Many of the same musicians have backed Eric Church, both on his albums and during live performances, since he got his start as a signed artist. In this program, Church’s current band—Jeff Cease, Lee Hendricks, Jeff Hyde, Billy Justineau, Driver Williams, and Craig Wright—discusses working with Church while sharing songs and stories. Moderated by the Museum’s Angela Stefano Zimmer, this program was recorded on May 25, 2024, in support of the exhibition “Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul,” presented by Gibson.

Beginning with the longest-tenured band member and moving in chronological order, the musicians share about their careers leading up to meeting Church and the circumstances that led to them becoming members of his band. Live performances of Church’s songs “How ‘Bout You,” “Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Some of It,” and “Springsteen” and videos of the band performing “Bad Mother Trucker,” “Lotta Boot Left to Fill,” and “The Outsiders” with Church supplement the conversation. Questions from the audience conclude the program.

Drummer Wright played on Church’s first demo recordings with producer Jay Joyce, while bassist Hendricks became part of Church’s band after signing up for a weekend’s worth of gigs in 2006. Longtime Eric Church Band guitarists Cease (who co-founded the Black Crowes) and Williams draw on their rock music backgrounds to help create Church’s heavy sound, and guitarist and banjo player Hyde is also one of Church’s go-to songwriting partners. In more recent years, Church’s band has grown to include pianist Justineau, who joined in July 2020, after participating in recording sessions for Church’s Heart & Soul triple album earlier that year.

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https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/experiences/public-programming

Learn about the Museum’s exhibitions:
https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/experiences/calendar/exhibitions

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