In modern country music a new generation of artists have emerged. They are a bit edgier, more focused on songwriting and less polished than older artists. Eric Church is a member of this next generation, and Thursday night he will return to his college bar roots with a performance at Rick’s Café.
Church, a native of Granite Falls, N.C., first started writing songs at age 13. Soon thereafter he picked up guitar and started learning songs. In college Church started getting gigs in bars around his school Appalachian State after a realization that came one night while out at a bar.
According to Church’s biography on his Web site, he said he realized he too could be the man on stage.
“I was watching a band that had the place packed,” he said. “I knew the songs they were playing on guitar, but I’d been doing them in my dorm room at Appalachian State and they were doing them in a place that was slamming, with people stuffing money into the tip jar that was being passed around. I thought, ‘I can do this as well as they can,’ and two weeks later I had a gig.”
It was in the college circuit that Church honed his showman skills, and it was those skills that made him a hit in the bars and Greek parties around his native North Carolina. After his initial success, a deal with his father set the younger Church on his road to stardom. They agreed that if Church would finish his degree then his father would pay for his first six months in Nashville.
Like most newcomers to Music City, Church had an initial naiveté of the business of the town.
“I got the phone book and started looking up publishers thinking, ‘I’ll call these guys, we’ll meet and I’ll get a publishing deal.’ Of course, once you’ve been here you know it doesn’t work that way,” Church said in his official biography.
After a while in Nashville, Church landed his first music publishing deal and a record contract thereafter. Church’s debut album “Sinners Like Me” sealed a position in the top ten on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with a respectable seventh place peak. In addition to strong radio airplay, Church’s touring and live show spread his gospel of country music to fans. Church’s debut was also one of the highest-charting duets on Billboard’s country album chart from a solo act in 2006. Touring behind his debut album, Church shared the stage with the top acts in country music such as Brad Paisley, Pat Green, Miranda Lambert and Rascal Flatts.
Church’s live show is a big part of the fans affinity for the singer.
“I saw him last year at Bulldog Bash. I really liked his show, and it got me liking his music,” sophomore animal and dairy science major Nick Simmons said.
Also for Simmons, the ease at which he can relate to Church’s music is a big plus.
“I can relate to his music better. It’s a little edgier than somebody like Kenny Chesney,” he said.
For Rick’s Café owner Rick Welch, his sentiments are the same about Church.
“His songs are about things today’s fans can relate to, and he puts on a great live show,” Welch said.
Church’s last performance, which also was his first at Rick’s, was a big event for the venue.
“Eric played here about a year ago, and the crowd was great. We always hope for a sellout and tickets have been selling nicely so far for this show,” Welch said.
Opening for Church will be Johnathan Singleton and The Grove from nearby Jackson, Tenn.
“The Grove has played here a few times before, and Johnathan actually co-wrote ‘Watching Airplanes’ that Gary Allan released this past year,” Welch said.