Church’s second single reaches summit on Billboard and MediaBase as he prepares for back-to-back solo shows at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre Aug. 9 and 10
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 1, 2016) – Eric Church’s second single off Mr. Misunderstood hit No. 1 today just in time for fans to celebrate his seventh summit to the top of both MediaBase and Billboard
charts when he kicks-off his first of two sold-out solo shows at Red
Rocks on August 9. “Record Year” was co-written by Church and his
guitarist/banjo player, Jeff Hyde (who also penned
“Cold One” (with Luke Hutton), “Springsteen” (with Ryan Tyndell), and
“Smoke A Little Smoke” (with Driver Williams) all alongside the man the Los Angeles Times
called “Nashville’s foremost rabble-rouser”), and outlines a story of a
heartbroken music-lover finding consolation in the records of some of
music’s greatest masterminds.
Church drove home the homage-paying theme of “Record Year” when he
performed it at the 2016 ACM Awards in April, which was interfolded with
clips of David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Lemmy and Scott Weiland, before
releasing the music video for the ode later that month, featuring a 3D
audio waveform Church and video producer/longtime manager, John Peets, built by hand with vinyl. The No. 1 follows his Top 15 title track off of Mr. Misunderstood, the album New York Times
says offers “shades of the Allman Brothers and the scraped-up Southern
rock that has always been essential to Church’s country antagonism here,
but also bluesy country gospel.”
Since its release in February, the hit has caught the attention of critics; Los Angeles Times calls the single a, “deeply felt heartbreak song,” Rolling Stone dubbed it “the most moving moment” on the album, while Stereogum
called it a, “pun-happy lament” that “does quiet to loud in an
efficient gears-changing way that screams professionalism rather than
catharsis.”
Whether it’s the direct mentions and subtle allusions to his variety of
musical muses such as George Jones, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Waylon
Jennings, Willie Nelson and more, or the undeniable responsibility
anyone freshly jaded out of a relationship puts on their favorite
artists to cope, Church “has always been excellent at balancing
whiskey-charged toughness with open-hearted musical subtlety” (Rolling Stone).
Fan loyalty has always meant a lot to the seven-time GRAMMY nominee, ACM
and CMA-award winning singer/songwriter, which was made obvious when he
directly shipped copies of Mr. Misunderstood on vinyl to his Church Choir before making it available to the general public.
About Eric Church
The two-time Country Music Association and four-time Academy of Country
Music Award winner cemented his reputation as a maverick by releasing
his 2015 album Mr. Misunderstood as a surprise, delivering it to fans before announcing its existence and putting it on sale.
The North Carolina native’s previous album, The Outsiders, debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard
Top 200 Albums Chart and Top Country Albums Chart with the highest
debut and sales of any release in the format that year, making Church
2014’s top-selling country music artist. The album garnered GRAMMY, CMA
and ACM Album of the Year nominations and featured his No. 1 hits “Give
Me Back My Hometown” and “Talladega,” as well as multiple nominee “Like A
Wrecking Ball.” The Outsiders was the follow-up to Church’s Platinum-certified CHIEF,
named the 2012 Album of the Year by both CMA and ACM, and
GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Album. The LP featured five Top 20
singles: “Homeboy” (certified Platinum for sales in excess of one
million); the Top 10 “Like Jesus Does” and the Top 5 “Creepin’” (both
certified Gold for sales in excess of 500,000); and two No. 1 hits
“Drink in My Hand” (certified Platinum) and “Springsteen” (certified
Double Platinum for sales in excess of 2 million singles). Church’s 2006
debut album, Sinners Like Me, and his sophomore album, Carolina, (2009) are both RIAA Gold certified.