North Carolina native Eric Church is no stranger to the college crowd. Church got his start playing to North Carolina college crowds and gaining a regional following while still a student.
From his initial success, Church wanted to leave school and head for the bright lights of Nashville to make his mark on the country music world, although his father did not want to see his son drop out of school. Church’s father made a deal with him to finish school. If he graduated, his father would pay for his first six months in Nashville. Like most newcomers to Music City, Church had an initial na’vety 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 says in his official biography.
Church’s small town background has paid him well in the music industry. With songs such as “Sinners Like Me,” “How About You?” and “Guys Like Me.” All of his songs reflect a work ethic and mentality of an everyman.
The introspective “Sinners Like Me” is about a son reflecting on his family’s rowdy background. “How About You?” asks the question: Do you know who you really are?
Church is pure country, and amazingly enough during a time in the recording industry most artists are scaling back due to lingering record sales, he is going strong and is known as a tour-de-force in the country music world.
On his latest album, Church explains it as honest music for the fans: “It’s just songs about what’s going on in the world – this is what I think. You can agree or disagree. I just don’t want them to hear it and go, ‘That’s nice’ and move on. I personally like music that goes way out and picks a side.