- 4 days ago
Eric Church joins Katie Neal inside our Nashville studios before his exclusive 'Totally Private' performance.
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00:02I'm Katie Neal and we are here at the Odyssey Nashville Sound Space at the Hard Rock Cafe
00:07in Nashville sitting down with CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church. How are you? Good Katie,
00:12how are you? I'm doing well. Thank you so much for being here. We're really excited about tonight.
00:15I think it's going to be really special. It's going to be fun. Well you have been incredibly
00:19busy this year. Tons of tour dates, Free the Machine tour. I feel like just a lot going on.
00:24What have been some of the highlights of tour for you so far? I think just rethinking the way
00:30we're doing this tour. I mean when we put out the Evangeline vs. the Machine album, it was a
00:36departure from what we've really done. But for me, in a world that's very fabricated,
00:42it's very AI driven, it's very machine driven, we wanted to, you know, when you come see us play,
00:49everybody that's on stage, we're all playing music. And there's no tricks. There's no secret stuff.
00:56There's no magician stuff. We're playing music. And that's what I grew up on. And it's been fun to see
01:02over the course of the tour, people gravitate to that. I mean, we open our tour playing the
01:08Evangeline record from start to finish in sequence, just like we recorded it with the same people we
01:15recorded it with. So that's, um, creatively something that you're, you're asking for the
01:20audience to, um, meet you halfway on and they have. That's amazing. I think that's really special to get
01:26to see something like that. Cause there's not a lot of times like you, how many records have you put
01:29out that you've never gotten to play some of those songs live before? A lot. Yeah, definitely. One of
01:33the things I wanted to talk to you about, I feel like you are always so good at picking opening
01:37acts
01:37to be out on the road with you. You've got an amazing list of openers. And I feel like there's
01:41a couple
01:41people in particular that are having an amazing year so far, like Ella Langley. Have you gotten
01:45to spend very much time with Ella? Yeah. We, we, it's passed a couple of weekends. She was out with
01:50us and, um, we got to, we, we did a song together. We did Billy Joel. We were in New
01:55York. So we did
01:56New York state of mind together and got to hang a little bit. And, um, I'd known Ella a little
02:00bit,
02:01but I just to get in hang with her more and, and, and, and she's doing great right now. And
02:05it was kind
02:06of fun to be the old guy in the room that, as we kind of talked about advice and where
02:10she's
02:11going and stuff. I've been there. Yeah. Um, it was fun to just hang out with her. She was great.
02:16Yeah. Do you feel like there's good advice to somebody like now that, like you said,
02:20like being the old guy in the room, like having some experience, like what is the advice that
02:23you're given to kids like Ella? Um, your life changes. So when you go from, um, where she is
02:31and where I've been and, and you're, you're struggling, you're struggling, you're struggling
02:34and you find something that, that kind of is like a rocket ship. Things change quickly. All the outside
02:40noise becomes a pressured noise. And kind of what I said to her was, you got to keep it
02:47about the music and what you want to do longterm. Um, because you're going to have a lot of
02:53opportunities to do things that take it away from that. Yeah. And that's just normal and
02:57that's great. But, um, the farther you get away from your anchor there, um, the harder
03:03it's going to be to get back to that. So that was, that was my advice. What do you feel
03:07like
03:07that moment was for you in your career? Like, do you remember? It was a chief album.
03:11And when the chief album happened, we were, uh, we were a sewer rat bar band and, you know,
03:17all of a sudden chief happened and we became the biggest artists in the world. Um, uh, sales
03:23wise. And when that happened, it, it, um, it was tough to deal with at the time I got better
03:30at it, but I had a hard time at first. I was gonna say, who was the person who probably
03:33gave you some sort of like similar advice at that time? A lot. There's a lot of people,
03:37a lot of artists like that. But for, for me, it was just, um, you know, what I learned on
03:41my first
03:41tour, the first headline arena tour we did was the blood, sweat and beers tour, I think. And we
03:47come from bars, we come from clubs. And what I didn't know is because drinking my hand in
03:53Springsteen had brought us to where we were. I assumed that when I went out there and played a show,
03:59everybody was just waiting on, um, drinking my hand in Springsteen all night. I thought that was
04:06the show. And what I've learned over time is the show is all the things that lead up to that.
