Carolina Homecoming

Eric Church Plays World Premiere Album Release Party at Legends Monday

Story by David Brewer

This Monday, March 23, country star and ASU graduate Eric Church will celebrate the release of his new album Carolina with a world premier album release party at Legends. Attendees who purchase tickets in advance will receive a complimentary copy of the new album at the show.

On Monday, March 23, Granite Falls native, ASU graduate and burgeoning country star Eric Church will release his sophomore album Carolina at a special world premiere CD release party at Legends. Tickets are $12 in advance for students and $15 general admission. All attendees who purchase tickets in advance will receive a copy of Carolina at the door. Doors open at 9:00 p.m. Legends has a BYOB policy with a six-pack limit.

Carolina, the highly anticipated sophomore release from Church, is set for official release Tuesday, March 24 on Capitol Records Nashville. The album’s single, “Love Your Love The Most,” has been steadily climbing country charts in recent weeks and the song’s music video, shot in New York City, is currently airing on CMT and GAC networks. On March 19, Church will be the musical guest on NBC’s new late-night program, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Before graduating from ASU with a marketing degree in 2000, Church and his band The Mountain Boys were regulars on the local club scene, appearing at Twigs and now-defunct nightspots Cottonwood Brewery and Ham’s in Blowing Rock. During those early gigs, the music bug bit Church hard, nearly prompting him to leave Boone for Nashville prior to graduating.

According to Legends Manager Randy Kelly, Church’s father enticed him to stay in school by offering to pay his rent during his first year in Music City. Church acquiesced and graduated, but it didn’t take him long to head west to Tennessee once his diploma was in his hand.

Church made his first trip back to Boone in the fall of 2007 and played Legends for a rabid crowd of family, friends and fans. At the time, his debut album Sinners Like Me was racing toward Billboard’s Top 10 album chart, spawning multiple Top 20 hits, including “How ‘Bout You,” “Two Pink Lines” and “Guys Like Me.”

“It’s going to be cool to pull up in a tour bus and do our thing,” said Church during a 2007 interview. “I spent many a night [at Legends] drinking my six-pack BYOB limit.”

The album earned Church widespread critical praise from Associated Press, Rolling Stone, People Magazine and The New York Times, which proclaimed, “…it’s a strong candidate for country album of the year.”

Last fall, Church played the High Country’s biggest room, opening for fellow country star Gary Allan at the Holmes Center. The Granite Falls native recently hit the road on “The Young & Wild Tour,” his first national tour as a headliner.

“I’m both excited and anxious to be embarking on my first headline tour,” said Church in a press release. “I’m excited about seeing the fans and playing some music after a four month break and anxious about being a headliner for the first time. As with everything in my career, I am placing my faith in the people—that they will show up and set the tone for this tour. I believe they will.”

As Billboard recently noted, “Church has built his audience the old-fashioned way. He tours. A lot. During the last two years Church has played more than 240 dates, opening for country stars Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley, as well as rock legend Bob Seger.”

The trade publication also quotes Jay Williams, Church’s agent at the William Morris Agency, “For someone at the club level to have this intense a fan base is rare…He comes across as honest and true and his fans identify with that.” Church has lovingly dubbed his large fan base “the Church Choir.”

Advance tickets are on sale now at the Plemmons Student Union ticket desk. For more info, click to www.apps.appstate.edu.

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