Eric Church gets candid about music, politics and how Vegas festival shooting changed him
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Country singer Eric Church talks about his love for Western North Carolina
Country singer Eric Church talks about his love for Western North Carolina, hard hit by Tropical Storm Helene, during a trip to Banner Elk Oct. 31, 2024.
If you're talking to Eric Church, you've found a steadfast spirit devoted to the resonance of music.
He isn't interested in churning out quick hits or viral bait for social media. He wants to make music that matters.
His just-released album, 'Evangeline vs. the Machine,' his first since 2021, is flooded with meaning despite only being 36 minutes across eight songs
In the opening 'Hands of Time,' Church, who turns 48 on May 3, acknowledges the realities of aging with a wink by namechecking songs from AC/DC, Bob Marley, Meat Loaf and other artists who spoke to him in his youth.
The album's title spotlights the battle between technology's soullessness and a creative muse, which he explains in the song 'Evangeline' ('Take me down to the water/dunk my head into the river/raise your hands, all hail rock 'n' roll').
'The way people consume music, it puts chains on creativity,' Church says from his home in Nashville. 'The more machines involved in our lives, whether tech or phones or AI, the less life we're able to experience.'
Church will bring his omnipresent dark glasses and his new round of rock-rooted country songs along with favorites such as 'Smoke a Little Smoke," 'Springsteen,' and 'Drink in My Hand' to arenas around the country starting Sept. 12 in Pittsburgh. Tickets for the Free the Machine tour, with guests Elle King, Marcus King Band and Wesley Godwin, are on sale at 10 a.m. local time on May 9 via ericchurch.com.
The concerts, Church says, will 'start out in a big way and move to me and a guitar … go from big to small.'
In a thoughtful conversation, Church elaborated why he writes albums for his '10-year-old self,' is 'bored' by the chaos of politics and why he has no regrets after last year's polarizing Stagecoach performance.
More: AC/DC storms back on Power Up tour, the band's first US trek in nearly a decade
Question: Both 'Evangeline' and 'Hands of Time' have some great classic song references. Are those songs also about the importance of music in your life?
Answer: One thousand percent. Music is the way I've dealt with anything good or bad in my life. I'm a fan first. Music was this siren for me at an early age and has always been the thing I've leaned on when I've had struggles, devastation, triumphs. A lot of those inspirational artists show up on this album. You think about the way they committed themselves to their art and I see that lacking today, that care and thoughtfulness.
Do you think it's because the process of putting out music has changed?
I do. A lot of artists nowadays, you write a song on Tuesday and put it out Friday. There's this flooding the zone. I'm an album kid and I still know it's the right way. We're going through a period that a lot of people aren't listening to an album front to back. I see this with my kids that music becomes something happening in the background versus something that really affects them emotionally and artistically.
And it definitely wasn't just a background for you growing up.
For me, it was something you committed yourself to and spent 45 minutes listening to that artist. You didn't have the TV on or weren't sitting there on your phone. When I make an album, I do it for my 10-year-old self who would have listened front to back. I don't have a desire to make a song or two, here or there. I have to have something to say. That's what inspires me. That's what gives me my why. Even if I'm the guy yelling at clouds, I don't care. I still believe if you're going to be a longtime artist in the business and have a loyal fan base who you can play to in your 20s and your 50s, you have to build your career around albums.
The French horn that segues into 'Evangeline' sounds like an homage to the Rolling Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want.' Is it?
(Laughs) Two things I didn't see coming on this album were the French horn and the flute! Yeah, there's a lot of Stones and a lot of The Band, who I also love.
A lot of the music on this record comes from the Stagecoach show last year, when instead of a regular show, it was just me and a choir. It might not have been the exact spot for it, but also the perfect spot because it got the biggest megaphone and was a one-of-a-kind show. At a festival where a lot was about 30,000 TikTokers and the whole 'look at me' stuff, we wanted to do something that would last for fans, and that's when I started thinking about the orchestral parts for the album. The enjoyment I got from that show was really doubling down on creativity. The more success you have, the more rope you have and I believe in using every strand of that rope.
You wrote 'Johnny' after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville in 2023. Do you ever worry what some in your fan base will think about songs that take a stand against anything to do with guns?
No. I've been very upfront about this. I'm an artist who played the deadliest mass shooting in history in Vegas (2017's Route 91 Harvest Festival, where 60 people were killed and more than 400 injured), and we lost a lot of fans at that. I own guns and am a Second Amendment guy, but I never really had a viewpoint one way or another until Vegas. When you leave something like that, it changes your viewpoints. I'm still a Second Amendment guy, but when it came to 'Johnny' and school shootings, I've always said about the Vegas shootings, those wounds don't heal, they scab over. When something else happens – and it is inevitable ‒ it rips the scabs off and they bleed again.
And 'Johnny' came to you after dropping your sons (Boone, now 13, and Tennessee "Hawk", now 10) off at school?
The school they go to is a mile from Covenant and the hardest thing I've ever done is drop them off the day after the shooting. I remember pulling off in the parking lot after they got out and I sat there and didn't want to leave. I looked to my left and to my right and there were four or five other parents doing the same thing. There was a helplessness and fear to that.