04:11It's the other stuff. And I had, I had not much patience my first tour with letting it develop
04:19and, and playing music, doing what we'd done that got us there. I forgot that a little bit on my
04:25first
04:25tour. And I think that, um, I, I said that to Ella, you know, I said, you, you know, choosing
04:32Texas and Dandelion, all these things you think are the whole show, but the show is really all the
04:39other stuff. Yeah. And we talked about that a while. It's such great advice. And then Stephen
04:44Wilson Jr. is somebody else who's out touring with you. He's really special to us going to be
04:47a launch artists for Odyssey. We're going to get behind him. And I, I just think he is such a
04:53character. Like I said to him, I was like, have you sold the rights to your, like your,
04:57like your, your life is a movie because it's so fascinating. He's just a, he's a fascinating
05:03human. First of all, but he's also a, um, a really incredible artist and writer and singer
05:09and, um, a guy that I've really liked for a while. I mean, it's been somebody that came
05:14on my radar a few years ago. And, um, just, I mean, think about an artist. It's all about
05:20uniqueness. You know, um, there's a lot of people that are really good at what they do,
05:24but you're looking for those few that are just different and Stephen's different and
05:30I'm looking forward. I'll actually be with him this weekend. So I'm looking forward to
05:32looking forward to being with him. Oh, that's amazing. I'm glad that you guys are having
05:35a good time. And then you have recently been a part of the like latest country music mega
05:40collaboration on MacArthur with Morgan Wall and Tim McGraw and Hardy. What did you think
05:45when Hardy sent you the song over? I'm in, I mean, when he, we sent, I, I did actually,
05:50I didn't listen. Um, hard, I think Hardy talked about this, but I did not listen to the whole
05:54song. I, I got, I got through, you know, this, my, the second part of it and I went, I'm
06:01in
06:01because I knew where he was going. And, um, I just think it's just, it reminds me a lot
06:10of, of the stuff that I grew up on with message and with the quality of the songwriting and
06:16the, just what the tracks said and the way they tie in, um, the whisper in the pine from
06:23Tim's verse to Morgan's verse is quality songwriting, which Hardy is great at. And as a songwriter,
06:32um, that's what, that's all I needed. Like I just needed the framework and I said, yeah,
06:37what are we doing with it? And he said, well, Morgan's in, I'm in, you're in, you know,
06:42and then we, we got Tim and it just became, and we, I want, I said, it is important that
06:47it's, uh, genealogical. It goes from the oldest and we go down. Right. I think that needs to
06:53happen. And so it was, um, it's a big song. It's a great song and, um, I'm happy to be
07:00part
07:00of it. Yeah. I think it's amazing. I also knowing Hardy, I'm like, I don't know what's going to
07:03happen with the MacArthur universe, but it feels like there's room. There's some things going to
07:08happen there. Okay. There's some things going to happen. I see that little grin you got about that.
07:12That's exciting. I feel like you probably get asked a lot of times to do collaborations and
07:17probably not quite at that level with this many like big artists, but what, like, what does it
07:22take for you to say yes to something like that? The song. It's a song. If I can relate to
07:27the song
07:28and it's quality, it's just, and I do get asked a lot, but it was, it's, it's got to fit.
07:34Well,
07:35first of all, the thing I liked about MacArthur is it was really unique of the way the song structure
07:41was starting from, you know, generational, you start with a title called MacArthur and it's really
07:47a family. That's, that's unique, you know? So when I, that's where I go, I go from the song
07:54standpoint of this is not something I've heard and it's just watching that kind of work. And then
08:01when I started thinking about Morgan and Hardy and guys that I've known, and it just kind of worked
08:06with, I think it's important for, I told Hardy this, I think it's important for country music.
