Eric Church Is Awesome. Just Ask Him (A Bragging Montage)
” “See that fifth of Jack? I can drink that bottle, even a bottle and a half.” —Men’s Journal, March 2014
” “I don’t know how people are going to take [The Outsiders album]. Shit, I don’t know if we’ll make another one. I can’t imagine continuing to try to push the envelope. How do you keep doing that?” — Rolling Stone, February 7th, 2014
” “I don’t care who you are. Band members, managers label, anybody. You’ve gotta go through battle with me and swap blood. I’m not just gonna give you respect.” —Rolling Stone Country, June 11th, 2014
” “See, [my wife] always tells people that Chief is real. It’s a real thing. I’m a different guy. I’m a different hang. Some people are intimidated by it and cut me a wide berth. I’ve noticed it.” —Men’s Journal, March 2014
” “I’ll have whiskey in my cup onstage, but I’ve slowed down. But I’m still faster than everybody else.” — Rolling Stone, February 7th, 2014
” “If they aren’t fighting, they’re screwing. Saginaw, Michigan, we had four or five fights that night, and up on the railing, eight or 10 couples screwing, everyone responding like this is the last show they’ll ever see. I don’t think we encourage any of this. I’m just very aggressive and intense onstage.” —Men’s Journal, March 2014
” “I have a pretty good understanding of how I am. I’ve always been pretty laid-back and easygoing, until I’m not. When I get going, you’re never going to stop me. When it gets going, I’ll destroy everything.” —Men’s Journal, March 2014
” “‘Guys Like Me’ [off Church’s 2006 LP Sinners Like Me] has a guy that drinks too many beers. That was before anybody had ever put beer and trucks related in songs. Now, it’s in every song … And it’s funny now to look at that song, which every song is a lot similar to now.” —Rolling Stone Country, June 11th, 2014
” “Sometimes I’ll just take a gun and shoot coyotes. It’s a good space for me.” — Rolling Stone, February 7th, 2014
” “Everybody said ‘Chief’ was the biggest record I would ever make. [They said] ‘Don’t even go back in. You’ll never top that.’ I used a lot of that as fuel: ‘Okay, motherfuckers. I know you think that this is it, but we can be way more creative, we can be way more out there.’ And I saw other artists trying to follow what we were doing. I thought after the Chief record, we got pulled to the middle and I became one of the guys that were the center of the format.” —Rolling Stone Country , June 11th, 2014
” “There are eight or ten songs, I shit you not, they are Song of the Year, runaway smashes for us. Didn’t make the album.” —Spin, February, 4th, 2014
June 16, 2014 @ 8:14 am
The first song about trucks and beer? Really? And then there’s the fact that he thinks being the “father” of truck and beer songs would be something to brag about. Wow. Just wow about all of it. Like no legendary male country singers existed before him, and he is the one no one will ever live up to again? He’s got a long way to even go to touch the boot strap on George Strait’s boots when you you’re talking about hits, and that’s saying nothing about all those who came before him to pave the way. I guess it’s difficult to say without the context, but this seems to be the height of narcissism.
June 16, 2014 @ 9:24 am
“That was before anybody had ever put beer and trucks related in songs.”
If they could just put that cat back into the bag…..
June 16, 2014 @ 8:23 am
“I’m a different hang.” Who the hell says stuff like that??
June 16, 2014 @ 9:32 am
Charlie Sheen
June 16, 2014 @ 12:38 pm
major douches -_-
June 16, 2014 @ 9:28 pm
Chase Rice? 😉
June 16, 2014 @ 8:48 am
Kanye Church.
June 17, 2014 @ 7:11 am
BROCEPHUS!!!
June 16, 2014 @ 8:57 am
I really wanna like eric church I do. but he makes it so difficult
June 16, 2014 @ 9:04 am
Not defending this guy whatsoever, but fame does crazy stuff to people. When people treat you like a God, you start thinking you are one. The truly humble person would thank his lucky stars everyday and appreciate what they have. Someone who’s not turns into Eric Church.
June 16, 2014 @ 9:22 am
I will admit that I am a diehard Eric Church fan, his song writing leaves many Nashville artists in the dust. Does he have an ego? Yeah for sure,but that shouldn’t take away from his musical talent. I’ve seen him live and his energy level is outstanding. As for “guys like me” it was the birth of that part of the genre with trucks and beer. People caught onto it and started putting it in every song and its garbage!!! I’m an honest guy and I’ve admitted when I feel like Eric sucked. But he is way better than bryan , aldean, or Shelton. He just doesnt win as many awards or have as many number one hits because he isn’t a pretty boy.
June 16, 2014 @ 9:33 am
Actually, I think he is purty. He’s a cute guy.
June 16, 2014 @ 9:35 am
Off-the-hook cute. He’s the guy you pick when you want to show your man off to your girlfriends. Extremely cute.
