Eric Church Co-Hosts 4/16
Top 10: Heart On Fire
This week’s co-host is Eric Church, who spoke with Lon just a couple days after attending the NCAA Championship Game in New Orleans. Lon begins the show by asking Eric if he’s recovered. “I did, first of all the Duke-Carolina game was the greatest thing I’ve witnessed in my 44 years. Very rarely does it live up to that. Having my kids there, this is the best part, they took to this team. To be able to spend that time with them was priceless.”
Of course, Eric had to cancel a concert in order to do that. So Lon asked at what point did he realize that UNC could be playing Duke in the Final Four? “After the first weekend, my kids could see the possibility of Duke & Carolina. Boone, my oldest, was the one doing the brackets. He said ‘If they make the final four, can we go?’ I never looked at the schedule. I said if they make the Final Four, we’ll be there. The chances were astronomical. Six days before San Antonio is when I saw it. I realized I can make up that show. But I can’t replicate Duke-Carolina in the Final Four. I can’t get that back. So it was one of those things where I knew I’d disappoint people, I didn’t know it would be as noisy as it was. But I made a decision to do it.”
Lon then said the reason the noise was so loud was because of Eric’s reputation about concerts & fans: “You’re right, and the reason I was honest was because of that. I always trust my fans. I’m not taking this for granted. I wanted them to know this is what this means to me. I’m not lying to you. This means this much to me. I hated for people who made plans. I’m sorry about that. I’ll make it up to San Antonio. I’ll give them a show they won’t forget. It was because it was that unique an event in my life. In this case, I decided I’d be there.”
Eric then added there was once very special moment after the Duke-Carolina game: “I had a Facetime with all of the players after they beat Duke. It was just wild. They felt the heat. They’d been watching Sports Center too. If there was anything I could do to help them beat Duke, if there was any extra emotion. They saved my bacon by winning.”
On a completely different subject, Lon asked Eric about his friendship with Morgan Wallen: “There are a lot of these younger guys that I’ve become friends with. With Morgan, we talk weekly. The thing I like about him is he’s a genuine person, and real honest. We enjoy spending time together. We go fishing, we’ve written songs, and it’s become a neat friendship for me.”
Lon then asked if he had given Morgan any advice: “I just told him to keep it about the music. A lot of people told him to keep it between the lines, and I told him ‘Screw the lines, keep it between the buoys. Lines are too tight. Let’s do buoys.’ He’s doing very well. I think anyone who spends time with him will get a genuine person, and I appreciate that.”
Eric also has great stories this week about Dierks Bentley, Parker McCollum, Kenny Chesney, and Thomas Rhett.
