He’s back.
Eric Church, whose rabid fans forced organizers of the Country Throwdown Tour to move him from the Outlaw to the Main Stage, is coming back to town and fans are already incredibly excited, according to organizers of WPOC’s Sunday in the Country.
“I love our fans. They are just great,” Church said, with a laugh when told about the fever surrounding his upcoming appearance at Sunday in the Country.
“I was just looking at the [lineup] for Sunday in the Country and there’s a real array of music such as Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, Gloriana, Bucky Covington.”
The reason Sunday in the Country and other similar festivals are doing so well in a down economy is likely because of the many facets of country that includes everything from roots to Americana, bluegrass, and country rock.
Church has seen the influx of fans in the past few years after the format opened up and brought more men back to the country fan fold.
“It’s a young country movement and I think that the main thing I have seen is watching the guys come back,” he said. “There are a lot of new [fans] out there.”
It’s easy to see why the North Carolina-bred Church has such a strong fan base. He combines songs that are stories — from start to finish — with the hard-rocking energy of U2, AC/DC, or other rockers.
Although he’s a somewhat quiet and laid-back guy when he’s not on stage, he turns into a hard-rocking performer once he begins to play. In fact, he’s much like his friend Hank Williams Jr., whom he joins this year on select dates of the Rowdy Friends Tour.
“I’ve been out drinking with him and I’ve flown on his place and I see who he is normally. Onstage, he’s a different person,” Church said.
“That’s one reason why we feel a lot of camaraderie. We are the same way when we get onstage, trying to burn the place down until the show is over.”
For this show, Eric will dip into his catalog of hits. Although he has been writing new music, he said he likely won’t debut any until next year.
As far as the acoustic show he tried to perform for Country Throwdown — until fans insisted he move back to electric — that’s on hold for now.
“We’re plugged in,” said Church. “And we just go.”
