Country superstar says: “We will gather again”

In a video message shared directly to fans, reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church offered reassurance that live music will indeed return in 2021: “We are working on a North American tour. We’re waiting for the right timing to officially announce all the details, but I want you to know that a tour is coming, and we are very excited to play new music for our old friends… I cannot wait to see you on the road.”

The news of a tour on the horizon is accompanied by the release of an additional song off his forthcoming three-part project, Heart & Soul, with the bare-boned ballad “Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones” available everywhere now. The track is featured on the third album in the collection, Soul, set for release Friday, April 23rd following Heart’s release on Friday, April 16th and the release of the Church Choir’s exclusive vinyl-only middle album, &, on Tuesday, April 20th.

“‘Lynyrd Skynyrd Jones’ was such a tough one for us to get, but it ended up as one of my favorite performances of my career,” reflects Church. “Casey Beathard had written that song and I first played it laying back on my bed for a guitar vocal. I tried to play it the same way a thousand times after that, but there’s a way that song develops that we never could recapture – something about relaxing and laying back; there’s a lope to that song. I started to worry about the soul going away the more we tried, so Jay Joyce said, ‘let’s let Brian Sutton have a shot at it.’ We let him hear it one time and then he was feeling it as we went. There’s some extra pauses and spaces in the back of the recording as he figured it out – I think that’s what makes that song. It’s compelling and that’s a lot to do with Brian and Jay.”

In addition to releasing new music, Church will also take to the field at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, February 7th to perform the National Anthem with R&B star Jazmine Sullivan ahead of Super Bowl LV. The 10-time GRAMMY nominee recently spoke with the Los Angeles Times about the prestigious performance, noting “With what’s going on in America, it feels like an important time for a patriotic moment, an important time for unity. The fact that I’m a Caucasian Country singer and she’s an African American R&B singer — I think the country needs that.”

Following the game, Church will also perform as part of Verizon’s Big Concert for Small Business benefit, streaming live at 11 pm ET.