Eric Church has been around for a long time. The 48-year-old released his first album, Sinners Like Me, 19 years ago. In the almost two decades since then, Church has seen a lot of changes in the music industry, and not all of them positive. In recent years, social media has let countless singers become instant celebrities, without doing the work that was once required to have any success.
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"I got in a band pretty quick," Church says on Bobby Bones' Bobbycast, revealing it was before he turned 18. "I started just playing in a band, in some shady places ...I've done all those things. And you learn a lot from those situations. I always talk about, in the world we live in now, it's easier to get discovered, and to earn a following. But it's harder to earn that as a musician."
Church recalls one recent incident that drives home his point, which occurred while Church was planning his Free The Machine Tour.
'll give you an example, and I won't name a name, but there was an act recently that I like a lot, and we were talking about our next tour," Church recalls. "And this person, who has a presence on social media, whatever. I said, 'Hey, we'd love to have you.' They don't have a band yet, they've not toured yet. That's all just what they do on their channel. They've not played yet."
Eric Church's Own Rise To Stardom
For Church, the biggest problem with some of the newer acts is the lack of experience they have by becoming internet stars without starting out small, as Church and countless other artists have done.
"You've not taken anything on the road, and that's the problem," Church reflects. "Because you learn so much from being in those situations. And what I found in my career, you're gonna get in big moments. And if you don't feel like you deserve the big moment, you might not meet the moment."
For Church, humble beginnings are crucial to future success, and also a predictor of an artist's longevity.
"Everybody should have those shows where the band outnumbers the audience," maintains the "Hands of Time" singer. "Or those shows where you've got feedback all night or the guitar player's guitar goes down ... Those disasters that you manage in those places are what allow you to get to a different place and grow. Growth is the biggest thing. It's hard to grow when you're putting out whatever it is, and all of a sudden it's massively popular, but there's no journey from when you put that out to the popularity. There is no arc."