June 16, 2014 @ 12:39 pm
he’s a mega-douche -_-
June 16, 2014 @ 11:00 am
saying Church is “way better than bryan , aldean, or Shelton” is like saying that taking a regular poop is better than diarrhea or constipation; it may be technically true, but its all still $#!+…
June 16, 2014 @ 11:04 am
I think Eric Church has talent, and has done some good stuff. And despite being a critic of his, I make sure whenever he deserves credit, to go out of my way to highlight it, whether it is with some of his songs, or his support of worthy talent in his performances and tours. However I think his influence on mainstream country, especially bro-country, has been minimal, if only because Eric actually does have talent and tries to convey that through his music, while many of the bro-country performers are virtually the exact opposite.
June 18, 2014 @ 9:56 pm
I am a big fan of Eric Church music. I also have met him twice, albeit briefly, and he was a complete gentlemen. I wish he would follow his own mantra and ‘let the music do the talking’
September 26, 2015 @ 8:36 am
2 Points.
1 Your willingness to be an honest critic and consider all aspects of an artist is what made me respect your opinions, even when I don’t agree.
2 I think a lot of people lump Eric Church in with less talented artists. But I find it so strange that he can say such stupid things as the above, write such great songs and then appear really quite down-to-earth and humble as he did when interviewed by Angela Sharpe. Perhaps he believes his own hype according to mood or alcohol consumption or maybe his handles feed him lines for specific interviews.
But I completely agree that he has talent.
July 13, 2015 @ 7:20 pm
Give me a break! Blake Shelton is a crooner, and a damn good one! On top of that, he tends to love and respect his fans…. A great point to his personality! I love some of Eric Church’s music. The guy is talented. I hate some of Eric Church’s music, also. However, what is even worse than that is his huge ego. I’ve seen him in interviews talking other artists down, I guess to lift himself up. Don’t really know why he does it. Hard to LOVE his music when I don’t love him.
June 16, 2014 @ 9:31 am
With the “shooting coyotes” and “obsession with saws” comments, he could be a suspect on Criminal Minds.
I still like most of his music.
June 16, 2014 @ 9:44 am
More and more , I’m convinced that if you keep knocking at the door, someone will , eventually , let you in . How long you STAY in is another story . Church wrote some fresh stuff for his first couple of records and after a lot of years , someone finally opened the door and let him into the party .His latest ” envelope -pushing” approach to music appeals to a very small demographic . Everyone who DOESN’T particularly like ( industry and others ) it buys into it cuz he’s the hip new kid on the block and NOT country ( surprise surprise… NOT- country sells )…but they just need a reason to show him the door out . His kind of approach and personality makes more enemies than friends in the business…especially with those who KNOW that at some point it will take a bit more conformity to pacify the powers that be. He’s already adopted the obligatory image ANY “country” act must adopt in these times ….black T ..hwy patrol sunglasses and ball cap and chain and thrown some chanting sections in a few songs ( Gotta have the chant no matter the genre..its replaced things like …oh LYRICS , terrific instrumental breaks ..etc ) . I’m betting he tones things down musically a whole lot with his next record and promotional interviews or he’ll be knocking on the door for a second chance .
June 16, 2014 @ 12:04 pm
Is chanting what to call all of those wohhhh—oh-ooooooo—-s that are in every pop tune these days? Boy does that get my nerves a workin.
June 16, 2014 @ 12:38 pm
man ..that woh oh oh thing ……….its like the same guy is arranging and producing EVERY single song that hits the airwaves regardless of genre . It’s so overdone its almost ripe for a Saturday Night Live skit with Baldwin as Tony Bennett doing it in the middle of The Lady Is A Tramp .
June 16, 2014 @ 12:40 pm
yeah, i don’t like that chanting crap either
June 16, 2014 @ 10:17 am
Michael Jackson Montgomery must be ghostwriting Eric Church’s quotes…
June 16, 2014 @ 10:17 am
Its true, Mr Church’s attitude is as bad as his music!
June 16, 2014 @ 10:20 am
Calling him a megalomaniac might be understating the case….GOOD GRIEF!
June 16, 2014 @ 10:30 am
I want to see him go toe to toe with Billy Joe Shaver.
June 16, 2014 @ 11:46 am
Billy would look him in the eye and say…. Where do you want it?
June 16, 2014 @ 10:30 am
I tell people all the time that I think Eric Church is just another made man. He’s the option for country fans that are very anti pop country( ie, Rascal Flats, Lady A, Band Perry etc). He’s the guy folks can throw their fist in the air and say….. Hell I hate Rascal Flats, they suck! But, I love me some Eric Church!!! I know this cause I’ve heard that comment many times by people. That being said I didn’t mind his first two albums but the last two have jus turned me off.
June 16, 2014 @ 10:49 am
Did you get tired of reading his quotes or something? Because that list could have been much, much longer.
June 16, 2014 @ 10:37 pm
Actually, beyond the magazines Eric Church has apparently targeted these type of quotes for, I couldn’t find many others. In fact the inflammatory comments he made about Lollapalooza being 90% crap, or reality show contestants not being real artists, though not self-aggrandizing, were also all made in Rolling Stone.
