Widely renowned for his singular concerts, with Forbes remarking that he “frequently looks to shake up just how fans experience live music,” Eric Church once again offers a unique live experience with an exclusive pair of shows set for May 23 and 24 at Nashville’s newest live music venue, The Pinnacle, in celebration of the release of his highly anticipated May 2 album, Evangeline vs. The Machine. Pre-order/pre-save the album HERE.
Tickets to Evangeline vs. The Machine Live go on sale to premium Church Choir members Monday, March 31 at 10 a.m. CT. Become a premium Church Choir member here.
The one-off shows will see Church perform the new album in sequence for the first time, while also treating fans to a number of compelling performances of his most iconic hits. A self-proclaimed “album artist,” Church has always championed the power of cohesive storytelling, and Evangeline vs. The Machine is no exception. “An album is a snapshot in time that lasts for all time,” Church shares of the creative approach behind the highly-anticipated new project. “I believe in that time-tested tradition of making records that live and breathe as one piece of art – I think it’s important.”
“I’ve always let creativity be the muse. It’s been a compass for me,” he adds. “The people that I look up to in my career and the kind of musicians I gravitate to never did what I thought they were going to do next – and I love them for it. I never want our fans to get an album and go, ‘Oh, that’s like Chief or that’s like this.’ Painstakingly, I lose sleep at night to try to make sure that whatever we do creatively, they go, ‘Wow, that's not what I thought.’ I think that's my job as an artist.”
Lead single “Hands Of Time” is already impressing, having set a new personal record en route to becoming most added at Country radio this week with 135 first-week stations and earning immediate praise from fans and critics alike. Stereogum lauded the “juicy, fired-up Southern rocker about living in a world that increasingly makes no sense to you;” Rolling Stone celebrated the “nostalgic jukebox, full of allusions to songs and artists that were essential to Church’s career: Bob Seger and ‘Hollywood Nights,’ Tom Petty and ‘Even the Losers,’ AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black,’ and Willie and Waylon’s ‘Luckenbach, Texas,’ among them;” and Billboard honored the way “the song builds into a punchy, rock-fueled anthem as Church sings of turning to simple pleasures – particularly music – to fend off the impact of the passing decades.”
Among the other songs featured on the forthcoming Jay Joyce-produced album is “Darkest Hour,” released ahead of the project to support relief efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024, with all of Church’s publishing royalties donated to provide ongoing funds in support of a more resilient future for his home state of North Carolina. “That song had the chance to change things—it already has,” Church reflects. “The greatest concert I’ve ever played was the Concert for Carolina – that’s the greatest thing I’ve been involved with. This song played a big part of that night and is a rallying cry for the people there that still need a lot of help. As a person who writes and performs a song, seeing it truly impact people’s lives is the greatest thing you can hope to accomplish.”
Also included is “Johnny,” a soul-stirring reinterpretation inspired by “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and the Covenant School tragedy, which Church has previewed in limited settings at both his Chief’s To Beat The Devil residency and the recent Country Radio Seminar, leaving audiences in awe. “About a year ago, we had a shooting here in Nashville at the Covenant School,” he explained when introducing the song during CRS. “Where my kids go to school, my two boys, is about a mile from that school. I will tell you something, the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life – parent or otherwise – is dropping them off at that school the day after the shooting and watching them walk inside. I sat in the parking lot for a long time, and as fate would have it, as I was pulling out, Charlie Daniels was playing, ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ I remember thinking, man, we could use Johnny right now, because the Devil’s not in Georgia, he’s everywhere. I went home and wrote ‘Johnny’.”
For more information, visit EricChurch.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter/X @ericchurch and Instagram@ericchurchmusic.
About Eric Church
A seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner (including the 2020 award for Entertainer of the Year) and 10-time GRAMMY nominee – including three nods for Best Country Album, Eric Church has amassed a passionate fan base around his critically acclaimed catalog of music. Church’s October 2024 release, “Darkest Hour,” saw the superstar signing over all of his publishing royalties to the people of North Carolina to provide immediate relief following the devastation of Hurricane Helene while also providing ongoing funds to support a more resilient future for his home state. The song is featured alongside current single “Hands Of Time” on his forthcoming album, Evangeline vs. The Machine arriving May 2, marking his first new music since 2021’s Heart & Soul triple album (“Stick That In Your Country Song,” “Hell Of A View”). That project followed prior releases including RIAA Gold-certified Desperate Man (“Some Of It,” “Desperate Man”); Platinum-certified Sinners Like Me (“How ’Bout You,” “Guys Like Me”), Carolina (“Smoke a Little Smoke,” “Love Your Love the Most”) and Mr. Misunderstood (“Record Year,” “Round Here Buzz”); Double-Platinum certified The Outsiders (“Like a Wrecking Ball,” “Talladega”); and 4x Platinum-certified Chief (“Springsteen,” “Drink In My Hand”), as well as 32 Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum certified songs. Church is also a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, a co-owner of the iconic Field & Stream brand, has his own SiriusXM music channel, “Eric Church Outsiders Radio,” his own liquor offering, Whiskey JYPSI, and recently opened Chief’s, a six-story venue on Nashville’s famed lower Broadway.
