Eric Church
With five CMA nominations coming his way Wednesday (Sept. 5), Eric Church is about to make a live album over the course of two nights (Oct. 8-9) at the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga, Tenn., for release in early 2013. This kind of album isn't something you can throw together when you're a rookie. The sound of a sparse crowd in a small room isn't quite the vibe people usually want for a live album. And Church gets that, but he is happy he did play a lot of honky-tonks and smaller venues before he got to the arena stage. "I think you have to go through those environments to be able to earn your way into a place where you're in front of 10,000 to 15,000 people," Church told CMT Radio. "Then if something goes wrong, you can still handle it." Church is also busy with a new contest on his website where fans can send in -- via video -- stories about the moment they first got into his music. The winner gets two tickets to one of the Chattanooga shows, a one-night hotel stay and a meet-and-greet with Church.
