Eric Church launches his first arena headlining tour on Thursday (January 19th), and he’s looking forward to seeing familiar faces when he hits the stage each night. “I can remember playing ‘em when there were 50 people there, and to step into these arenas and have these many people, it’s directly responsible for those first 50, and I hope they’re up front,” says the Grammy nominee. “You know, we’ve done everything we can to have them there, and it’s gonna be neat to see their faces and think about where we’ve came from every night.”

The much-anticipated Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour will also feature newcomer Brantley Gilbert, who appeared on Eric’s radar a few years ago. “I was getting all these calls from bar and club owners in the Southeast where we had set quite a few attendance records, and told me this kid was down there breaking my records,” recalls Eric. “I remember I wrote his name down and pushed it to the side, and made sure that if my day ever came…he’d be at the top of the list for a tour.”

For more information and tour dates, go to ericchurch.com.

• What a week it’s been for Eric, who is experiencing a lot of firsts this week, including his first arena headlining tour AND his first No. 1 single with “Drink in My Hand.”

Eric Church (Blood, Sweat & Beers) OC: …went down. :34

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen some of these places, so I know what I’m gonna be feeling inside and I hope it explodes out there. That’s what I’m gonna be doing when I stand up on that stage. It’s been a long time coming for us to be here. And I can remember playing ‘em when there were 50 people there and to step into these arenas and have these many people, it’s directly responsible for those first 50, and I hope they’re up front. You know, we’ve done everything we can to have them there, and it’s gonna be neat to see their faces and think about where we’ve came from every night. And it’s gonna be fun and gratifying to go out there and think about all the hard work and think about all the paths we’ve went down.”

Eric Church (Brantley Gilbert) OC: …kick-ass tour. :26

“I choose Brantley, because actually he got on my radar a couple of years ago. I was getting all these calls from bar and club owners in the Southeast where we had set quite a few attendance records, and told me this kid was down there breaking my records. And I remember I wrote his name down and pushed it to the side, and made sure that if my day ever came, I was definitely gonna, he’d be at the top of the list for a tour. So, when it was time for us to do the headline tour, he was the first person I thought about, and I’m glad he’s joining us. I think it’s gonna be a pretty kick-ass tour.”