SASKATOON – Country music star Eric Church talks fondly about being a teenager and packing into a car with some buddies to go to an amphitheatre in Charlotte, N.C.
It was one of his first concerts without his parents and a memory that would become the basis for his hit song “Springsteen.”
“You get your oldest friend, whoever is 16 drives the big group of you, and you get tickets on the lawn because it’s all you can afford,” Church said in an interview Sunday with The Canadian Press.
“To this day when I hear that artist’s song I can remember the smell of the grass. I can remember the sunset. I can remember that night and I wanted to capture that moment.”
The memory that became a melody seems to have resonated with Canadians.
“Springsteen” is one of the first two No. 1 singles that Church, a North Carolina native, has had in Canada, along with “Drink In My Hand.” His current album “Chief” has also gone gold.
Get breaking National news
For the first time, he’s planning to headline a Canadian tour. It’s expected to take place in January and February.
“It just seemed like the right time to come say ‘Hello,’ ” Church said from Saskatoon where he was to perform at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards – and maybe scout out an opening act for the tour.
“We played a couple of fairs up here this past year and we get a lot of Canadian fans that come down when we’re playing those border states…and they always say ‘come up and see us, come up and tour,’ so we’re going to do that.”
Church said he has been making music for many years. In fact, as a songwriter, the first song he ever recorded was by multiple Canadian Country Music Association Awards winner Terri Clark.
But the last year “has been insane” and it’s like somebody flipped a switch for success, he said.
A very tight circle of family and friends keep Church grounded.
“I’m pretty reclusive when I’m home. I’m not a guy that does a whole lot. I have some land that I go and cut trees and hunt and stuff on,” he said.
“For me, it’s pretty easy to get away from it when you don’t answer your cellphone, you don’t turn on the TV very much.”
Church also loves that the success came on his terms.
“We didn’t change anything along the way,” he said.
“Yeah, it took probably three times as long as other people. But had we have changed things, would we have got here quicker? Maybe. But I’m glad we didn’t. I’m glad that we stayed with the kind of artists we were – somewhat at times gritty, sometimes abrasive, sometimes outspoken. All those things.
“But I like that we were able to stay true to who we were…and I’m more proud of that than anything else.”
Comments