28 February 2017

Crossover country king Eric Church talks to Country Music’s own Teri Saccone. Just because he’s been heralded as the crossover king of country with his rock ’n’ roll swagger, don’t make the mistake of presuming that Eric Church sees himself as being confined to any musical categories whatsoever… “The interesting thing about country is that it’s such a big umbrella,” Eric says. “It’s so broad that it can include a lot of things. Personally, the heart of country for me is Americana music.” Church has been deemed “outlaw country” for his slightly subversive lyrics and sometimes rebellious nature. Furthermore, he and ultra-tight band The Outsiders are cohesive and explosive both on stage and in the studio, the latter evidenced on five incredibly commercial yet critically-praised albums. Country Music magazine sat down with the North Carolina native and found that although practically worshipped in the USA, he remains focused, grounded and engaged. Assuredly, this singer-songwriter has tapped into the galvanising nature of music: “Funny how a melody sounds like a memory” is the chorus from his monster hit Springsteen, essentially a fan letter to The Boss. Church grew up in the picturesque and sleepy enclave of Granite Falls, North Carolina, where he was both high school valedictorian and basketball star. Definitely a weird hybrid when you also consider there was music in the mix. When not shooting hoops or studying, Church was practising guitar, as he’s a self-taught player who preferred songwriting to socialising as a teenager. In November last year, Church released Mr Misunderstood with zero promotion nor even an announcement, which was audacious for not only its bold and quiet birth but also the fact that he managed to keep the music off the radar from even his record label until he actually released it. Mr Misunderstood came about largely due to Church experiencing an almost otherworldly visit from his songwriting muse. “The songwriting spigot was turned on full blast and the songs spilt out for a reason. I’ll never know why, and no one expected an album at the time. Rather than putting it on a shelf to fire up the promotion machine, we just dropped it out there. We kept it a secret until the day it came out. In order to do that without fanfare and publicity we had to buy our own record processing factory in Germany.” That small factory will remain under the ownership of Church, at least for now, so he reports: “The good news is, with vinyl, there’s lots of demand. And there’s not a lot of places that do that.” Quiet Moment The intensely productive period that gave rise to Mr Misunderstood was definitely a welcome occurrence but it was an absolute fluke, an aberration according to Eric. “I’ve had nothing since that happened last summer,” he adds with a laugh. “There are no more songs right now dying to come out like there were suddenly inside me last year. Whatever it was that happened to me during that time is gone. Nothin’ ever since,” he explains as a cheeky smile spreads across his face. Mr Misunderstood was also different from other albums because Church didn’t attempt to get into a songwriting frame of mind in order to get focused on his music and lyrics, as he’d done previously. It was just as though proverbial lightning struck and he caught it in a bottle. “Normally with songwriting I’ll take my time, try to separate myself from home and family distractions. But this album was totally unplanned and it was different, as the songs came to me so fast that I wrote one song, which immediately led to another and then another and so on. It was almost embarrassing that they came to me like they did and I felt I was losing my mind at one point getting all of these songs coming through me – and they felt like the best songs of my career, too.” Growing up in the South, Church was immersed in the bluegrass tradition, and he is versed on the guitar, banjo and mandolin staples of that scene. “I grew up playing a host of instruments but guitar is my first choice and it’s what I use as my writing tool.” Although there remains a south/north cultural divide in the US, Church is no Southern apologist. “I am proud of being from the South and I can’t shy away from that, and I think it’d be a crime to hide from that,” he admits. “I’d prefer people to not like me or my music rather than me pretending to be something or someone I’m not. It’s who I am. I’m a Southerner. Period.” What Church has always been on some level is a rebel of sorts, a reputation he has earned over the last few years. He and his band were fired from an early tour when opening for Rascal Flatts for essentially blowing them off the stage. “I’ve always been competitive and I am musically competitive too,” he admits. “I don’t always play by the rules and maybe we played too long and a little too loud for them.” Another aspect of Church and The Outsiders’ live shows is that they tend to encompass not only the hits but also the odd rare track from early on in his career. Mixing things up is interesting not only to his hardcore fans, but to Eric too. “I know most fans come to see us to hear the big hits. For me, it doesn’t always have to be about that big song,” he says. “The fans also love it when they hear maybe Lightning or Can’t Take it With You. And that’s who the show has become more about. It’s the people who have been there for the long haul as much as the newcomers. There’s always going to be people coming on and falling off fan-wise depending on what you’re doing commercially – that’s the nature of the business. But our fanbase is built on those