June 17, 2014 @ 9:51 am
he ought to know. he’s played lollapalooza twice. in 2009 on the smallest stage, and last year on one of the biggest.
September 26, 2015 @ 8:49 am
Funny, but this really contributes to the feeling that someone or something else puts these quotes in.
He really seems, again in Angels Sharpes’s interview, like an artist who is very serious about his craft and quite creative, but he can’t or doesn’t know when NOT to talk about the process. He would be much better off taking a Jack White or Bob Dylan cryptic approach to the press, at least for a certain segment of his audience.
June 16, 2014 @ 11:07 am
He is like the Kanye West meets Stone Cold Steve Austin of the Contemporary Country Music World. Contrived. Whatever works for him, I guess … better him than me.
June 16, 2014 @ 11:31 am
Like others have pointed out, Kanye West comes to mind here. I’ll admit in the past I have liked some of his songs because they had more substance than most songs in mainstream country, but at this point I do not care to ever buy another album from him. Chief was okay, but I could barely listen to the Outsiders. One of my main problems with him is his attitude. I realize that many Legends of Country Music were never saints, but this guy has to be the most arrogant singer I’ve ever seen in mainstream Country Music. When I was a kid if Alan Jackson, George Strait, Clint Black, Vince Gill, etc… had ever acted the way that Eric has I truly believe their career would have been finished. It’s really a sign of the times to me that so many young people buy into this macho crap. Eric Church is proof that all you really need is the right attitude to dupe people into buying your music. And what’s up with that 2nd quote “Shit, I don’t know if we’ll make another one. I can’t imagine continuing to try to push the envelope.” That’s why he makes music, to push the envelope? Shame that there’s so few people out there that actually create music based on what they feel and don’t have some agenda. Give me Hank Williams, George Jones or Mickey Newbury any day over this douche bag.
June 16, 2014 @ 11:39 am
“”˜Guys Like Me”™ [off Church’s 2006 LP Sinners Like Me] has a guy that drinks too many beers. That was before anybody had ever put beer and trucks related in songs. Now, it”™s in every song ”¦ And it”™s funny now to look at that song, which every song is a lot similar to now.”
I suppose next we’ll hear about how he was the first one to make country rock songs? Or to use electric instruments? Drums? Melody? Good Lord, I never realized what a list of accomplishments Mr. Church has. We should definitely cut him some slack; he’s done so much good for our genre that to complain would be ungrateful.
Good grief. Was this guy raised on country? I don’t think anyone that was would make such an ignorant statement. I personally hate it when people make broad generalizations of the genre, but any REAL country listener will tell you that beer and trucks are a part of the DNA, more or less and for better or worse. It’s certainly become much more common in the last decade or so, however. I suppose Church was too busy stroking his ego to actually pay attention to anyone else. This is why I try not to read too much about certain entertainers; I like Church’s music, but he makes it harder to enjoy when I know I’m supporting someone with their head up their ass.
June 16, 2014 @ 12:44 pm
“he makes it harder to enjoy when I know I”™m supporting someone with their head up their ass. ”
Totally agree. I just don’t like ANYONE who acts like an egotistical douche.
June 16, 2014 @ 12:50 pm
Anybody else you know like that? 😛
June 16, 2014 @ 1:56 pm
Not personally, but they’re all over the media. This is just another one on a long list.
June 16, 2014 @ 3:41 pm
Wasn’t Mr. David Allan Coe that made the observation way back in 1975 that in the song Steve Goodman wrote for him, nothing had been said about mama, trains, TRUCKS, prison or GETTING DRUNK. So there were truck and beer songs long before this dick weed was even a thought.
June 17, 2014 @ 7:16 pm
“After stroking his ego for several hours, Eric then locked himself inside his closet and began stroking his……….” ”” (Rolling Stone, February 7th, 2014)
June 16, 2014 @ 11:49 am
I heard Eric Church invented the Internet too.
June 16, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
I don’t know what to do with this guy. He’s reasonably talented and creative, just not nearly as much as he seems to think he is. He’s not even on the same planet as Bryan, Aldean, Niemann, FL/GA, etc. (I think Bryan and Niemann are capable of better, but they choose to put out crap, so whatever. I’m not sure FL/GA Line are capable of tying their own shoes.) But he’s not on the same planet as the greats, either. I don’t know what planet this guy is living on honestly.
I actually liked Guys Like Me when it came out, and now every song is like a watered down version of it. And Springsteen was one of the best songs played on country radio in the last 5 years IMO. Well that’s damning him with faint praise, but I think he heaps enough praise on himself. 😉
June 16, 2014 @ 1:39 pm
Can we please just stop saying how much of a douche Eric Church is? If you don’t like Eric Church fine. Everyone has their own opinion. But to pick and choose lines from various articles just to prove that Eric Church is a dick? What does this accomplish? This isn’t promoting better country music. The fact is you could find just as many articles that make Eric Church look like a funny, down to Earth guy. For some reason there is a bandwagon on this website where everyone wants to hate Eric Church because of stupid comments he makes in magazines. Get over it. Don’t like him? Don’t listen to his music.
