Oliver Anthony is ‘singing for all of us’: Home town salutes ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ phenomenon

nypost.com:

Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, propelling a once-unknown songwriter from south-central Virginia onto the national stage. But he’s staying close to his roots.He opened his Rock the Block festival appearance by reading a Bible verse to the crowd of about 350 locals then said, “Despite what you’ve been reading on the Internet, this song still rings true,” and launched into his first song, “Ain’t Got a Dollar.”His life has changed since he first sang its lyric “I ain’t gotta dollar, But I don’t need a dime,” with his estimated earnings now as high as $40,000 a day.Then the crowd became his chorus when he sang his viral hit hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” and when he invited anyone who wanted an autograph or photo after his four-tune set on the “Rock the Block” festival stage on Fourth Street, squeezed between the Railroad Club and First Baptist Church, he was mobbed.It was his second Farmville gig in four days.

On Wednesday evening he took to the stage at the North Street Press Club to perform for another 500 people, including a family from California.

Just as he was singing, “Rich Men North of Richmond” formed the opening question of the Republican presidential debate, held in Milwaukee, WI.The North Street Press Club is where Anthony, 31, showed up out of the blue just two months ago, its open mic emcee Chaz Knapp, a local musician, told The Post. “We fixed him up to mic his guitar when he showed up back then and he was so good that the whole place perked up and I wanted him to stay for more but he just left,” Knapp, 52, a Marine veteran and local musician, told The Post. “He was such a humble guy.