It’s less control and more freedom for Americans. This man gets it and can say it in terms that everyone can understand.

He turned down a $8M offer from a record label.

The song also came in ahead of Taylor Swift and Luke Combs on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, placing No. 1.

Antony wrote in a recent Facebook post sharing his life story that he turned down a record label deal because “I don’t want 6 tour busses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don’t want to play stadium shows, I don’t want to be in the spotlight.”

“I wrote the music I wrote because I was suffering with mental health and depression.”

“No editing, no agent, no bulls–t. Just some idiot and his guitar. The style of music that we should have never gotten away from in the first place.”

Oliver is doing just fine on his own.

Anthony’s resulting whopping windfall has been generated mainly from downloads on iTunes and streaming sites like Spotify, according to American music industry trade magazine Hits.

In its first week, “Rich Men North of Richmond” sold 147,000 downloads in its first week on iTunes — which pays up to 70 cents per download — amounting to roughly $102,000.

It’s unclear how much of the rest of $40,000 daily payout Anthony is making in royalties from streaming services like Spotify, which reportedly pays artists around 4 cents per stream.

He released a new song on Wednesday. It is titled “I Want to Go Home,” and is about war, religion, and trees being torn down and replaced with “concrete growin’ around.” He laments the worries about the possibility of the next world war and the lack of praying today.

We could use more of Oliver and his ability to reach people with songs.