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May 28, 2020

Outsiders Radio: Episode #63

AIR DATE: May 2020

SHOW THEME: Nissan Stadium anniversary

 

Hey everybody, it’s Eric Church back for the sixty-third episode of “Outsiders Radio.”  Hard to believe but it was just one year ago last week that we played one of the most amazing shows of my career: Nissan Stadium in Nashville.  It was May 25th, 2019…we began the show in the audience with THIS song.

        

 

It was an incredible feeling, singing that song standing in the middle of Nissan Stadium, surrounded by over 56-thousand fans, all on their feet.  Also joining me that night were a lot of my songwriter friends, including Jeremy Spillman, who has been a part of every one of my albums.  I was so glad he was able to share that night with all of us.  When I got back to the stage, it was one of our collaborations that came next.

 

Jeremy - When he came out with Country Music Jesus? It was awesome. At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, he is the country music jesus. It was a great opener for the show, good introduction for the night. When that chorus kicks in, you’ve gotta take another drink. You know what I mean?

 

 

There definitely was some “screamin’ and shoutin’” THAT night.  It’s so great to hear it again, even if it’s recorded.  I mentioned that I wrote Country Music Jesus with Jeremy Spillman, who was at our Nissan Stadium show on year ago.  He was there with the members of a new country band called LANCO.  Here are their memories from that night.

 

LANCO - It was big for me because I saw Eric Church in 2011 at the Tivoli in Chattanooga, so I’ve seen Eric Church from a theater, which ended up being that live record. So I’ve seen Eric go from a theater to a stadium. And Yeah, Jeremy has been with Eric through all those songs, so we like Eric but we also get along with Jeremy because he writes about real things. Then also Eric’s band started just like we did, playing bars.  Eric’s hope for a lot of artists that you can be yourself and be with a group of guys for years, and if you’re yourself, the people will be loyal to you. So I was proud of Eric that day, and I was proud of Jeremy, it was a cool moment.

 

The LANCO guys have a song out now that they wrote with Jeremy Spillman called What I See.

 

 

 

This is Outsiders Radio on The Highway.  I’m Eric Church, and we’re remembering our Nissan Stadium show that took place in Nashville on May 25th 2019.  Over 56-thousand fans attended, a stadium record for a concert.  Also there as a witness to all that took place: Ashley McBryde.  We’ve been fans of each other for a while, and so it was cool to have her share that night with us. Of course Ashley has her own unique way of telling a story.  So after the show, she spoke to some media folks, and this is how Ashley described that night.

 

Ashley - It was wonderful, I’ve been a big Eric Church fan from the git go.  And to know, I remember there was a time when there were ten people at Joe’s in Rosemont in Chicago, and I know one of those ten people, that’s their claim to fame. To know those ten people became 56,000 people in a stadium, every crap place, every time you played in front of a projector and they wouldn’t turn the game down, every time a guy got pissed because a guy couldn’t hear his wife talking over the sound of his hamburger and you singing, when the football fans are mad because you’re playing, and your fans are mad because football’s playing…here you are in Nissan Stadium.  So that was a huge…it’s sort of like the Lion King, when he’s like ‘Everything the light touches,’ I walked out on the side of the stage, look what Eric did, it was awesome.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Ashley McBryde on the success of that song.  As if this week, it’s her first Top 20 hit.  I’m Eric Church and this is Outsiders Radio.   Just a few weeks after my Nashville stadium show, I traveled to Detroit to see Bob Seger’s last show in his hometown.  June 8th, 2019.  It was a big deal to me, and we got to meet and talk before the show.  Just a few weeks ago, Bob celebrated his 75th birthday.   As many of you know, I do some Seger covers in my show.  I did Night Moves a year ago at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.  Over the years, I’ve done Travelin’ Man, Get Out of Denver, and Roll Me Away. Three years ago, we recorded THIS Seger song during my show in Omaha.

 

 

Bob Seger influenced a lot of country singers in the 90s.  In 2012, Seger was invited to the Hall of Fame induction of Garth Brooks, who identified Seger as one of his main influences, along with Haggard, Strait, and Jones.  A few years ago, Garth recorded an album of covers, and included THIS Seger hit.

 

AGAINST THE WIND—Garth Brooks (Blame It All On My Roots) - Audio unavailable

 

Happy 75th birthday to a man who’s influenced many of us in country music: the great Bob Seger.  While you’re sheltering at home, you might want to seek out some new music.  Just out this week: Wild World, the new album from Kip Moore.  Kip was part of my Blood Sweat & Beers tour in 2012.

 

Kip - My first major full band tour was with Eric Church. I can admit that I took away the most from that tour. But I just enjoyed the short convos I had with Eric during that tour. I felt like we were the same in wanting to be better musicians and writers.  Always felt like we connected. He’s not scared to go for it. I always want to make a different record. With Eric, every record is a different project.  I just appreciate that about him as an artist.

        

 

 

A couple songs from Kip Moore’s new album Wild World.  Speaking of new music, my friend Ray Wylie Hubbard will have an album out in July, and he’s just released the first single.  It’s an all-star collaboration featuring Joe Walsh of The Eagles, Chris Robinson of the Black Crows, and Ringo Starr who once was part of a band called The Beatles. 

 

 

The unmistakable voice of Ray Wylie Hubbard and his new song Bad Trick, featuring Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, and Chris Robinson.  It was about two years ago that Ray & I co-wrote a song that would become the leadoff single for my 6th album.

        

Ray - He calls me up and says he’s got this song called Desperate Man and he wanted me to write it with him.  I told him ‘One time I was so desperate, I went to a fortune teller to get my future read, and she told me I didn’t have one.’ He said ‘That should be the last verse.’ So I came up here and met him, and I got the impression that he has that songwriter soul, the lyrics in a song are important. The whole idea is you may be hopeless, no matter that you go to the Joshua Tree, you walk on hot coals, and I’m desperate but I still have hope.  So we wrote it, and he says ‘I’m gonna cut it tomorrow. It may be the title of the album.’  I said, ‘Alright!’

 

 

As we wrap up this edition of Outsiders Radio, it’s come to my attention that there’s a familiar name at the top of the week’s country chart.  I’ve been fortunate to have a few #1s of my own, and I’ve also had some successful collaborations.  We’re always happy when it happens, but especially in the case of THIS one, because it was with a young man who I’ve had my eye on for a long time.  I’m very proud to share the top of the chart with Luke Combs.  I’m Eric Church, see you next time here on Outsiders Radio.

 

Luke - Yeah, I mean my number one songwriting hero definitely is Eric Church. I think there are these subtleties that he has in his music- just different ways of saying things that have been said a million times that I’m such a huge fan of. It’s something that I try to emulate. I didn’t know him personally at that time. We had opened a few shows for him, but had never hung out or really met or anything. And, I was definitely nervous, you know, cuz he’s a very selective guy about things that he’ll attached his name to. So, I made it clear to my management like ‘Hey, no pressure. I don’t want him to do this if he doesn’t like the song. You know, it’s not gonna hurt my feelings.’ It totally would have hurt my feelings, by the way. But, it would not hurt my feelings. As a man, I would have stomached it. But, I’m very thankful that he dedicated some time to it. It means a lot to me- might not mean much to you, but it “Does To Me” obviously. You know, it’s just a dream come true and you know- so I’m definitely stoked about it for sure.