Air Date: July 2018

Hey everybody, it’s Eric Church back for the forty-first episode of “Outsiders Radio.”  We’re really excited because we just announced that we have new music!  In fact I’m SO excited, let’s get right to it!  Here’s my new single: Desperate Man.

What can I say?  Once again, so happy to have new music out now, and even happier to be able to say an entire album will be delivered to all Church Choir members on October 5^th.  More on that later.  Back to the song.  By now, I’m sure regular listeners to Outsiders Radio know the name Ray Wylie Hubbard.  We’ve played a few of his songs on this show.  He’s a legendary Texas singer/songwriter who is as dedicated to his music as I am to mine.  We hit it off a few years ago, we’ve sung together a few times, and earlier this year, I got to induct him into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame.  This new song, Desperate Man, was co-written with Ray Wylie Hubbard.  He’s more than a co-writer or collaborator…he’s my co-conspirator!  In case you’ve forgotten…here we are together in Dallas.

No doubt singing with Ray Wylie Hubbard was one of the highlights from the Holdin’ My Own Tour last year.  Ray Wylie Hubbard is the outlaw’s outlaw.  He even LOOKS like an outlaw.  So when it came time to put together a video for Desperate Man, it made sense to cast Ray Wylie Hubbard.  Hopefully you’ve seen the video.  It kind of recreates the whole experience we had in releasing Mr. Misunderstood.  That was a record that was done as a complete secret to everyone.  It was music as contraband.  We bought our own record pressing plant in Germany to make the vinyl copies of the record.  And then, on November 3^rd 2015, members of the Church Choir received their copies of Mr. Misunderstood before anyone else.  And we’ll do it again this October with Desperate Man. 

All members of the Church Choir will receive copies of Desperate Man. The full track list for the album is posted at EricChurch.com.  On October 5^th, watch for flight cases falling from the sky!  From Mr. Misunderstood, where we name-checked my musical heroes, to Desperate Man, WRITTEN with one of my musical heroes: Ray Wylie Hubbard.  Listen for his name in Mr. Misunderstood.

Hard to believe it was three years ago when we wrote that song.  So much came from that great experience, and we’re all looking forward to October 5^th and the release of Desperate Man.  We’ve already added that song to the setlist and taking it on the road.  We’re doing a handful of festivals this summer.  They are among the most legendary events in music.  For example, I just did Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming.  They’ve been doing that thing for over 100 years.  The first one was in 1897.  They’ve been doing concerts at Cheyenne Frontier Days for 50 years.   Some of the earliest performers were Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Buck Owens, Roy Clark, and Roger Miller.  Charlie Daniels played it in 1979, 80, 81, 82, and 83.  Five years in a row!  And he was back again this year.  He played Sunday, and I played Wednesday.  But the two of us were together in Nashville three years ago at the 40^th anniversary Volunteer Jam.  THIS was the song we sang.

From Wilmington, North Carolina, the legendary Charlie Daniels.  We’re looking back at this year’s Cheyenne Frontier Days.  Charlie was there Sunday.  I was there on Wednesday.  I played Cheyenne Frontier Days for the first time in 2011.  Also on the show that year was Toby Keith, and in fact I was on the Locked & Loaded tour with Toby that whole year.  It was during that tour that they approached me about a song Toby was working on.  At the time, they said the song would never be released to radio.  It was just going to be a video release to promote the tour.  So our band put together something a little special for the video, and the song went on to become a Top 10 hit and sold over 2 million copies. 

You’re listening to Outsiders Radio on The Highway.  I’m Eric Church, and in about a week, we’ll be at another historic festival: The Sturgis Buffalo Chip concert & motorcycle rally in South Dakota.  They’re calling it “Church At The Chip!” I played it back in 2012, and also on the show that year was my buddy Zac Brown.  Here’s how HE described the show at Sturgis:

Zac Brown: People were trailering their bikes in there, and I was wondering why they don’t ride in. But now I understand why they do that now. The whole way up there, you’re on a freeway with the wind whippin’ 40 miles an hour, you’re at a 45 degree angle on the freeway, trying not to get blown off your bike. Then you get there and you’re in the Mecca of motorcycle riding. I mean the badlands, everything is right there, so if you’re gonna spend 6-7 hours riding, the next time I’m trailer the bikes and ride when I’m there. It’s an amazing landscape out there. Unbelievable place to ride.

My buddy Zac Brown and the Zac Brown Band.  They’re on the road all summer, and you can find the dates at ZacBrownBand.com.  I’m Eric Church, previewing the annual Sturgis Concert & Motorcycle Ride, taking place next week in South Dakota.  I’ll be there on Wednesday August 8^th.  But on Monday the 6^th, the show will be headlined by Lynyrd Skynyrd.  They’re on their Farewell Tour, and it’s hard for me to imagine that they’ll never tour again.  I’ve been singing their songs for years, and got a chance to be part of a Skynyrd tribute album back in 2010. 

We did that Skynyrd classic in Boise last year on the Holdin’ My Own Tour, and a reminder that they’re on their Farewell Tour this year.  They’ll stop in Sturgis on Monday August 6^th.  The next night, another legendary band plays Buffalo Chip: The Marshall Tucker Band.  Amazingly, we covered their biggest hit during the tour last year. 

That song was originally released by the Marshall Tucker Band in 1977, the year I was born, and we played it a few days after my 40^th birthday in Greenville SC.  I don’t think we’d ever played that song before, but we did it that night because we were a few miles from their hometown: Spartanburg SC.  Those guys will play the Sturgis Buffalo Chip on Tuesday August 7^th, and we’re there on the 8^th.  As we wrap up this edition of Outsiders Radio, I’m gonna do something  I’ve never done on this show: Play a song twice in the same show.  Here it is, our new single, the title song from our new album, set for release on October 5^th.  I’m Eric Church…See you next time on Outsiders Radio.