Eric Church
Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's Sinners Like Me, produced three singles on the Billboard country charts including the top 20 hits "How 'Bout You", "Two Pink Lines", and "Guys Like Me".
Eric Church
Kenneth Eric Church
May 3, 1977
Granite Falls, North Carolina, U.S.
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Singer-songwriter
- Vocals
- guitar
2005–present
His second album, 2009's Carolina, produced three more singles: "Smoke a Little Smoke" and his first top 10 hits, "Love Your Love the Most" and "Hell on the Heart". 2011's Chief, his first No. 1 album, gave him his first two No. 1 singles, "Drink in My Hand" and "Springsteen", and the hits "Homeboy", "Creepin'", and "Like Jesus Does". His third No. 1 single was "The Only Way I Know", which he, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan recorded for Aldean's album Night Train.
A fourth album, The Outsiders, was released in February 2014. It produced five new singles between 2013 and 2015 with the title track, "Give Me Back My Hometown", "Cold One", "Talladega" and "Like a Wrecking Ball". "Talladega" and "Give Me Back My Hometown" each reached number one on the Country Airplay chart. Eric Church got his sixth No. 1 hit with Keith Urban in May 2015 with the single "Raise 'Em Up". His fifth studio album, Mr. Misunderstood, was released in November 2015 and went on to produce two number one singles with "Record Year" and "Round Here Buzz". On July 13, 2018, Church released the first single and title track of his album Desperate Man, which was released in October 2018. In April 2021, Church released the triple album set Heart & Soul.
Early life[edit]
Church was born on May 3, 1977, in Granite Falls, North Carolina (Dudley Shoals area), to Ken and Rita Church. Church worked with his father at Clayton Marcus, a furniture upholstery company where his father was president.[2] At 13, he bought a guitar and began writing songs of his own. By his senior year of high school, he had found a gig at a local bar, which occupied most of his time. He played many Jimmy Buffett cover songs and a few of his own original songs in some dive bars. Some of these places were so rough that he got into a few altercations from the stage. For a few years, the band played often in bars and restaurants throughout North Carolina. The band "Mountain Boys" consisted of his college roommate, brother, and a fellow guitarist.[3]
Before moving to Nashville, Eric graduated from South Caldwell High School and then Appalachian State University with a degree in marketing.[4] Upon graduation, Church became engaged to a Spanish teacher in the town of Lenoir, North Carolina. The future bride's father attempted to persuade Church into a corporate career, which he rejected as an aspiring musician (and later referenced in his song "What I Almost Was" from his debut album). She broke the engagement and he headed to Nashville with his father's financial backing. His father also provided the opportunity to make contacts, and more importantly, time to focus on developing his songwriting ability.
Music career[edit]
2006–2010: Sinners Like Me and Carolina[edit]
Church co-wrote Terri Clark's 2005 single "The World Needs a Drink",[3] and the track "Whiskey Wings" on Dean Miller's 2005 album Platinum.[5] He started recording with different producers. Capitol Nashville showed an interest and watched him perform but they were yet to be convinced enough to offer a recording contract.[6] Autumn House-Tallant told HitQuarters that they did not think his music was "interesting" enough.[6] The record company's attitude changed after he started working with producer Jay Joyce. Doyle states, "Eric scored a meeting with Nashville heavyweight Arthur Buenahora, a publisher at Sony Music who also signed Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert. Church played him "Lightning", a ballad he wrote after watching the movie The Green Mile". (p. 5) The strong sound and direction the two forged together finally convinced Capitol Nashville that he was ready.[6] His first single, "How 'Bout You" peaked at No. 14 on Hot Country Songs and led off his debut album Sinners Like Me. In April 2006, he performed on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.[7]
The album's other two singles, "Two Pink Lines" and "Guys Like Me", both reached the Top 20 as well.[3] The fourth single, the title track, peaked at No. 51. An additional track from the album, "Lightning", was made into a music video despite not being released as a single. Church wrote the song shortly after moving to Nashville, inspired by the movie The Green Mile.[7] Following the album's success, Church toured with Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts.[7] Church was fired from opening for Rascal Flatts after repeatedly performing for longer than his allotted time, despite repeated warnings. He was replaced by Taylor Swift, who was just starting her career. Before Swift started the tour, Church and Swift spoke, where he told Swift that she would thrive on the tour and joked that she should give him her first gold record as a thanks. Swift later did give him her first gold record with an attached note that said "Thanks for playing too long and too loud on the Flatts tour. I sincerely appreciate it. Taylor".[8][9][10][11][12]
