Happy Anniversary to Eric Church!!!!  One year ago today (July 26th), he released his third and most-celebrated album, Chief. The platinum-certified album (his first) debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Country Albums chart and the over-all Top 200. He took time off the road to hole up in a cabin to write the songs for the album. “I felt like our career had really got to a point that, it had gotten to the next level, I wanted to make a record that was indicative to that. The only way I knew how to do that, was to pause, and just take time, and figure out where we go from there,” says Eric. “That month in the cabin, there was no television, cell phone service, which in the middle of football season is brutal. I spent a lot of time at a local bar [laughs] in Banner Elk [laughs]. But I sat there with co-writers, got them out of their element, and sometimes we’d write a song at 3 am, sometimes we would write a song at 7am, sometimes we didn’t write a song, we’d just ride around and drink beer in a four wheeler. It was really, really cool to just let the creative process, just un-harness it, and let the creative process flow. I think that “unharnessed” really became part of what the record was.”

Chief has spawned three hits, including his first two No. 1 singles, “Drink in My Hand” and the two-week chart-topper, “Springsteen.” The fourth single from the collection, ‘Creepin’,’ is making its way up the country charts.

AUDIO: Eric Church explains why he took time off the road to write most of the songs for his new album, Chief.

Eric Church (taking time to write) OC: …in that cabin. 1:09

“Well, it’s the first time taking a month off to write this record; it’s the first time I’ve taken a month off in the middle of any kind of touring season in a long time…ever. And it was for me, I thought it was time, and we, I put so much into the record making process, every time we do it, I empty the tank doing it. And this time, two records in, I felt like our career had really got to a point that, it had gotten to the next level, I wanted to make a record that was indicative to that. The only way I knew how to do that, was to pause, and just take time, and figure out where we go from there. That month in the cabin, there was no television, cell phone service, which in the middle of football season is brutal. I spent a lot of time at a local bar [laughs] in Banner Elk [laughs]. But I sat there with co-writers, got them out of their element, and sometimes we’d write a song at 3 am, sometimes we would write a song at 7am, sometimes we didn’t write a song, we’d just ride around and drink beer in a four wheeler. It was really, really cool to just let the creative process, just un-harness it, and let the creative process flow. I think that ‘unharnessed’ really became part of what the record was. It just is, there’s no rules. It’s unchained, it’s loose, it’s wild, and I think that started in that cabin.”