My First Opry Appearance: Eric Church

New Artist Eric Church Revels in Grand
Ole Opry Debut

By Wendy Newcomer

Eric Church photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville

Eric Church Photo Courtesy Of Capitol Nashville

On April 1, 2006, Eric Church made his Grand Ole Opry debut. Three days later, still on cloud nine, the Granite Falls, NC native talked to GACTV.com about the experience.

GACTV.com: Congratulations on your Opry debut!
Eric Church: Thanks! It was really cool.

GACTV.com: How did you get asked to be on the Opry?
EC: I was out on a radio tour and I got the call from my management company, saying 'They want you to do the Opry.' And being a kid from North Carolina whose dream was to play the Opry, I was pretty excited. And I was fortunate enough to have a pretty large group of family and friends come up. We had about 80 people. It was really neat. I'm very thankful for the Opry people for giving me the chance. It went well.

GACTV.com: Take me back to the day of your debut. How did your day start?
EC: I had just gotten in the night before from a radio tour. We'd been in New York. We had to be at the Opry around seven. I had family in town, so I had lunch with them and got to visit with them. I got to the Opry about 6:30, and the band and I got together in the dressing room and we loosened up, jammed a little bit.

I purposely wouldn't go out into the wings and look at the stage and the crowd. I didn't want to go out there until it was time to go out there. So about five minutes before it was time to go on, I walked out there with my manager and a few family members. That was a pretty cool moment--intimidating, but cool.

GACTV.com: Who in your family was with you, waiting in the wings?
EC: My parents, my brother and couple of close friends. They weren't really saying a whole lot. That was their first time on the side of the Opry stage too, looking out at the audience, so I think everybody was just caught up in taking it all in. I know I was. It's a very awesome sight. I don't think you're prepared for that sight. For them, I think it was a different perspective than what they're used to seeing.

GACTV.com: What did you sing?
EC: We did my single, "How 'Bout You," and the title track from my album, "Sinners Like Me." In my live show out on the road, we'll do "How 'Bout You" and break into "Black Betty." It was funny--we thought, 'Can we do Ram Jam at the Opry'? It was a last-minute decision before the late show, right before we walked out onstage. I told the guys, 'I'll give you a thumbs up or thumbs down.' So I gave them a thumbs up and we went for it. And the crowd loved it.

GACTV.com: I bet that's a first.
EC: Yes, that is the first time "Black Betty" has ever been played on the Opry. That's part of the reason I did it. I would've done it for the first show, but it was my first time on the Opry and I had some nerves going. But once we got to the second show, I was a little looser. I really was surprised at how many people resonded to it.

GACTV.com: What other artists were on with you?
EC: Diamond Rio, Julie Roberts, Trent Tomlinson, Jeff Bates, Radney Foster, myself, and then of course, Porter Wagoner, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jeannie Seeley and Connie Smith. All the regulars were there. Porter Wagoner introduced me for the first show, and then Jim Ed Brown for the second show.

GACTV.com: Did you get to talk to the Opry members backstage?
EC: Oh yeah. I got to talk to Jim Ed Brown onstage right after the song. He called me over and we talked there in front of the audience. And I got to speak with Porter before and after the first show. We even took a couple of pictures together afterwards.

My grandmother was there.That was probably the big highlight for me. It was great for me--a dream come true. But I think it was more gratifying for me because my grandmother was there. She's 84 years old, and for her, there is nothing bigger than the Opry. Her quote is, 'The Opry's bigger than Oprah.' I was really glad she got to be there. And Porter Wagoner is one of her favorites, so for Porter to introduce her grandson on the Opry was a really cool moment.

GACTV.com: Do you remember what time you went onstage?
EC: Yes, I do. It was exactly 8:20 for the first show, and it was 11:35 for the second show.

GACTV.com: Some people are so nervous making their Opry debuts that they can't speak, and some are strangely calm. Which one were you?
EC: I was strangely calm. I had a pretty good sense of butterflies for the first show, walking to the stage. You're walking down this hallway until you turn, and then you're walking in the wings. We didn't have a lot of time, and Porter was finishing his song. So we had a matter of seconds before they were going to introduce us. So I had some butterflies, but as an artist, you get those. But once I got onstage, I was eerily comfortable.

GACTV.com: Did you stand in the circle?
EC: I stood in the circle. My whole goal was to get to that circle. That was my focal point, when I was waiting in the wings. I said, 'I'm going right there.' It was something I'll never, ever forget.

GACTV.com: Did you grow up listening to the Opry?
EC: My grandmother has listened to the Opry her whole life, so as a young kid, I can remember listening to it. By the time I became a teenager, you could see the Opry on television and go to the Opry. I was 14 years old when I went to the Opry for the first time. We visited Nashville and went to the Opry, so I knew the tradition of it.Vince Gill was on that night. And he forgot the words to 'The Farmer's Daughter,' an old Merle Haggard song. I'll never forget it. Typical Vince--he came out smelling like a rose. He did brilliantly with it.

And I'll tell you what else is great. I've played a lot of gigs, but I've never felt this anywhere else. In that situation, it's almost like everybody's pulling for you. In most other situations, like awards shows, it's more of a competitive thing. You want to do better than everybody else. But at the Opry, I could tell that everybody wanted me to do good. And I wanted them to do good. It's the Opry--and it becomes family. Jim Ed came in our dressing room and brought his guitar. We broke into "Black Betty" and he left. But he was really sweet! (laughs)

GACTV.com: As a new artist, what does playing the Opry mean to you?
EC: It's very gratifying. I've been trying to do this for awhile. I've been in town for five years. I've been to the Opry 10 times or more in my life. So it was a very gratifying experience--and also very humbling. I really just tried to soak the moment up.

I especially remember during "Sinners Like Me," both times, in the middle of the song, I can remember really making sure that I was taking this in and soaking it up. I tried to look at as many faces as I could and make sure I never forgot that moment.

I respect the tradition of the Opry. There's nothing like it. Our dressing room had Bill Monroe's picture in it. We made sure that picture stayed straight all night.