By Adam Lucas

CHARLESTON—It’s not unusual for celebrities to be in attendance at the Free the Machine tour.

That’s just life on the road. When you’re doing something different, and people are starting to talk about it, then it’s a fairly normal night when fellow singers or athletes or other luminaries are in the crowd.

Saturday night, though, brought out the true superstars. Because in the crowd at the North Charleston Coliseum were Wally and Rockett.

Yep, you guessed it. That Rockett. The one with the white Lincoln and the namesake of “Rocket’s White Lincoln,” the seventh track on the Evangeline vs. The Machine album. 

The show in Charleston included some unexpected moments. Church played “Wrecking Ball” for the first time on this tour and brought Isaac Gibson of opener 49 Winchester on stage to join him for a rocking version of “The Legend of Wooley Swamp.” It was the first time ever Church has performed the Charlie Daniels Band favorite, which he introduced as “one of the great songs of all time.”

It’s the kind of song that might be playing during a day with your buddies on the lake. Which brings us back to “Rocket’s White Lincoln.”

That’s the thing about being friends with Eric Church. You just never know when an innocent text might spark a song title that eventually is performed for thousands every single night of a tour.

In the spring of 2024, Church opened Chief’s on Broadway, which instantly became a must-stop destination in Nashville. He immediately announced a 19-show residency at the venue, which gave him the opportunity to play an intimate, unique show without the rigors of touring. It was so successful that he added more shows in the fall.

The shows also gave him the chance to spend some time with friends before heading to Chief’s. Church and Wally were scheduled to go fishing on Church’s property on one of the residency show dates. It was a successful day—they recall their bass haul stretching into the triple digits.

But it was a text from Wally that would turn out to permanently memorialize the day. As he approached the property, he gave Church a heads up: “I’m going to stop and get gas. I’m about 15 minutes out. I’m in Rockett’s white Lincoln.”

And a song was born.

Sometimes a song takes months or even years. They can sit dormant and then take life when Church goes back to it. Not this one.  The duo had their day of fishing, which stretched a little longer than originally planned. “Don’t worry about it,” Church told Wally when his friend wondered if he needed to leave for the one-man show. “I’m the singer, the drummer and the guitarist. They can’t start without me there.”

He played another packed show, and by the next day already had three-fourths of the new song written. The day after that, he’d sent the entire song to Wally with the best possible endorsement: “Katherine loves it.” It’s evolved since then and has continually gotten better on the tour, with Church and Joanna Cotten’s dynamic back and forth near the end giving it some extra life.

There is a bit of artistic license with the song. There is no hula girl on the dash of Rockett’s actual white Lincoln, and his name dropped one of the t’s at the end. And if you’ve sung along at any of the Free the Machine shows, you probably have your own image of exactly what this white Lincoln might look like. Probably a Continental, right? The song just has that vibe. The lyrics and the sound paint that picture.

Nope.

“It’s a Lincoln Navigator,” Wally says, laughing. Look, maybe sometimes you need a little extra room when it’s been a long, hard week and it’s time we had fun.

Which is exactly what everyone did on Saturday night. Church roamed the crowd during “Springsteen” and eventually switched sunglasses with a young girl near the front of the pit. That girl was Rockett’s daughter, Kennedy.

She was part of a crowd that pushed Church to keep playing long after the scheduled set list. “Don’t tease me!” he said when they kept cheering. “I don’t have a show for ten days.”

After all, sometimes you have to stay out until that big ol’ sun goes breakin’. And if you’re running late after a long night at Church, tell them to keep an eye out for you. You’ll be in Rocket’s white Lincoln.