June 16, 2014 @ 2:08 pm
Actually, I think most of us want to like him because his music is better than most and usually has substance. We just don’t care for the schtick and its impact on his music and some of his performances.
This is a guy who did a full acoustic set when he opened up for George Strait this year (impressive) and then went back into full “Chief” schtick for his duets with George in Dallas last week. I choose to believe the real Eric Church is the showman capable of the acoustic set and the guy I saw way back in 2007. Not the aviator wearing, chest pounding, braggadocios douche he portrays.
It’s frustrating because I think/know that he is better than this. He just needs to be himself.
June 16, 2014 @ 2:29 pm
I see what you’re saying about his acoustic performances. I saw him perform at the Ryman acoustically and it was fantastic. It does give your more of a feel of Eric Church as a person and not who he portrays on stage. The fact is that there’s a time and a place for everything. Hearing him play acoustically for deep song like “Darkside” or “Lightning” is personal and appropriate. But do want to hear a toned down version of “How bout you” or “Creepin” or “That’s damn rock and roll”? No. That when I want want the whole concert experience, chest pounding and all. Its fun. It excites the crowd. That’s what you expect when you go to an Eric Church concert.
June 16, 2014 @ 4:49 pm
I think what trigger is trying to accomplish here is provide one more example of the way that manufactured image trumps substance in pop country. That is worth an article on a site dedicated to advocating good music over crap.
June 16, 2014 @ 5:27 pm
I think your argument would be true if in this case, Eric Church’s “image” was the main appeal to the consumer. Eric Church has obvious talent which trumps the image he portrays. No one looks at Eric Church and says “Wow, he sure looks cool! I wanna be an Eric Church fan!” They hear his songs on the radio and actually enjoy his music.
Let’s give the average country music fan a little more credit by assuming that they care about an artist’s music more than their image. We are not mindless idiots. We can pay more attention to how a person’s voice sounds, rather than what that person looks like.
June 16, 2014 @ 6:18 pm
You are welcome to your opinion, of course, but that does not mean I have to give it “credit.” From what I can see, the more Church plays the bad ass (and I think it is a deliberately manufactured image), the more mediocre he has become, overall.
June 16, 2014 @ 10:33 pm
The problem is Amanda, Eric Church clearly doesn’t think these comments are stupid. He thinks they’re perfect. To be honest with you, I don’t even believe half of them.
June 16, 2014 @ 1:56 pm
Few people get to his level without big doses of narcissism and inflated self-worth. And they surround themselves with people who provide those doses on an hourly basis. The only hope is that somewhere along the line — maybe in their childhood or early in their career — they developed some self-awareness and humility to temper the excesses. Church seems to lack any qualities that would mitigate his excesses. In his world, there is no such thing as excess, so each brag has to be bigger than the one before it.
June 16, 2014 @ 2:46 pm
I myself am thoroughly disturbed by what has happened to the genre known as country music. Having said that, I do feel that there are some creative artists left in Nashville and Eric is right at the top of that list. Along with kacey Musgraves and a few others. I also like this site, but it really makes me wonder why Eric Church is discussed so much if everyone hates him. It sounds to me like theyre might be more jealousy than hatred. When trigger gets bored he just bashes Eric Church because he doesn’t like the guy’s attitude. Well I wasn’t alive during his time but I have read books and seen movies about Johnny Cash and have really grown to love his music. Johnny Cash himself was a cheating, drug using, and drinking son of a gun. But does that take away from his music? Absolutely not he was still a great artist. And nobody freak out I’m not comparing the two artists at all, I’m just comparing their successes. Trigger man you hate Eric Church, we get it let’s move on because the hypocrisy in what you are writing is really hard to ignore if somebody reads with an open mind.
June 16, 2014 @ 10:30 pm
Trust me, I’m not bored. I have more topics to write about then time to write them. Furthermore, I didn’t write anything here, I just made an illustration. Draw whatever conclusions from it you want. It was stimulated from an article in Rolling Stone last week where a lot of these quotes came from. And part of the point of this exercise what not just to highlight the quotes, but where they are coming from, and where they are not.
June 16, 2014 @ 2:54 pm
I would get behind these articles criticizing EC if he was actually out there saying, “I’m better than everyone else who gets consistent radio play these days.”
But he’s not saying these things and hell, would it matter? It’s true. Only a handful of mainstream artists are releasing decent music right now. He’s one of them, along with Dierks, Kacey, Miranda, Craig Campbell (very underrated artist), and I would say that all of those artists are in his rearview mirror, too.
Yes, I don’t worship Kacey Musgraves. Do what you will with that.
Eric Church could either be a toe the line, speak to the camera and never open up about anything type of artist or he could be a little abrasive and honest. I’ll take the latter.
June 16, 2014 @ 7:50 pm
The fact that he’s a devoted family man…loves his family, that makes him even cuter.
