By Adam Lucas

TULSA—Avery County, North Carolina, is 950 miles from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

They are very different parts of the United States, and there is very little that should for any reason bring them together. 

Except for music, and Eric Church, and, well, Eric Church’s music. That’s why Jeff and Amy Johnson and their family were across the street from the BOK Center on Thursday night at the Arena Pub and Grill with a giant sign.

“Tulsa cares too!” it read. “Project Blue Haven.”

Tulsa is in the middle of tornado alley, so it’s a town that knows about natural disasters. The Johnsons, who are approaching double-digit Church shows, were moved by the Chief Cares Blue Haven project in Avery County, which is designed to provide mid- to long-term housing for families displaced by Hurricane Helene. 

They wanted to find a way to contribute, but also to let Chief know how much the Church Choir supported his efforts. So they created the sign, which included a QR code that allowed Choir members to instantly donate to Chief Cares. Each member who donated autographed the sign, which the Johnson family then brought to Thursday night’s concert. Johnson conservatively estimates they raised at least $1,500. 

“What Eric is doing with Project Blue Haven is special,” Jeff Johnson said. “I hope this is a good way to keep it in the spotlight.”

The sign got a prime spot, because the Johnson family takes this seriously. Each member of the family—including daughters Brooklynn, Rachel and Cally, plus niece Jaylee—has their own premium Church Choir membership, so all eight people in their group were able to get spots on the rail at stage right. They first unfurled their sign, fittingly, during “Darkest Hour.” Church spotted it then, and got a better look at it after the Evangeline vs. The Machine portion of the set.

“I’ll be back,” he promised off microphone.

He still had plenty of fans to see on what was a very interactive night in the pit. One mom held a sign that read “Almost grown ass man Karson is 16 today” with an arrow pointing to Karson standing beside her. Karson gave an appropriate 16-ish “Aw, Mom” eye roll at the sign but didn’t seem to mind when Church spotted it and singled him out.

Choir members in the center front of the pit also surprised Church by unveiling plastic clappers during “Clap Hands.” Their sudden appearance was so unexpected that Church chuckled through the beginning of the song. “That’s kinda cool,” he said. “Y’all are crazy.”

Just the right kind of crazy. A pair of the clappers eventually made it onto the stage, where Church utilized during the rapid-fire clapping at the end of the song.

That’s the kind of night it was in Tulsa, a deceptively music-friendly town. The production office in the BOK Center includes a portion of the original dance floor from Cain’s Ballroom, a legendary venue that opened in 1924. The Bob Dylan Center and Woody Guthrie Center are a half-mile from the BOK Center. Joanna Cotten wore a shirt on stage from The Church Studio, a studio established by Leon Russell in 1972. 

Suitably inspired, Church added a cover of J.J. Cale’s “If You Are Ever in Oklahoma” to Thursday night’s show, just the second time he’s ever performed that song live.

And before he took his final bow, he consulted with guitar tech MJ Sagraves during a guitar exchange. “I want to sign that,” he said, pointing to the Chief Cares sign at stage right. Church’s crew brought the sign backstage, where he signed it as soon as he finished the traditional tour show closer, “Through My Ray-Bans.”

It’s now back in the hands of Johnson, who didn’t really intend to end up with autographed memorabilia. He just wanted to show Church that his music made a difference, and that Church’s work to provide for the people of North Carolina had an impact even all the way in Tulsa.

“It was such a surreal experience for all of us,” Johnson said. “Eric has inspired the next generation and has some new Choir members for life now.”

The main lesson from the night? It was right there at the bottom of the sign, where it read simply:

“Music is the most powerful thing in the world.”