As fate would have it, 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' was on the radio and the lyric that jumped out at me was, 'Johnny rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard because hell has broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards. If you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold. If you lose, the devil gets your soul.' I remember thinking, if it were only true that the devil was just in Georgia, but he's everywhere, wreaking havoc. Johnny kept rolling through my head, how we need that hero to fight the devil, and I went home and the song just fell out of me.
More: Bryan Adams on new tour with Pat Benatar, 'the power' of Tina Turner and his rescue dog
I'm sure it will resonate with a lot of people.
I think it's my job. I'm not an overly political person. Politics, in general, bore me. It's nonsense and chaos and makes my eyes and ears bleed, no matter what side you're on. My viewpoints, a lot of times, are derived from things I've experienced and I did play Vegas and had fans killed and then played the Grand Ole Opry three days later and left seats open in memory of them. I've had those personal moments of loss and hurt, and when something else happens, like Covenant, the emotion was a little deeper and I was back in that same spot.
You wrote 'Darkest Hour' before Hurricane Helene devastated part of your home state of North Carolina last year, but immediately released it and directed all royalties from the song to those affected. What was it like for you to play the benefit Concert for Carolina in October?
We still spend half our year in North Carolina and the community we were in was destroyed. We had just recorded the song and I felt that this needs to be out now. So we gave it to the people in perpetuity and that led to the concert, which is the most important musical thing I've done as far as concerts. The emotion of that night, the artists who came together, the quality of the music for 80,000 people … that's when music is at its best, when it's making a difference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Heads of State' review: John Cena and Idris Elba team up for more action, less politics
'Heads of State' is not the Cheech & Chong reunion film you've been waiting for, but a comic thriller co-starring John Cena and Idris Elba, premiering Wednesday on Prime Video. Previously joined in cultural history by the DC super antihero flick 'The Suicide Squad,' the actors have remade their rivalrous characters there into an odd couple of national leaders here, dealing with conspiratorial skulduggery, bullets, bombs and the like. Call me dim, but I wasn't even half aware that Cena, whose muscles have muscles, maintains a long, successful career in professional wrestling — which is, of course, acting — alongside his more conventional show business pursuits; he's ever game to mock himself and not afraid to look dumb, which ultimately makes him look smart, or to appear for all intents and purposes naked at the 2024 Oscars, presenting the award for costume design. (He was winning, too, in his schtick with Jimmy Kimmel.) Elba, whose career includes a lot of what might be called prestige genre, has such natural poise and gravity that one assumes he's done all the Shakespeares and Shaws and Ibsens, but 'The Wire' and 'Luther' were more his thing. He was on many a wish list as the next James Bond, and while that's apparently not going to happen, something of the sort gets a workout here. Elba plays British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, described as 'increasingly embattled' in his sixth year in office, who is about to meet Cena's recently elected American president, Will Derringer, on the eve of a trip to Trieste, Italy, for a NATO conference. (Why Clarke is embattled is neither explained nor important.) Derringer resents Clarke, who can't take him seriously, for having seemed to endorse his opponent by taking him out for fish and chips. (This is a recurring theme.) An international star in the Schwarzenegger/Stallone mold — 'Water Cobra' is his franchise — one might call Derringer's election ridiculous, but I live in a state that actually did elect Schwarzenegger as its governor, twice. Wet behind the ears ('He still hasn't figured out the difference between a press conference and a press junket,' somebody says), Derringer thinks a lot himself, his airplane, his knowing Paul McCartney and his position. Beyond aspirational platitudes, he has no real politics, but as we first see him carrying his daughter on his shoulders, we know he's really OK. Directed by Ilya Naishuller ('Nobody') and written by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec and Harrison Query, the movie begins with a scene set at the Tomatino Festival in, Buñol, Spain, in which great crowds of participants lob tomatoes at each other in a massive food fight — it's a real thing — foreshadowing the blood that will soon be flowing through the town square, as a team of unidentified bad guys ambush the British and American agents who are tracking them. They've been set up, declares M16 agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who is later reported 'missing and presumed dead' — meaning, of course, that she is very much alive and will be seen again; indeed, we will see quite a lot of her. Meanwhile, the prime minister and the president board Air Force One for Trieste. They talk movies: 'I like actual cinema,' says Clarke, who claims to have never seen one of Derringer's pictures. 'I'm classically trained,' the movie star protests. 