June 16, 2014 @ 3:38 pm
Church is the one mainstream artist that I really enjoy – not because he makes country music. That ship sailed long ago. I just enjoy his stuff because it sounds good to me. I would like to think this overdone “badass” persona is just an image created to position him within the country landscape, but I’m not so sure any more. The guy might be a total jerk for all I know, but I’ll continue to enjoy his stuff regardless. In some cases it’s alright to ignore an artist’s personality flaws, and for me this is an example of that. I can certainly see how this kind of stuff can turn people off, though and I don’t see any problem with that.
June 16, 2014 @ 5:22 pm
Title should be:
“Eric Church is delusional. Just ask anyone”.
June 16, 2014 @ 6:11 pm
To me, it’s pretty damn clear that Eric Church is a good dude. He’s paid more attention and given more spotlight to the songwriters he writes with than most artists in recent memory, along with all the career boosts he’s given to artists most people haven’t heard of with his award show performances and tour selections. Keep this in mind–Brantley Gilbert was still releasing good music when Eric took himon tour. Now he’s got Dwight and Brandy out with him. A few snippets from interviews don’t outweigh the scale of the good deeds he’s done over the years.
We are expecting him to be too perfect. There are much more respected artists out there who are known to be somewhat rotten. I love Jamey Johnson’s music, but he’s notoriously hard to work with if you pay attention to what any of his co-writers say. Do we ever hear about that?
The worst thing that’s out there about EC is that he smokes a little weed, and who gives a shit about that? He’s known to be more than devoted to his wife and son, and is clearly introspective when you listen to his music. The dude’s aware of his flaws. Yes, he’s cocky. Yes, he drinks hard. But every time he’s opened his mouth about the state of country or other artists (namely Blake Shelton), he’s been right. There is nothing wrong with that.
June 16, 2014 @ 8:31 pm
Eric Church very well may be a good dude if you met him in person, but he’s gone out of his way to SPECIFICALLY speak about how he’s not; how you have to watch yourself, give him a wide berth, and how he’s not going to give just anyone respect, that they have to earn it. I’m not expecting Eric or anyone to be perfect, and sure, he’s had a lot of success, and maybe he does deserve to be a little bit cocky. But find me any other country music artist (except for David Allan Coe) that you could put a collection of quote like this together for. This is at a completely different level.
And I’ll even go farther to say that I don’t think these quotes are a true reflection of Eric Church the man. There’s a reason I put the branding quote at the end, and pointed out that the majority of the quotes had come from Wenner Media properties. This is how he wants himself to be portrayed. I simply collected them as an illustration. I gave no opinion. Draw whatever conclusions you want.
June 17, 2014 @ 5:46 am
But every time he”™s opened his mouth about the state of country or other artists (namely Blake Shelton), he”™s been right
Really? We must be hearing two different Eric Churches, because the one I’ve been hearing has defended the state of modern country music to the moon and back, talking about how cool and hip it is.
June 17, 2014 @ 1:23 am
There’s nothing wrong with “bragging”, per se. Hell, I often lack self-confidence and can succumb to self-deprecating humor, and can benefit from learning to be more assertive and confident. I think taking ownership of your passion and your contributions can be constructive.
What irritates me about not all, but some of his remarks, is that he disingenuously makes assertions that his contributions are unprecedented. He’s full of it when he claims “Guys Like Me” is the original bro-country song, for instance; at least in the sense it references trucks and beer. Or a recent quotation that was actually overlooked here where Church claimed that when he started out, there “were no males in country music at the time in the radio world.”……………….which is obviously a “Pants On Fire” Truth-O-Meter certified claim.
June 17, 2014 @ 5:06 am
I’m probably too old to be calling someone a “douche”, but I can definitely say this guy is one dyed-in-the-wool asshole. And I hate his shitty music too. How in the hell is he any less shitty than any of these other new-“country” bastards and bastardettes? I keep reading things like: “well but he’s talented”. Where is the evidence for this claim? He’s just another put-on redneck with a generic voice. His entire image was elaborately designed to make him seem like some kind of a really tough, scary dude. This is done to appeal to a certain group of people who don’t necessarily care for the typical new, pop-“country” stuff. The funny thing is, I could take him into several bars around here where some real outlaws would make him piss his britches.
June 17, 2014 @ 5:42 am
Saw him twice when his first album came out and came away very dissapointed. Two small bars and both shows lasted exactly an hour and 5 minutes. His music is rock, not country and he acts like hes gods gift to music, total douche bag.
June 17, 2014 @ 6:26 am
After reading this,I can’t seem to get Tom Petty’s song “Spike” outta my head.
June 17, 2014 @ 6:43 am
By far the funniest quote:
”¢ “See that fifth of Jack? I can drink that bottle, even a bottle and a half.” ”“Men”™s Journal, March 2014
I’m trying to picture the interview scene when he says this.
Cute intern setting up the interview space, “You want something to drink Eric?”
Douche- “Call me Chief, and I drink whiskey honey! See this fifth of Jack? (I happen to be carrying in my pocket that my manager gave just 20seconds ago before I walked in) I can drink the whole bottle.”
“Ah…Mr. Chief, you are talking to the wall, maybe you should take your sunglasses off.”
