Eric Church Is Going ‘Out of the Spotlight’ in 2013

Eric Church's platinum-selling CD, Chief, is already more than a year old, but fans hoping for a follow-up project may have to wait a while.

"I'm not anywhere close to a next album," he tells Billboard. "I'm not in a hurry. I'm never in a hurry to make records, never will be. I'm waiting on the creative process to tell me what's next. I'm not going to be an artist who just makes records so the [label] can make its quarterly numbers or just to support a tour. That's the worst reason in the world to make music. I still think there has to be evolution ... and it would be very disappointing for us to come to the point we've come to and not have that next record show great evolution, because I think the best bands and best artists do that."

The North Carolina native is currently crossing the country with his Blood, Sweat & Beers tour, which wraps up in October. After that, he says he plans on staying away from the stage while he contemplates his next move.

"I'm going to be out of the spotlight next year, really," the 35-year-old notes. "I want to see if I can write some songs and see where we can go, musically. I'm looking forward to that. I really want to see where this thing goes."

Eric recently celebrated the platinum-selling success of his No. 1 hit, "Springsteen." But perhaps no accolade will compare to the gift he recently received, when the Boss sent Eric a personal note praising the tune.

"I'm a big Springsteen fan," he admits. "I love the way Bruce built his career. It's similar to the way we built ours in bars and clubs and teeny-tiny places that we would sell out multiple nights."

Eric's upcoming shows include stops in Pennsylvania, Texas and Kentucky. See a list of his remaining concert dates here.