Artists: Biography Eric Church  

Eric Church grew up in Granite Falls, N.C., in an area known as one of the world's furniture capitals. He recalls being 4 years old, standing on a table at a local restaurant, singing "Elvira" to a waitress and a handful of patrons who would reward him with change. He was 13 when he started writing songs, and he bought a cheap, hard-to-tune guitar and taught himself to play, influenced by his parents' eclectic tastes, which stretched from Motown to bluegrass.

At a little bar in the mountains of North Carolina, he watched a band getting big tips for playing songs that he knew, and within two weeks, he had a gig of his own. He quickly formed a band with his roommate, his brother and another guitarist and temporarily picked the name the Mountain Boys. The first night they knew just 14 songs, but they faked their way through a four-hour set and held onto enough of the crowd to help launch them as a regional act. In a year or so, Church was throwing original songs into the set mix and not long afterward was selling CDs of his own material. They were playing four or five nights a week in bars, as well as frat and sorority parties in Asheville, Hickory and Boone.

Church played basketball, baseball and golf in high school, but in college, he turned to music. Before moving to Nashville, he graduated from college with a degree in marketing. In return, his father paid for his first six months in Music City.

The financial cushion his father had given him gave him time to make contacts. Six months in, he had to take a day job, but six months after that, he was signed to a publishing deal at Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing. He began getting cuts, including Terri Clark's "The World Needs a Drink." Then, Arthur Buenahora at the publishing company introduced Church to producer Jay Joyce. The two clicked instantly and began cutting demos.

Following a showcase, Church signed to Capitol Nashville, with Joyce as producer. After the release of his first single, "How 'Bout You," Sinners Like Me was released in 2006.