” Yea, well maybe I’ll drink a bottle and half!”
“Ok, but be careful before you open that, all the shaking it up has it looking pretty fizzy. You sure that is whiskey?”
“Well, not all whiskey, but enough whiskey. More than you could handle, probably even more than Clint Eastwood could handle. I bet more than Hank Williams Jr. could handle. And my glasses are even cooler than his.”
“Sir, I’m over here, again, maybe you should remove the glasses. And your manager just brought me in a diet coke for you.”
June 17, 2014 @ 7:55 am
To Eric’s fans:
Sometimes artists that you (or I or Trig) get bludgeoned on SCM.
We don’t all have the same precise view of authentic country or roots music.
I like Bocephus, Shooter and (I am chagrinned to admit) Colt Ford.
June 17, 2014 @ 8:46 am
I don’t worship any of them , run after their trucks and lick their tires.
If FGL was stranded on the highway, I’m not sure I would stop and help. I’d probably be laughing as they faded away in my rearview mirror. Then I would feel guilty, turn around and help ass and no class.
While some of them are rolling around in their money, some are rolling around in the mud with their buddies. The extremely wealthy ones don’t give two hoots what I think about their music or their lifestyle. If they’re investing wisely, they’re buying real estate like no tomorrow.
They’re set up for life and will never suffer for material things. They have grandiose ranches and the best that money can buy. When you make it to the big time, you can look over the throngs of the poor SOB’s who’ve spent their hard earned cash on your concert or CD’s.
Yes, you can laugh your ass off because you make your living off the backs of poor people. “Fans” are cash cows. So load up the extra-special custom made bus and head it on down the highway…the cash is flowing, your eyes are glowing and the rest of us are contributing to your children’s college fund.
I do not worship any of them.
June 17, 2014 @ 9:26 am
Changed the lyrics to drink in my hand-
If you come to my shows, you better be tough.
Cause people are fightin and fuckin and…stuff.
If you want to earn any respect from me,
You best wear an affliction T.
Got my sunglasses on, hat pulled down
Ripping off Hank3 with my creepin’ sound
Not quite as big douche as ole’ BG, (Brantley Gilbert)
but I can drink a fifth and half of whiskey.
Pushing the envelope? No I really don’t.
Most can see that I’m a fucking joke.
Any underground artist can write circles round me.
But I’m a marketing guy, so Springsteen Springsteen.
Got my sunglasses on, hat pulled down
I’m a bad ass now until the next trend comes around.
Not quite as big douche as ole’ BG, (Brantley Gilbert)
but I can drink a fifth and half of whiskey.
June 17, 2014 @ 9:35 am
Welcome to the Church of Eric! Somebody get a pin and let the air out of his inflated head. He clearly believes he sh*ts gold!
June 17, 2014 @ 12:18 pm
This mother fucker comments about his shows like he’s playing for a GG Allin gig or something. Let me tell you something I’ve been to some rough shows and nothing will ever top the energy when Hank 3 played at the Revival Festival a few years back in Austin.
June 17, 2014 @ 12:26 pm
I was at that show. Stupid good. Johnny Hiland on guitar? Face melted.
June 19, 2014 @ 5:57 am
Hank 3, the man who can do absolutely no wrong with this website and its apostles.
Eric Church. the man who can do absolutely no right with this website and its apostles.
I like Hank 3 myself but you all would be trying to pick the corn out of his crap so you could eat it.
June 19, 2014 @ 8:43 pm
https://savingcountrymusic.com/eric-church-taps-dwight-yoakam-brandy-clark-brothers-osbourne-for-tour
https://savingcountrymusic.com/valerie-june-stuns-the-acm-awards-in-duet-with-eric-church
https://savingcountrymusic.com/song-review-eric-churchs-homeboy
https://savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-eric-churchs-chief
June 17, 2014 @ 1:34 pm
I’m just pissed that one of my favorite artists Dwight Yoakam is coming to my town in December but unfortunately he’s opening for this conceited sack of manure. I still can’t figure out why Dwight is doing that. I gotta think Buck would slap his hat off his head and asked him what he’s thinking.
“I don”™t care who you are. Band members, managers label, anybody. You”™ve gotta go through battle with me and swap blood. I”™m not just gonna give you respect.” When I read this I thought now here’s a guy that needs a good ass whipping. My 3 year old son has a better attitude and respect for people than this.
June 18, 2014 @ 9:29 am
I second all your thoughts! However, Dwight is fly in/fly out point of his career. He will have limited interaction with this dork, and if he does, and Church is a the d-bag he is want to be, Dwight will just put on a better show and maybe Church will cry like Rascal did about Church. Wouldn’t that be the shit if Dwight got kicked off his tour for showing him up.
“…You”™ve gotta go through battle with me and swap blood…” and where are you going to do this battling and blood swapping Chruch? You are a f-ing guitar player, not some soldier.
June 17, 2014 @ 1:38 pm
It’s getting harder for me to like or defend this guy. Decent songs? He has a few. The go thing is hilarious when compiled into a list and hugely entertaining, but it’s wearing a bit thin. All that billy-bad-ass speak obout “The Outsiders and that album has the staying power of a pack of Fruit Stripes.
