00:00 Would you be able to score any points in a one-on-one game with the GOAT, Michael Jordan?
00:06 He's 60.
00:07 If I get the ball first, maybe in 10 years.
00:14 If he reads that question before we play, no fucking way.
00:21 Hey everybody, I am Eric Church and Esquire has asked me to explain some things.
00:27 So the explaining will now begin.
00:36 Where does my nickname "Chief" come from?
00:39 I have a thing with my eyes that when we play these bars and clubs and it's hot, my contacts
00:46 would dry out and they would pop out on stage.
00:48 Somebody in the band just randomly suggested, "Hey, why don't you wear shades?
00:53 See if that'll help."
00:54 I started wearing them.
00:55 It helped.
00:56 It started to grow and we had an album called "Chief" that was the cover of the album with
01:00 shades and a hat.
01:02 My band was joking with me that I looked like a police officer and they started calling
01:06 me Chief.
01:07 Plus it sounds better than Eric's.
01:11 Explain why Taylor Swift wrote a thank you note to me.
01:15 Early on in our career, we opened for a band named Rascal Flatts.
01:21 Horrible match.
01:23 Horrible combination.
01:25 We didn't do things exactly like we were supposed to.
01:27 We played too long.
01:28 We were a little loud.
01:29 We were a little rowdy.
01:30 We were a number.
01:31 A lot of rules.
01:32 A lot of rules.
01:33 I broke all of them and got fired from the tour at Madison Square Garden.
01:40 Taylor Swift was the replacement for that tour.
01:44 Taylor called because she's great and said, "Hey, I don't want there to be any bad blood
01:49 here between us.
01:50 I hope everything's good."
01:51 I said, "Nah, it's great.
01:52 They're going to love you."
01:53 I said, "Only request I have is your first gold album.
01:57 I want it."
01:58 About nine days later, she walked up on a bus somewhere and had a gold album and said
02:05 to Eric, "Thanks for playing too loud and too long on the Flatts tour.
02:09 I sincerely appreciate it, Taylor Swift."
02:13 Still have it.
02:14 It's in the Country Music Hall of Fame now.
02:15 One of the little tidbits of country music history.
02:19 Why do you think it's important to be outspoken about important issues?
02:22 I just think a lot of this is somewhat second nature for me.
02:26 It's just always been an honesty that I feel like I have with our fans.
02:31 I've always had.
02:32 I think they want that honesty and I think they're okay with wherever I fall on the side
02:37 of that honesty.
02:38 Whatever side I take, whatever opinion I have, we have that kind of relationship.
02:41 It's not judgmental.
02:42 It's just what it is.
02:45 What was your go-to song during your dive bar days?
02:50 This is really important.
02:51 It's really whatever keeps people from fighting.
02:56 The biggest thing about coming up in dive bars versus now, they're not going and dealing
03:00 with feedback in a shitty bar somewhere.
03:02 It's just a different nuance than it is now.
03:05 It's tip jar money, right?
03:07 So I would play just about anything.
03:10 The low point for me was "Like a Virgin" by Madonna.
03:15 How has Bruce Springsteen influenced you over the years?
03:18 He's kind of a creative compass for me.
03:20 If you look at the way he's built his career, played with the E Street Band, not played
03:24 with the E Street Band, done passion projects, done commercial projects, really chased creativity.
03:33 A lot of times we lose that when money gets involved.
03:37 Would you be able to score any points in a one-on-one game with the GOAT, Michael Jordan?
03:44 He's 60.
03:45 If I get the ball first, maybe in 10 years.
03:51 Maybe.
03:52 Probably not today.
03:53 He's competitive as hell.
03:54 If he reads that question before we play, no fucking way.
04:02 Does cannabis help you sing better?
04:05 I'm going to say it makes me feel better about how I sing, whether it's good or bad.
04:10 It tends to make it, you know, okay.
04:14 So I'm going to say yes, it does.
04:17 How do you prepare to perform the national anthem at the US's biggest sporting event
04:21 of the year?
04:23 It was nervy.
04:24 There's only been a few things in my career that I would consider that there's a different
04:28 level of nerves.
04:29 The Super Bowl is certainly that.
04:31 Jasmine's such an incredible singer that a lot of my role was to do my part and then
04:36 try to stay out of her way and let her do exactly what she was going to do, which is
04:40 go as high as she can and just be incredible.
04:45 Who would be in your dream band?
04:49 Out of this group, give me Willie, give me Waylon, give me Haggard, and give me Loretta
04:59 Lynn.
05:02 I left Cash off, which is what the fuck?
05:06 Do you think bro country is good for the genre?
05:12 Probably no.
05:13 I look at it through a broader lens.
05:16 What's popular right now, what's hot right now, could very much be not that way and somewhat
05:23 not ten years from now.
05:25 I think it's about not ever looking at it through that lens.
05:32 Whiskey neat or on the rocks, as you can see, it's whiskey on the rock.
05:39 So that's how I drink my whiskey gipsy.
05:46 This is Eric Church, thank you very much for watching.
05:49 Hope you learned something.
05:50 See you next time.
05:51 [music]
05:51 next time.
05:53 (upbeat music)
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