In 2008, Church released a fifth single, "His Kind of Money (My Kind of Love)" to country radio. It debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at No. 55 in early 2008, and reached its peak of No. 46 in August. Originally slated as the lead single to an upcoming second album, "His Kind of Money" was instead included as a bonus track on albums sold at Best Buy. Following this song was "Love Your Love the Most", which debuted in early 2009 and was the first single from his second album Carolina, released in stores on March 24, 2009.[3] The night before the official release, Church and Capitol Records distributed copies of the album on the campus of Church's alma mater, Appalachian State University, during a "release party" concert.[13] As with his debut album, Carolina was produced by Jay Joyce, and is entirely composed of songs that he co-wrote. "Love Your Love the Most" brought Church to the top 10 for the very first time, peaking at No. 10 in September 2009. The album's second single, "Hell on the Heart", debuted in October 2009 and would also hit the top 10 in May 2010. The third single from "Carolina" was "Smoke a Little Smoke". In June 2010, Church moved to Capitol Nashville's new imprint EMI Records Nashville, becoming their second artist. On January 14, 2011, he released a four-song EP entitled Caldwell County.
Personal life[edit]
On January 8, 2008, Church married music publisher Katherine Blasingame at West Glow Resort in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. At the wedding, Church performed "You Make It Look So Easy", a song he wrote for Blasingame. On October 3, 2011, their first son, Boone McCoy Church, was born;[39][40] he is the subject of Church's song "Three Year Old". On February 15, 2015, their second son, Tennessee Hawkins "Hawk" Church was born.[41] Their home (along with Church's "man cave"), located in Nashville, was featured in an episode of CMT's Cribs.[42]
The Chief Cares Fund is a foundation organized by Eric and Katherine Church in 2013. The non-profit organization has been used to help underprivileged families in Tennessee, North Carolina, and even as far as helping orphans in Nepal receive clothing, proper bedding, and schooling. The foundation has also delivered Bibles to Haiti and helps fund Humane Society no-kill animal shelters. People can donate to the foundation on Eric Church's website by simply donating or by purchasing exclusive Chief Cares Platinum Tickets to his concerts where money from the tickets go to the Chief Cares Fund.[43]
In November 2022, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper awarded Church the North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor.[44]
Church wears his signature aviator sunglasses as a result of wearing contact lenses. When his career was getting started, he was forced to deal with the heat from the stage lights drying out his contacts.[45] As he began performing in larger venues, his aviators and Von Dutch denim trucker hat became his trademark.
Church has become an avid advocate for the use of cannabis, reflected in songs such as "Smoke a Little Smoke"; at the time of that song's release, Church's record label urged him not to release the song, though it had minor success as a single.[46] Church has also referenced marijuana use in other songs like "The Joint" and "I'm Gettin' Stoned", and has even been the subject of a marijuana joke at the 49th ACM Awards where Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan referred to Eric Church as the Willie Nelson for the new-country generation and compared Eric Church's dressing room to a cannabis dispensary.
Church opened Chief's, a bar, restaurant, and performance venue in downtown Nashville in April, 2024.[47]
Controversy[edit]
In March 2022, Church was heavily criticized by fans for cancelling a then-upcoming April concert in San Antonio, Texas, in order to watch the North Carolina Tar Heels play Duke in the NCAA Championship Final Four.[48] In response to the criticism, Church announced a makeup concert in New Braunfels, Texas, for the date of September 2, and justified the cancellation in a follow-up interview stating, in part, "To win that, it was a wild week or two. It was just something I had to be there, and had to take my boys ... I can’t recreate Duke and Carolina Final Four."[49]
Musical styles[edit]
Church's style has been described as country rock, outlaw country, and southern rock. Church's influences include Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Little Feat, The Band, Kris Kristofferson, The Grateful Dead, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Waylon Jennings.[50] Church has also said that many hard rock and heavy metal bands influenced his music, including Metallica and AC/DC.[51]
Studio albums