Eric Church took home Album of the Year at this year’s CMA Awards for his surprise offering, Mr. Misunderstood, that dropped during last year’s CMA Awards. “I always believe that if you put everything into making the best record you can make, regardless of how you release it and regardless of the press and they hype, the music wins,” says Eric. “I think the way we did this was we let the music lead and we started with the fans. I didn’t think we’d be here a year later winning Album of the Year, but we made the best album we could and we just let the music be the music.”
Eric also performed his latest single, “Kill a Word,” which features Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Backstage in the CMA pressroom, he expressed his sincere regret that the song is so appropriate to what’s going on in the world. “Well, unfortunately it’s relevant. I wish it wasn’t,” he says. “I think in the world we live in, it’s, the whole world has lost its mind. I’ve performed a lot on awards shows. I’ve played a lot of songs, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a performance that felt more important and timely than this one, and unfortunately, that’s true.”
For the 50th anniversary, Eric was thrilled that so many legendary artists were a part of the show. “Being a fan of country music, I revere country music and the history of it, and part of the reason why this award means so much to me is I’m a student of it. I’m a student of country music and especially the album of the Year Award, so the opening alone was mindblowing. I was backstage and I’m sitting there with Olivia Newton-John, and it was all I could do to not go into [sings] ‘Summer Lovin’…it was more than I could handle,” says Eric. “For me to be a fan of country music and to have a night like tonight and we all come tonight and honor what it is. I’m most proud that we did that, that we didn’t just come out here and play our single, that we honored where we came from. I think it’s important for where we’re going.”
The Chief will kick off his Holdin’ My Own Tour January 13th in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Audio / Backstage at this year’s CMA Awards, Eric Church talked about winning Album of the Year for Mr. Misunderstood.
DownloadEric Church (CMA Album of the Year) OC: …tried to do. :43
“What’s great about it is, it kind of validates, I always believe that if you put everything into making the best record you can make, regardless of how you release it and regardless of the press and they hype, the music wins. For me, that was the biggest thing about tonight is music wins. It doesn’t matter, you don’t need a 12-week ad cycle on a bunch of networks to [release] an album. I think the way we did this was we let the music lead and we started with the fans. I didn’t think we’d be here a year later winning Album of the Year, but we made the best album we could and we just let the music be the music. I think for our entire career that’s what we’ve always tried to do.”
Audio / Backstage at this year’s CMA Awards, Eric Church talked about how the 50th Annual CMA Awards was “more than he could handle” because of his Album of the Year Award and because of so many legendary artists who were there.
Download[NOTE: Eric says “sh&#” in the soundbite.You WILL need to bleep it.]
Eric Church (CMA Album Award means so much) OC: …this helped. [laughs] 1:09
“Being a fan of country music, I revere country music and the history of it, and part of the reason why this award means so much to me is I’m a student of it. I’m a student of country music and especially the album of the Year Award, so the opening alone was mindblowing. I was backstage and I’m sitting there with Olivia Newton-John, and it was all I could do to not go into [sings] ‘Summer Lovin’,’ shit, I was trying to da, da, da, da, da, I mean, it was more than I could handle. Just across the board, being with Dolly Parton; I had a great conversation with Vince Gill about cheeseburgers [laughs]. I mean, for me to be a fan of country music and to have a night like tonight and we all come tonight and honor what it is. I’m most proud that we did that, that we didn’t just come out here and play our single, that we honored where we came from. I think it’s important for where we’re going. I think it was the best awards show I’ve been a part of, and this helped. [laughs]”
Audio / Backstage at this year’s CMA Awards, Eric Church talks about performing his latest single, “Kill a Word,” on the show.
DownloadEric Church (performing Kill a Word on CMAs) OC: …stage with her. :43
“Well, unfortunately it’s relevant. I wish it wasn’t. I think in the world we live in, it’s, the whole world has lost its mind. I’ve performed a lot on awards shows. I’ve played a lot of songs, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a performance that felt more important and timely than this one, and unfortunately, that’s true. With Rhiannon, I was a big fan of the Carolina Chocolate Drops first of all, and for her to be able to stand up there and be able to put emotion on it is the big thing. She feels it. It’s coming from here (heart) and not here (head), and I think to be able to share the stage with her, I was honored to share the stage with her.”
