Eric Church Looking Forward to Playing More Solo Acoustic Shows

When Eric Church unexpectedly played an acoustic show in Salt Lake City earlier this year, after his band and crew got sick during his The Outsiders World Tour, he didn't realize what he was starting. Thanks to the success of that show, the North Carolina native says that there may be more solo shows in his future.

"We're opening [the new Ascend] Amphitheatre in Nashville [on July 30], and I'm going to do that by myself, solo acoustic," Church tells Rolling Stone Country. "So I'm going to start doing a little bit of that here and there when the situation calls for it."

Church broke the attendance record at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena in January, proving that he has plenty of fans in Music City. It's uncommon for an artist to play in the same town twice in seven months, but the "Like a Wrecking Ball" singer found a way to make it work.

"When we had talked about it, we had just played Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and really couldn't go play [the area] again," he explains. "It was one of those things where they had mentioned, 'We sure wish you guys were available when we open this thing.' And we were off, and I wasn't doing anything, and when I heard it, I immediately said, 'You know what, I had such a great time in Salt Lake ...'"

Church also left his band behind when he opened two shows for George Strait on Strait's farewell The Cowboy Rides Away Tour last year, which reminded him of the power of just him and his guitar.

"That's really where it started for me, because I walked out there in the round, 20,000 George Strait fans, and had no clue what I was going to do, and I was scared to death," Church recalls. "It was the first time in a long time I've been scared to death on stage, and I loved it. It's that feeling that you don't get every night, and I think it made for a really special show.

"And then Salt Lake happened — and again, it was just one of those times it was a magical night, I could never duplicate that — but somewhere during that show, I just found myself having a lot of fun," he adds. "So I'm going to look at doing a few of those special things by myself."

Church's performance at the Ascend Amphitheatre sold out in five minutes, prompting him to add a second show at the venue, on July 31. Tickets for the second show will go on sale on May 7, at 10AM CT.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t listen to my fans, and this time, they spoke up loud and clear,” he notes. “I am keeping with the tradition of The Outsiders Tour in that no show will be the same, but I am adding a second night to ensure we can get all our friends in for this performance.”

Church's The Outsiders World Tour heads to Kentucky, Missouri and Indianapolis this week. All of his upcoming shows are listed on his website.

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