Printer-friendly version
PDF version
North Carolina-born musician Eric Church, who plays the Outlaw Saloon Saturday, is doing well by doing his own thing in Nashville.
Rather than turning to Music Row for material, he writes and co-writes many of his own songs, including all of the cuts on his latest album. He tours nearly constantly, working to build a fan base one show at a time, rather than waiting to play when he has a top-five hit in the bag. And he uses his road band on his record, instead of session guys.
The road-less-taken path has paid off for Church. His single, "Love Your Love the Most," is riding high in the Top 10 on the Billboard and Mediabase country radio charts. The song is from his sophomore album, "Carolina," which debuted at No. 4 earlier this year.
"It's been good," said Church, calling from Nashville. "The album did over 30,000 units its first week, and, even today, since it came out, it's been among the 25 or 30 top albums. I think we surprised a lot of people."
Home, sweet home
Church points to people like Lowell George of Little Feat and Levon Helm of The Band as huge influences -- off-the-beaten-path fellows themselves.
"You know, I love those people who made music for the sake of making music," said Church. "Didn't ever think they'd make a dime at it. Now, we've had a lot of success here recently, and don't get me wrong -- it is kind of fun to see that kind of pay off, since we made the best record we can make."
Church admits that "Carolina," did not come easy.
"There was a healthy dose of fear recording it," he said. "We'd had success with our first record -- especially critically. I almost felt like we had a target on our back because of that."
He said he started the album several times, but it wasn't gelling. And then he wrote the title track, "Carolina."
"We'd played Charlotte, and I grew up about an hour from there," said Church. "But we had to go to Nashville to catch a plane, because our schedule was so busy. And we drove by the exit that I would normally take to go home and see my folks, but I did not have time. It can be a melancholy feeling when your career gets in the way of going home.
"And that's where it all started. It turned into a song about life on the road. I worried people might not relate if they weren't from there, but you don't have to be from North Carolina. It seems to be a home thing. No matter where I play it, people relate to it."
Writing as he goes
Church is proud of the new album, not so much for its chart successes, but for the growth it has shown in him and his band.
"I am really proud, because it sounds like 'Sinners Like Me,' " -- Church's debut album -- "but there are songs that would have never been on that one.
" One is 'Make it Look Easy,' a song I wrote for my wedding. It has strings on it. Another is something called 'Without You Here.' It is smart lyrically, but also has a happy melody. We did not have a lot of happy stuff on 'Sinners Like Me.' "
Not that he's gone sappy -- far from it. He says that his party rocker "Smoke a Little Smoke" is the big showstopper of recent tours.
"People love that one," he said. "That is going directly back to being a fan of Little Feat and The Band, being able to feel like that. The song is a throwback to that style of music."
As for a third album, Church isn't worried about that right now.
"I am writing a lot now, but it ain't there yet. But I have confidence it'll happen. I don't think it will turn into Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy,'ââ" said Church, alluding to an album that famously took 15 years to see the light of day.
The future
Church has hopes that the success of his album is not a fluke. He thinks that country radio is now making room for less pop-flavored music like his own.
"I think mainstream radio, since about the time I started doing this, has gotten as cool as it has been in years," said Church. "Acts like James Johnson and Zac Brown have found a place. I mean, there is always crap, too, but there is more real stuff than there has been in years."
Church said he looks forward to making it back to Utah. It's been about 4 1/2 years since he played these parts.
"We were coming to Salt Lake last year, but our bus broke down. We ended up having to go on to Denver. So I owe them one there, and I'll make it a good one."
Click here to see Eric Church - Love Your Love The Most music video
