Thousands stand in the sweltering early September heat to hear “Rich Men North of Richmond,” the anti-government anthem targeting Washington politicians, taxes and welfare that was asked about at the first Republican presidential debate. The crowd sings along about how working-class Americans are getting screwed over as if the song has been out for four decades instead of four weeks.

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day/Overtime hours for bulls— pay/So I can sit out here and waste my life away/Drag back home and drown my troubles away.

Anthony, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, has become the first artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart without any previous history on any chart — and did so by toppling megastars like Taylor Swift. The YouTube video of the song has been viewed more than 71 million times since it was uploaded on Aug. 8, and streamed more than 70 million times on Spotify.

“We’re common people — not Republicans or Democrats,” said Greg Gentieu, a retired police officer who came with his wife, Kimmi, from Valdese, N.C., and brought the “Tax This …” flag for Anthony’s set. “It’s nice to have somebody in the mainstream with enough guts to put that out there.”

The song has triggered waves of debates and hot takes over its meaning and politics, creating a giant platform for Anthony. But it has also left the musician grappling with the growing pains that have come with his overnight, unlikely ascent to the mainstream.

Anthony did not respond to multiple interview requests. Brian Prentice, one of his managers, declined to make Anthony available for an interview.

But he said in a video posted to Facebook earlier this month, “I feel like in the last couple of weeks I’ve lost a lot of that excitement, stressing out over all this business crap.”

“He is like the Bob Dylan of the 2020s,” said the Lady of Rage, the longtime hip-hop artist from Anthony’s home of Farmville who is best known for her collaborations with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. “Oliver Anthony is a beacon right now.” Chaz Knapp, a 52-year old Farmville musician who has worked with Anthony’s team during this boom period, had a different comparison: “He’s the country version of Kid Rock, the folk version of Kid Rock.”

As the crowd chants for one more song at the festival, a man in the pit wonders if there’s more to Anthony than his one hit: “He doesn’t have one more song! That’s the song!” (Other songs of Anthony’s, like “Ain’t Gotta Dollar,” have been streamed millions of times and made the Billboard Hot 100.)

It’s an argument Anthony has tried to answer directly to fans who want to know more about him and his aspirations. Anthony, who prefers to speak to his fans in videos on Facebook and Instagram, has been selective in the few interviews he’s done in recent weeks. His two most in-depth conversations were on podcasts with Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson, and he’s given interviews to “Fox & Friends” and the Free Press, the outlet co-founded by former New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss. His only photo with a politician during this stretch was with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine proponent and Democratic presidential candidate.

His hometown of Farmville is located about 70 miles southwest of Richmond, a proud place of culture and history — home of the forgotten school in Brown v. Board of Education, the location of the 2016 vice-presidential debate, the place where “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan was raised. With that pride has come struggle, including a poverty rate of nearly 27 percent that’s more than double the national average, according to census data.

“We joke that Chris is like a thousand other guys we know as far as how he looks and what he’s going through,” Farmville Mayor Brian Vincent said, referring to Anthony by his real name. “The ever-widening wealth gap is a real thing, and people are feeling some angst. Then they see this very stripped-down troubadour in the woods wailing on this subject, and it just caught fire in that moment.”

Anthony has laughed off misinformation that he was trapped at Burning Man or performing at the Super Bowl with Jason Aldean, but he was fuming after he was booked to play a show in Knoxville, Tenn. After he told fans not to buy tickets at Cotton Eyed Joe costing $100 each (and $200 for a meet-and-greet experience) and abruptly canceled the show, the venue ripped Anthony as an amateur, warning anyone wanting him to play “to be careful booking the North Man of Richmond.” (Anthony has since scheduled a new Knoxville show at a larger venue for $25 a ticket.)

That hasn’t stopped promoters from booking him.

“People are saying, ‘How can we see him?’” said Jordan Pelfrey, the head organizer of Alley Fest in Paintsville, Ky., where Anthony is playing on Oct. 6. “It was very important to get him to play in Kentucky.”

The abrupt spotlight has challenged Anthony and his team as they try to build on the success. Anthony DeMarco, who owns Mountain Creek Signs & Graphics in nearby Blackstone, Va., agreed to be the merchandise vendor for the musician, which meant ramping up a small business known for banners and yard signs into a merch mountain that now includes 25,000 shirts available between $25 and $33 each, he said.

“It was hard at first because it was just me,” said DeMarco, 49, who now has two employees helping him meet the demand. “It’s evolving into a much larger-scale operation.”

Anthony’s sudden fame has come as the artist is trying to maintain a private life — one that has some fans coming to Farmville in hope of catching a glimpse of him. Anthony is going to take off most of November when his wife, Tiffany, gives birth to their third child, Knapp said. Anthony has indicated he is planning a robust 2024 schedule, signing with United Talent Agency to help build out an upcoming U.S. and international tour. Even with the time off and still not signing a major record deal, Knapp says the singer-songwriter can hold onto his newfound place in the mainstream.

“He’s going to be just as big if not bigger next year at this time,” Knapp said.

Seeing Anthony at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival was supposed to be a weekend escape for Jade Taylor. A single mother who works at a Richmond nail salon and lives off food stamps, Taylor was drawn to Anthony talking about his own struggles and found relief in his songs.

But she was saddened when she missed Anthony’s set and the festival canceled the last two days of shows because of bad weather and understaffing. Then, word got around that Anthony would play an impromptu set with Shinedown and Papa Roach for the thousands who were still on the grounds at Virginia International Raceway.

Taylor was emotional in knowing Anthony stayed around to make sure the fans got some of their money’s worth — and made her a fan for good.

“He’s freaking real and we need that in America,” said Taylor, 39.

When someone is seen waving a flag that says, “Taylor Swift 2024,” Anthony smiles and replies, “It’s still better than what we got now!” In the set, he reads prepared remarks off his phone about how some people want to be politically correct and comply with whatever the government tells them to do. In so many words, he says that’s a damn shame.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned the last couple of weeks,” he said, “there’s a lot more of us than there are of them!”