Eric Church

Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter.

Church was born on May 3, 1977, in Granite Falls, North Carolina (Dudley Shoals area), to Ken and Rita Church.

Church worked with his father at Clayton Marcus, a furniture upholstery company where his father was president.

At 13, he bought a guitar and began writing songs of his own.

By his senior year of high school, he had found a gig at a local bar, which occupied most of his time.

He played many Jimmy Buffett cover songs and a few of his own original songs in some dive bars.

Some of these places were so rough that he got into a few altercations from the stage.

For a few years, the band played often in bars and restaurants throughout North Carolina.

The band "Mountain Boys" consisted of his college roommate, brother, and a fellow guitarist.

Before moving to Nashville, Eric graduated from South Caldwell High School and then Appalachian State University with a degree in marketing.

Upon graduation, Church became engaged to a Spanish teacher in the town of Lenoir, North Carolina.

The future bride's father attempted to persuade Church into a corporate career, which he rejected as an aspiring musician (and later referenced in his song "What I Almost Was" from his debut album).

She broke the engagement and he headed to Nashville with his father's financial backing.

His father also provided the opportunity to make contacts, and more importantly, time to focus on developing his songwriting ability.

He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005.

Church co-wrote Terri Clark's 2005 single "The World Needs a Drink", and the track "Whiskey Wings" on Dean Miller's 2005 album Platinum.

He started recording with different producers.

Capitol Nashville showed an interest and watched him perform but they were yet to be convinced enough to offer a recording contract.

Autumn House-Tallant told HitQuarters that they did not think his music was "interesting" enough.

The record company's attitude changed after he started working with producer Jay Joyce.

Doyle states, "Eric scored a meeting with Nashville heavyweight Arthur Buenahora, a publisher at Sony Music who also signed Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert. Church played him "Lightning", a ballad he wrote after watching the movie The Green Mile".

(p. 5) The strong sound and direction the two forged together finally convinced Capitol Nashville that he was ready.

His first single, "How 'Bout You" peaked at No. 14 on Hot Country Songs and led off his debut album Sinners Like Me.

His debut album, 2006's Sinners Like Me, produced three singles on the Billboard country charts including the top 20 hits "How 'Bout You", "Two Pink Lines", and "Guys Like Me".

In April 2006, he performed on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.

The album's other two singles, "Two Pink Lines" and "Guys Like Me", both reached the Top 20 as well.

The fourth single, the title track, peaked at No. 51.

An additional track from the album, "Lightning", was made into a music video despite not being released as a single.

Church wrote the song shortly after moving to Nashville, inspired by the movie The Green Mile.

Following the album's success, Church toured with Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts.

His second album, 2009's Carolina, produced three more singles: "Smoke a Little Smoke" and his first top 10 hits, "Love Your Love the Most" and "Hell on the Heart".

2011's Chief, his first No. 1 album, gave him his first two No. 1 singles, "Drink in My Hand" and "Springsteen", and the hits "Homeboy", "Creepin'", and "Like Jesus Does".

His third No. 1 single was "The Only Way I Know", which he, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan recorded for Aldean's album Night Train.

It produced five new singles between 2013 and 2015 with the title track, "Give Me Back My Hometown", "Cold One", "Talladega" and "Like a Wrecking Ball".

"Talladega" and "Give Me Back My Hometown" each reached number one on the Country Airplay chart.

A fourth album, The Outsiders, was released in February 2014.

Eric Church got his sixth No. 1 hit with Keith Urban in May 2015 with the single "Raise 'Em Up".

His fifth studio album, Mr. Misunderstood, was released in November 2015 and went on to produce two number one singles with "Record Year" and "Round Here Buzz".

On July 13, 2018, Church released the first single and title track of his album Desperate Man, which was released in October 2018.

In April 2021, Church released the triple album set Heart & Soul.