Eric Church is one of the biggest names in country music today. Currently, he has ten chart-topping singles. On top of that, Chief will share the stage with George Strait later this year in Atlanta. More importantly, Church has a legion of adoring and loyal fans. It is hard to believe that he introduced himself to the world of country music just fifteen short years ago with Sinners Like Me.
Sinners Like Me was an amazing introduction to the musical and writing style of Eric Church. He co-wrote every track on the album. So, there is a little bit of him in each one of the songs. The album spawned four singles, the title track, “Guys Like Me,” “Two Pink Lines,” and “How ‘Bout You.” All but the title track landed in the top-20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart. The album itself peaked at number 7 on the publication’s Top Country Albums chart.
Fans got a solid introduction to not only his music but also his attitude on the road that year. To support Sinners Like Me, Eric Church hit the road as Rascal Flatts’ opening act on their Me & My Gang Tour. He chafed under the rules of the tour. So, he broke them. He played too long, too loud, and went to areas on the stage that he wasn’t supposed to go. So, Rascal Flatts fired him. In response, he kicked off the Me & Myself Tour. He played local clubs to compete with the Me & My Gang dates.
So, Sinners Like Me didn’t put Eric Church at the top of the country charts. However, it got him close. The album obviously did two things exceptionally well. First, it showed Church how well his music was received and pushed him to do bigger things in the future. More importantly, it introduced his brand of country music to an audience who didn’t know they were waiting for him to come around.
Eric Church – Before Sinners Like Me
Today, the country music world knows that Eric Church is a great recording artist who thrives on the stage. At the same time, his songwriting chops are well-documented. However, when Chief came to Music City, he never planned to cut an album of his own. In fact, we went to Nashville to be a songwriter. Being an artist was never in the cards for Church, or so he thought. He landed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Tree and started penning bangers.
Eric Church talked about what changed his mind in a 2013 interview with Billboard. People kept saying, “We love this or that song, but it sounds like it’s his,” about Church’s songs. That was what made him that maybe he was going about things the wrong way. So, he started kicking around the idea of becoming a recording artist.
It wasn’t long before he dropped Sinners Like Me and carved out a place for himself in the country music world and on the Mount Rushmores of countless fans. Go give Sinners Like Me a spin and see where Chief’s journey to the top started.