June 17, 2014 @ 7:38 pm
Eric Church is a mega douche. He thinks he is such a bad ass and an outlaw, when in fact he is the complete opposite and the more he brags about himself the more of a tool he becomes. I never heard any song of his that was decent. Some are just more tolerable than others.
June 17, 2014 @ 7:41 pm
I personally am kind of tired of these types of articles on here. I started visiting this site because I was bored with today’s mainstream country. I wanted a way to find new or unheard of artists. Or even re-discover some great songs from the past. I find that there are many articles bashing the mainstream artists or “gossip” posts about who said whatever about who. I’d rather spend time reading about good artists or songs. I’m not a huge fan of the mainstream artists but I don’t need to read articles about it to figure that out. Im a huge fan of this site and what it’s trying to do. And I get doing album/song reviews (even bad ones) or commenting on award shows, etc. I’d like to see more time spent on the highlights than the rants.
June 18, 2014 @ 12:23 am
“I wanted a way to find new or unheard of artists. Or even re-discover some great songs from the past.”
This was the article posted right right before this one:
Vintage Review- Marty Stuart”™s ”˜The Pilgrim”™ 15 Years Later
https://savingcountrymusic.com/vintage-review-marty-stuarts-the-pilgrim-15-years-later
This was the article posted right after this one:
Saving Country Music”™s Best Albums of 2014 So Far
https://savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-best-albums-of-2014-so-far
I totally understand if you don’t like these types of articles, but it could be just as much about your feelings on Eric Church as it does Saving Country Music’s coverage. It is a misnomer that my purpose is to promote music, or that somehow the radio of positive music coverage to negative has in any way changed over the years. Part of the problem with music journalism today is that everybody is engaged in promotion, and nobody is willing to give their true thoughts or ask tough questions. As an unsponsored and truly independent site, these tasks has fallen to me, and I am willing to be critical, willing to be hard, and police the industry, while still and always keeping the focus squarely on the music. If you arrived at this article, it is because of choices you made. There are plenty alternatives, and I’m not going to please everyone.
Having said all of that I appreciate your criticism and concern, and I take it seriously and register it just as I do everyone’s in a tireless attempt to make Saving Country Music better every single day.
Thanks for reading.
June 18, 2014 @ 9:02 am
I visit here for the writing. Reviews, rants or live coverage…I really enjoy Triggerman’s wordsmithing.
All of the other country music blogs censure the comments. You can only pamper and glorify the artists like demi-gods…which they are not.
June 18, 2014 @ 10:00 am
And speaking of Eric Church, I was reminded of this from the latest Quotable Country at Country California:
The stigma with country is it”™s not cool. That”™s wrong. Country is very cool.
As I said at my own blog…
I mean, really? Why should any self-respecting music fan give a damn about what”™s cool and what isn”™t, anyway? This whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing is what”™s gotten mainstream country music in its sorry shape in the first place!
And you know this is just one more reason that I have to point and laugh at anyone who tries to portray Eric Church as some kind of modern-day Outlaw or general badass, right? Do you think Jason Boland gives a flying shit about what”™s cool and what isn”™t? Do you think George Strait does? Do you think Waylon did?
June 18, 2014 @ 10:28 am
Hey Trig,
Since this article has nothing to do with his Music, I’ll comment on Eric’s comments and personality.
As someone who likes to be fair, why don’t you do an equal and opposite article about the humble quotes Eric has made. The quotes about George and Conway and the Hag not ever being replicated, etc… The quotes about Eric being nothing without his fans. The quotes about working with great songwriters and talented musicians, and about how humbling it is to play on the same stage with Country legends and how much that’s meant to him.
Seriously man, of course he pushes his own brand, toots his own horn, but to pick the douchiest quotes and list them in an article as if he has no other side is a low blow, even for a half-assed writer like yourself.
As someone who has known Eric and the band well (and not in a “I’ve been to a few shows” sort of way) since before they started this journey, these guys aren’t anything like what Rolling Stone will portray them to be. If you’re going to dog the shit out of him for what a couple of magazines print, knowing full well those magazines print articles to stir up drama, why not at least admit the quotes are probably taken out of context and blown out of proportion?
June 18, 2014 @ 1:32 pm
If you”™re going to dog the shit out of him for what a couple of magazines print, knowing full well those magazines print articles to stir up drama
At some point the whole “those magazines print articles to stir up drama” excuse just isn’t going to work anymore. If quotes like what Trigger posted are showing up in interview after interview after interview, then sooner or later we’re just going to have to draw conclusions based on those quotes.
