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    Eric Church has been quite the interesting musician to peg since first album released in 2006.

    Now four studio albums and one live album in, the general audience is still stuck with that question, but what Church has figured out that other labeled country artists haven’t mastered is how to invite many different kinds of people in to his music.

    He has been identified with country music since the start as he probably should be. With a song on his debut album called “Pledge Allegiance To The Hag” in reference to Merle Haggard, I would say country is very accurate.

    But since then, he has broadened his horizons. He played Orion Festival which is created and curated by Metallica. He has revealed roots in the music of Levon Helm (The Band), Gregg Allman (The Allman Brothers Band), and Mavis Staples by performing (or in the case of Staples, soon to perform) at celebration concerts. He has also a repeat performer at Lollapalooza in Chicago. 

    He’s got the outlaw looks too though doesn’t he? Ragged jeans, unkempt facial hair, worn hat. He is following in the musical steps of men like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings while pulling off the image too. As you can tell by song from his album “The Outsiders” of the same name the outlaw mentality is always present in his lyrics. Watch a performance of the song here

    With all that said, an Eric Church show is a combination of all these styles of music. It has the pyro of a Kiss show, the twang of a country show, and the catchy hooks to reach the pop fans.

    You can listen to Eric Church on the back porch next to a fire, at the bar, or at a stadium like the lucky thousands will tonight.

    The openers that Church has chosen for him reflect a specific tone of the music being played. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not pop or bro country. The two acts who will kick it off tonight are Dwight Yoakam and Brothers Osborne. Yoakam is in the interesting position of playing Louisville twice this year. The previous time was at Forecastle. Not many acts can say they have played Forecastle and a “country” concert. Brothers Osborne, the rookies of the group, released their first EP earlier this month fronted by the single “Rum,” a chill, drawling twangy tune about you guessed it, one of their favorite drinks. 

    Photo courtesy of Eric Church Facebook page

    Will Ford's picture

    About Will Ford

    Covering Louisville music like it's the 6 o' clock news. I've covered Forecastle, Louder Than Life, Moontower, Starry Nights, and Louisville music news for 3 years. Follow me @parasiticnoise

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