Small town back in the spotlight after raging success of rural 'Rich Men' anthem: 'We look out for each other’

Oliver Anthony's mayor said the singer's popularity has once again propelled his Virginia town into the cultural zeitgeist and has helped exemplify rural America's unique struggles.

The town of Farmville sits tucked away in Prince Edward and Cumberland Counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. While the area may not be immediately recognizable to some, Mayor Brian Vincent said the quaint city of 7,473 people has a habit of becoming the center of cultural moments.

"It's a small town. We look out for each other," Vincent told Fox News Digital. "So, yeah, I guess in a sense, that speaks to some of, perhaps, the lyrics and the idea or the spirit of not being overly dependent on somebody else to help you out, but having a community that has your back and people looking out for people."

At the tail end of the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee retreated through Farmville to resupply after he failed to blow up the High Bridge. Lee would eventually surrender nearby in Appomattox. Today, the town's former railway has become a more than 30-mile-long state park.

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A century later, 16-year-old Barbara Rose Johns Powell led a student strike for equal education opportunities at R.R. Moton High School in Farmville. The push for equality by Johns Powell would eventually be referenced and folded into the landmark ruling Brown v. Board of Education, when the Supreme Court said separating children in public schools based on race was unconstitutional.

The home of Longwood Universty, Farmville also hosted the 2016 vice-presidential debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine.

Anthony is also not the first artist from the area to reach nationwide recognition. In 1994, a singer called the Lady of Rage released a song called "Afro Puffs." The tune eventually hit number 47 on Billboard's Hot 100 and number 4 for Hot Rap Songs.

"It's not new to us to be sort of in the limelight," Vincent said. "When this thing started with Oliver Anthony, of course, you know, Farmville does what it does, which is just kind of embrace one of its own and do what it can to celebrate and elevate that person."

Soon after Anthony's hit anthem "Rich Men North of Richmond" ascended, media outlets began trying to contact Anthony and find out where he lived. Neighbors were protective of the new star and succeeded in retaining his privacy and his push to keep a healthy distance from the entertainment bubble. 

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Anthony has insisted that he's "nothing special" and not signed any record deals. One of his friends, Chazz Knapp, recently said he thinks Anthony doesn't want the new fame to change who he is. He said his hit song was not born out of a need for monetary gain but was merely a reaction to his frustrations and the feeling that he was "at the end of his rope."

Vincent said Anthony is a "welcome voice" that is helping to show what makes Farmville unique. He recalled that the singer's first concert in the town included many local artists hoping to gain exposure.

"He invited all these other local musicians to come share the stage with them, you know, knowing it would be this big sort of event. He was still wanting to share the stage and shine a light on other people. And that's kind of the way the town is on a whole. And that's one of the things I've always appreciated about it," he said.

Despite the cultural relevance of his music, Vincent said Anthony's lyrics resonate with residents to various degrees.

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"There's people who identify strongly with some of the lyrics and there's people who don't. But this isn't the kind of town where you're going to have people sort of tear at each other over that sort of thing. You know, we in small-town America, from my perspective, the people who I may see things differently from are still people I'm going to have to see every day in the grocery store. There are still people who my kids go to school with every day," he added.

Vincent also said he was not surprised that people have connected with Anthony's music, given political tensions that have been exacerbated by rising inflation and an increasing wealth gap. Anthony's songs have spoken to issues gripping rural communities like substance abuse, welfare dependency and poverty. He frequently quotes from the Bible at his concerts.

While Anthony's music has political undertones, the singer has repeatedly insisted he does not neatly fall on the conservative or liberal side of the political aisle. As mayor, Vincent ran fiercely as an independent, willing to work with both parties in the state legislature.

He suggested that Anthony's similar aversion to partisan politics and an unwillingness to stand silently as a champion of one political party contributed to his success.

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"These days as people have gotten sort of, they're more apt to just seize on somebody else's identity as their own. And it's almost as if we have too many distractions, too many inputs to actually take the time and reflect upon what our own individual values are. We just adopt values that get shouted at us or parroted, and we parrot them back," Vincent said. "And I hope that one of the things that people see through his music and some of the conversations is that call to take that step back."

To that extent, Vincent surmised that Anthony's lyrics act as an apt clarion call for people inside Farmville and across the nation to converse and think about things from the perspectives of others.

"Farmville, is it really, we talk about it being a sort of spiritual conductor or a little bit of a mystic nexus for goodness in the world," Vincent added. "We've had a complicated history like most places in the country… But we have a community of people who look out for each other, who seek to support each other and endeavor to do good works to the benefit of all and the community."

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