And if it’s indeed true that “these guys aren”™t anything like what” they come off as in the magazines, well then, I’ll just go back to what I said in the comments to an earlier Eric Church post here:
So you don”™t see anything wrong with artists like Eric Church…deliberately cultivating images with their music and public commentary that could well be completely at odds with who they are as people? Well, I do see something wrong with that. I see it as the mark of a fake and a poseur, and I make no apologies for that. By all accounts, with folks like George Strait and Alan Jackson, what you saw and heard was pretty much exactly who they were as artists and as human beings. I don”™t see why that shouldn”™t still be the standard, as opposed to some semi-literate loudmouth hack putting on the “outlaw” act like it”™s some kind of costume.
June 18, 2014 @ 4:35 pm
Bobsled,
The reason I posted Eric Church’s quotes is because they are exceptional. All of these quotes came from only four articles, three of which were posted in Wenner Media properties. There were no humble quotes in those articles to include. In fact two of the articles were written by journalists who cited Church’s bellicose attitude specifically. Are there articles that cast him in a different light? Of course.
I think a lot of people are missing the underlying point of this article. I don’t believe the Eric Church that is portrayed by these quotes, and in the four articles they were taken from, exists. Nobody in Eric Church’s camp is concerned about me posting these quotes. They want them to be out there. This is how they want Eric Church portrayed. The truth about his true personality is anyone’s guess.
June 19, 2014 @ 8:11 am
This isn’t who the guy really is? Come on dude….all the quotes you point out are pretty standard and par for the course from any artist. Church saying the legends paved the way and the fans are important, sorry…but that is company line speak to me.
I am starting to judge artists by what they wear on stage as a measure of authenticity.
Take for example a Whitey Morgan, Leroy Virgil, Sturgill Simpson type. These guys get up in the morning, put on a t-shirt and jeans and a few hours later, they are up on stage somewhere…wearing the same thing.
Take a guy like Church….he doesn’t wear his designer jeans all day. He certainly doesn’t wear his sunglasses all day. Every other bro-country artist is same…they aren’t wearing their stage costume all day.
Now, stage attire being what you lounge around in isn’t a requirement. Stage look vs. street look is different. But my point is that there are artists that make their choices or there are artists that let an “image” be created they now can’t get away from.
I mean, Church is stuck with the glasses now. A Brantley Gilbert is stuck with the chains and XXS t-shirts. They as a person become a costume. The “bad dude” sunglasses becomes “I gotta act bad ass” becomes “I gotta say bad ass things” becomes “I can drink a fifth of whiskey”.
Back to the artists I consider authentic, like Whitey, Sturgill, Leroy, Eady, etc… they don’t have to live up to some costume image. They are all about the music and that is it. They don’t seem to get to caught up in anything much beyond that.
And at the most basic level, not knowing any of these guys personally, I would gravitate toward having a beer and being friends with a guy that isn’t wearing a costume every time we hang out.
June 19, 2014 @ 7:11 am
It is a shame really Eric shows flashes of real talent but based on his own words he appears to be mentally unstable not a way to bulid a long sustainable career at a high level. Time will tell.
June 20, 2014 @ 6:14 pm
What a tool
June 23, 2014 @ 8:01 am
(Sarcasm Alert) Wow, I just came here to get a little taste of hater-aid… looks like I found the whole damn factory! To all of you, when you get famous, please say things that only go over well with the general public. Please make yourself look like you should be the next pope. If you cannot achieve this level of zen, then please understand that the dumbasses who are going to hear what you say will blindly take it out of context and use it to make you look like an asshole. But don’t worry, they live in a little place called “troll-land” on the internet, with countries such as “savingcountrymusic.com”, and their god is named “trigger”. They can’t hurt you if you are bigger than their god (which Mr. Church seems to be). No, if you ever met anyone of them in person they would probably ask for your autograph and claim how they’re one of your biggest fans. They’re harmless really. Therefore, don’t give a F*$# what they say and do it your way. It will be far more satisfying in the end.
June 23, 2014 @ 8:06 am
Eric Church wants these quotes out there. That is why he said them. These quotes came from only four separate stories. So the context of the quotes are more quotes along the same lines. Click on the links and find out for yourself.
June 23, 2014 @ 9:11 am
No shit he wants them out there. I’m pretty sure he was conscious at the time of these interviews. I just don’t understand what all the fuss is about. I know you and your website were referenced in one of the articles, so you can’t be too pissed off at him. Especially since he did consider and lend a little bit of credibility to your comments, but he explained his position and that should be good enough for all of us. He did not say that Trigger takes himself too seriously, or Trigger needs to keep his mouth shut, or any of the other bullshit political negativity that you constantly spout off towards him. Quit frankly, the man you describe would have reacted a little differently, don’t you think? But, either way, he’s the artist… who are we to tell him how he should be? And if you couldn’t support an artist because their views or actions may be different than what you feel they should be, then there would be no artists to support.
November 19, 2014 @ 3:09 pm
So what?? EC is a bit of a loner and has some darkness in him….I think that’s what sets him apart. He speaks his mind and doesn’t give a shit if it’s PC or whom it’s going to piss off…he is who he is and doesn’t try to be anything else. Kind of refreshing!
May 23, 2019 @ 3:26 pm
He cant even come up with his own nickname he has to steal it from the true chief Eddy “the chief” Clearwater what a asshole