'Did you know I once did a play with Edward Norton? But the universe keeps telling me I look cool with a gun in my hand — toy gun.' Following attacks within and without the plane, the two parachute into Belarus and, for the remainder of the film, make their way here and there, trying to evade the private army of Russian arms dealer and sadistic creep Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine) led by your typical tall blond female assassin (Katrina Durden). They'll also meet Stephen Root as a computer guy and Jack Quaid as a comical American agent. Elsewhere, Vice President Elizabeth Kirk (Carla Gugino) takes charge. ('Bad?' is the note I wrote. I've seen my share of political thrillers.) There will be hand-to-hand combat, missiles, machine-gun shoot-em-ups, more than a couple helicopters and a car chase through the streets of Trieste — a lovely seaside/hillside city I recommend if you're thinking of Italy this summer. Must I tell you that antipathy will turn to appreciation as our heroes make common cause, get a little personal and, with the able Agent Bisset, become real-life action heroes? That they are middle-aged is not an issue, though there is a joke about the American movie star being less fit than the U.K. politician. The logline portends a comedy, possibly a parody, even a satire. It's definitely the first of these, if not especially subtle or sharp (Derringer stuck in a tree, hanging from a tangled parachute; Clarke setting off a smoke bomb in his own face — that did make me laugh), a little bit the second, and not at all the third, even though it sniffs around politics a bit. Above all, like many, most or practically all action films, it's a fantasy in which many things happen that would not and could not ever, ever happen in the real world, because that's not how people or physics behave. (It certainly doesn't represent America in 2025.) There is just as much character development or backstory as is necessary to make the players seem more or less human. Plot-wise there are a lot of twists, because the script superimposes a couple of familiar villainous agendas into a single narrative; it's mildly diverting without being compelling, which, I would think, will ultimately work in its favor as hectic, lightly violent entertainment. Not even counting the orgy of anonymous death that has qualified as family entertainment for some time now — blame video games, I won't argue — it's a painless watch, and, in its cheery, fantastic absurdity, something of a respite from the messier, crazier, more unbelievable world awaiting you once the credits have rolled.
UPI
2 days ago
- UPI
James Gunn says Adria Arjona would be 'a great Wonder Woman'
1 of 3 | Filmmaker James Gunn attends the premiere of "The Suicide Squad" in 2021. Gunn has said that actress Adria Arjona would be a "great Wonder Woman." Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo July 1 (UPI) -- Filmmaker and DC Studios co-head James Gunn addressed rumors that he will be casting actress Adria Arjona as Wonder Woman in a new interview. Rumors and fan speculation began for Arjona portraying Wonder Woman after Gunn started following the actress on social media. "I followed Adria on Instagram but everybody came out, 'He just followed her, that means she's Wonder Woman," Gunn said in a new interview with Extra when asked about the rumors. "She'd be a great Wonder Woman, by the way," Gunn continued before explaining that he followed Arjona due to their friendship and from previously working together on the 2016 film The Belko Experiment. Arjona, during an earlier interview with CinemaBlend, also addressed the rumors. "I love James Gunn. He gave me my first movie ever, which was like my first studio movie, so I owe him a lot," Arjona said before crossing her fingers and saying she "doesn't know" if she will be cast as Wonder Woman. Gunn is about to launch the new DC Comics universe on the silver screen with his latest film Superman, which hits theaters on July 11. The new universe will see recasting's for DC's roster of iconic heroes and villains. Gal Gadot previously portrayed Wonder Woman across multiple DC films in the company's first attempt at a cinematic universe. Gadot starred in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2017's Wonder Woman and Justice League and 2020's Wonder Woman: 1984. She also had cameos in 2023's Shazam!: Fury of the Gods and The Flash. Arjona has also starred in Andor, Hit Man and Morbius.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
See Dua Lipa Bring Out Jamiroquai to Perform ‘Virtual Insanity' in London
Throughout Dua Lipa's recent tour of Down Under, the singer covered a different Australian artist every show. That tradition continued Friday as her Radical Optimism tour came to London, with Dua Lipa bringing out Jamiroquai to perform that band's 1996 hit 'Virtual Insanity.' 'It feels really, really special to be here tonight,' Lipa told the sold-out Wembley Stadium crowd. 'It is 10 years since our first ever London show to about 350 people, and I just dreamt of a night like this where I get to be in front of 70,000 people.' More from Rolling Stone Watch Dua Lipa and Charli XCX Perform '360' in London Elton John Calls U.K. Government 'Absolute Losers' Over A.I. Copyright Plans Dua Lipa Continues Local Cover Streak by Singing Enrique Iglesias' 'Hero' in Madrid Lipa then added that for her London gig, she wanted to bring out an artist who 'inspired' her and 'someone who has really been a trailblazer for British music and has really paved the way.' 'The one of one, the only, give it up as loud as you fucking can, give it up for Jamiroquai,' Lipa said as that group's singer Jay Kay strolled out onstage, wearing a typically audacious hat. The two singers and her band then launched into 'Virtual Insanity.' Dua Lipa's Australian and New Zealand tour saw the singer cover the likes of AC/DC, Lorde, and Kylie Minogue, while also bringing out guests like Troye Sivan, Tame Impala, and Crowded House's Neil Finn. The local covers have continued — though less frequently — as the tour headed to Europe, with Lipa covering Enrique Iglesias' 'Hero' in Madrid. The singer will also perform Saturday night at Wembley Stadium, so expect another cover or guest to shake up the set list. After that, Lipa will head to Liverpool and Dublin to close out the European leg, with a North American tour to kick off in September. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
