I love the honesty and upfront attitude of country stars. They have no airs or affectations. Many of them worked their way up from the bottom to the very top. Eric Church is one of these likable, straightforward folks. Church was a guest recently on The Steam Room with Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson. He described the steep learning curve he faced as a teenage performer, per Whiskey Riff. The story he told is a real howler.
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Church Talked About That Long-Ago Gig
Church must have been a plucky kid when he was 18. Not many teens would have the moxie to get on a stage and perform, but he sure did. It did not turn out quite as he envisioned, though.
Per the outlet via The Steam Room, Church shared, "My first gig was at a place called Woodlands BBQ in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. And I got the coveted Monday night spot at 6 PM. Everybody wants that spot. I knew 12 songs. I had learned 12 songs.
He added, "In my head, they told me, 'You're going to play a set and you're going to take a break.' In my head, everybody's going to leave the bar and they're going to change the bar over, and I'm going to do this from 6 to 10."
He Got a Big Surprise
Church recalled, "I got there at 6, and I played my 12 songs, and at the end of that I said, 'I'm gonna take a break.' Nobody left. So I came back out for my second set, I didn't know anything but those 12 songs. I didn't know whether we'd go backwards, that's all I had."
Brutal candor is sometimes the best way out of a jam. So young Church was blunt with the crowd about his highly limited repertoire. "I was actually honest with them. I said, 'Listen, tonight's my first gig, if you guys will permit me to come back next week, anything you write on a napkin tonight I promise I'll learn by the time I'm here next Monday night."
A few sly patrons tried to stump him. "Now, there were some interesting things. I had to think about how to play 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna, but that was a learning experience for me."
Church Valued Getting That Experience
Church reminisced about those early days with gratitude. "In the world we live in now, you have all these reality TV shows and TikTok. When I came up, you had to come up in the bars and clubs and you had to go through things like that."
He continued, "When the time comes that the moment is big, you feel like you belong there. And I think what happens a lot of times now is a lot of the younger artists skip that step. So I'm happy that I had that step."
