Country artist Eric Church focuses on honest songwriting

Published 3:48 pm Thursday, July 31, 2008

The phrase “honest lyrics” is bandied about by musicians, music critics and publicity folks so much that it ceases to have much meaning.

But it means something to country singer Eric Church, who performs a sold-out show Sunday at Blazing Saddles Restaurant &Lounge in Stanwood.

“The honesty part is in relation to myself and to how I feel and how I want the music to be represented,” Church said.

“It’s been that way with everything we’ve done. From a song writing standpoint, every song that I’ve written, I’ve lived or somebody (I know) lived, and I’ve witnessed first-hand.”

For Church, being honest means he doesn’t shy away from touchy topics.

“‘Two Pink Lines’ is about pregnancy, not the most comfortable thing to talk about and honestly … most country artists wouldn’t want be involved with that (topic), but real artists take topics like that and bring them to the forefront,” Church said.

Church has had three Top-20 hits (“Two Pink Lines,” “How Bout You?” and “Guys Like Me”), a validation of his approach, but he’s more impressed with the steady growth of ticket sales to his shows.

“I believe in hard work and pounding the road and taking the show to fans … every time we come back, we increase (attendance).”

Kenny Rogers once told Church that the rise to the top exactly mirrors the fall to the bottom.

“That resonated a lot with me coming from a guy who has been doing it 40 years … a lot of people shoot to the top and about as fast come crashing back to Earth. I’m not interested in being that kind of star (or in falling). I’m happy to be a career musician and make music and then be historically looked back on and being thought of as making authentic music.”

Although he doesn’t do much song writing for others anymore, he co-wrote the Terri Clark hit single “The World Needs a Drink.” Still, song writing is the heart of what he does.

“If you told me I could be the biggest singer in the history of the world but never record a song I’d written, or a songwriter with no guarantee of success, well … it’s the song writing,” Church said.

He has a vision for his future.

“I once saw an old clip of (Barack) Obama saying that when he first started out, he couldn’t get people to notice him and his viewpoint but he did see something happening at the grassroots level. He could see a groundswell that nobody else saw.

“Did he know that he would become president? He thought it might happen, based on what he saw. I feel like that. I can see where you get to that astronomical level.”

Rolling Stone said Church’s debut album, “Sinners Like Me,” “could be the literary country album of the year.” Two years later, it’s back on the charts.

“It’s that steady sales thing again.”

His sophomore album, “Carolina,” should be released in September.

“It’s definitely going to shock some people. We made a record that’s totally different (from “Sinners”). It’s brighter, not as gritty, more melodic. I’ve been listening to a lot of rock ‘n’ roll … I can’t wait for people to get it and see the contrast.”