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July 07, 2020

Outsiders Radio: Episode #64

AIR DATE: June 2020

SHOW THEME: New music

 

ERIC: Hey everybody, it’s Eric Church back for the sixty-fourth episode of “Outsiders Radio.”  All this “quarantining” has REALLY got me wanting to get some new music out.  So you’re gonna hear it right here and right now on Outsiders Radio.

 

 

That’s what we’re calling the “tip of the spear.”  It’s the first of the new music: “Stick That In Your Country Song.” Get ready, because a lot more is coming…very soon.   In case you’re wondering, that was written BEFORE the lockdown, but it feels even timelier now.

 

We’ve been through an amazing few weeks in this country.  When people go through trying times, it’s important for MUSIC to reflect what they’re thinking.  Here are just a few examples in country music history, starting with the man in black.

 

 

 

Johnny Cash knew how to “stick that in a country song.”  And he ALSO knew how to take it to #1.  Another country legend who combined real life with country music was Merle Haggard.

 

        

 

There’s a reason why they called Merle Haggard “the poet of the common man.” You can hear it in his music. At around that same pivotal time in country music, there was a young singer/songwriter named Kris Kristofferson.  This has become one of my favorite Kristofferson songs.

 

 

I want to send birthday greetings to Kris Kristofferson, who turned 84 last week.  We’re fortunate to have a few legends still with us.  One contemporary of Kristofferson is Willie Nelson.  Willie won a Grammy earlier this year for “Ride Me Back Home.”  He’s been releasing at least one album a year for the past ten years. Next week he will release his 70th solo album called “First Rose of Spring.”  THIS song was written by Billy Joe Shaver, who recorded it in 1981.  Here’s Willie and “We Are The Cowboys.”

 

 

 

A couple of songs from the new album by Willie Nelson: First Rose of Spring.  On the subject of new music from Texas legends, we’re just a few weeks away from a new album by Ray Wylie Hubbard.  Ray was my co-writer on Desperate Man, and I appeared on his last album “Tell The Devil That I’m Getting There As Fast As I Can.”  For this new project, Ray has teamed up with a wide range of artists, from Ringo Starr & Joe Walsh to Paula Nelson & Elizabeth Cook.  This next song features our good friend Ashley McBryde.  Here’s Ray Wylie Hubbard: Outlaw Blood.

 

  

That’s some real country music there from Ray Wylie Hubbard, joined by Willie’s daughter Paula Nelson and Elizabeth Cook on a song called “Drink Til I See Double.”  That song will be on Ray Wylie Hubbard’s new album “Co-Starring,” available on July 10th.

 

 

A little over a year ago, I headlined Nissan Stadium in Nashville for what was a very memorable night.  Then two weeks later, I return to that same stage in that same stadium for CMA Fest.  That night, as I prepared for the show, it struck me that I needed to do something different.  It had to be different from what I’d done there two weeks earlier, and it had to be different from anything I’d ever done before or since.  We had been doing a medley of cover songs all year.  But what if I did an acoustic medley of MY songs?  So that’s what we did.  It ran about 30 minutes with no break.  As a result, they couldn’t use it in the CMA Fest TV special last year.  But we have some good news: You can watch that very special performance next week, as the CMA presents “CMA Summer Stay-Cay,” Wednesday July 1st at 6PM Eastern.  It’s available at the CMA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.  The medley kicks off with THIS song.

 

 

A reminder to watch “CMA Summer Stay-Cay,” for the first viewing of my acoustic performance from last year’s CMA Fest.  That’s this Wednesday July 1st on the CMA’s YouTube and Facebook pages.  There’s a LOT of Eric Church music coming soon.  My new single, Stick That In Your Country Song, goes to country radio on Monday, and even more new music in the next few months.  We can’t wait for you to hear it, and we’re all looking forward to playing it for you live.  For now, I’ll leave you with the song you’ll see on CMA Best Of Fest, Monday July 13th on ABC TV.  Til then, I’m Eric Church, see you next time on Outsiders Radio.