08:10I mean, we're, I think it's a really good day every now and then bring it back to, because the
08:15great
08:15thing about country music, you think about the Opry, you think about what we are, it is, as far as
08:20I'm
08:21concerned, format wise, a family based, we take care of our own format. I said, this song does
08:28that. It lays it out. Yes. That it's about lineage. It's about remembering where you came from. It's
08:35about legacy. And, and, and I said, that's, that's a, I think it's a really important song
08:39for country music. Yeah. It's really, really beautiful. And I know, you know, it hasn't been
08:43even quite a year since your current album came out, but once tour wraps for you in April,
08:49have you started to work on the next project or are you like planning to take a little bit? I'm
08:53sure. I'm going to take a little bit of time. I mean, I'm writing. Um, and it, the thing about
08:57this is Evangeline was such a, you know, we made a, a concerto record. And so it was such a,
09:05and that's my, that's what I love. I mean, that's stuff that what turns me on is I'm not interested
09:11in doing anything I've done. So stuff that I can look at that's unique and different
09:16and, and, and ways to push the boundaries and, and push the format and push fan bases.
09:21I love that. So, um, I have been writing. I don't know what, um, uh, what direction that
09:28takes as we go forward, but I'm going to spend some time this summer and I'm going to try to
09:32figure that out. That was going to be my next question to you is I know how much it is
09:35important
09:36to you to like push the boundaries for yourself creatively. I get bored really easy.
09:41I'm like, of all the things you've done, I'm like, what do you do? Where do you go next?
09:43I get bored. So it's gotta be something that I understand where we're going and
09:48how it matters. And, and then if I get excited, right, um, that's what matters. And the great
09:53thing about this tour, I'll go back to that, but the, the, the fun thing about it, we we've
09:57toured forever. And when all of a sudden you have strings and you have horns and you have
10:00choir and you have all of us on stage, not only playing the Evangeline record, but you're
10:05playing a lot of songs we played the normal way that you heard on the radio, but now we're
10:09re-imagining it. It just, everybody on stage is excited and interested at what that's going
10:18to sound like. And if we're excited and we're interested, um, it's very easy for the audience
10:23to be the same way.
10:24Yeah. That energy definitely translates. You mentioned taking a break, but there is one
10:28show that you're going to play this summer. You were playing Alan Jackson's last call,
10:32the finale at Nissan stadium, which I already am like, how many times will I cry during this
10:37show? I think it's going to be incredible. Talk about being a part of that.
10:40Well, I mean, Alan, Alan, I know Alan well, but he, he, he's a guy that, um, was kind of
10:46the consummate guy songwriter, um, played bars, played clubs a lot, but we have a similar path
10:52in that regard. And one of the first songs I ever sang, um, was chasing that neon rainbow.
10:57Really?
10:58Yep. 16, 15, 16 years old. And, um, and I can relate to that song so well. So, uh, for
11:05me,
11:06um, Alan's a, um, a legend and such an iconic figure in the format. Um, it'll, it'll be an
11:13emotional show for, um, for the artists to, for me, I can, I can say for me, it'll be an
11:18emotional show.
11:19Yeah. Tonight you were going to do something really special. You're going to play a totally
11:22private concert for some winners of ours. And I always love to ask before we do one of
11:25these shows, if you could have that experience with any artists dead or alive, any band, like
11:31who's somebody you would want to sit in a room and watch them play acoustic for 45 minutes
11:34that would just like, yeah, anybody you want.
11:38Dead or alive are great. I probably have 10 of them.
11:41Yeah. I was going to say hard to pick probably.
11:44I actually, I'll, I'll tell you, I'll, I'll give you a, so I had a chance, um, a few years
11:50ago, I had a friend of mine who had a birthday party. It was in Nashville and, um, he actually
11:58contracted, um, Elton John to come and play for probably 150 people.
12:04And it was just Elton and a piano. Oh my God. And I might've already had my thing. Cause
12:09it was, he went into Lion King. He went into like stuff that it was amazing. Did your soul
12:14like leave your body? It was amazing. And so for me, there's a ton of artists, but I
12:19had one of those experiences where you don't get to just see a guy in front of a really small
12:24room like Elton John, uh, to go and do that. It's one of the best musical nights I've ever
12:29had. Amazing. Well, listen, thank you so much for being here and for doing this. I know
12:33this is going to be really special for everyone in the room and we really appreciate it. Thanks
12:36Katie. Thank you, Eric.
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