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Live event production and rehearsal studio Rock Lititz and development firm Al. Neyer have teamed to open a 55-acre Nashville entertainment rehearsal and production campus, Rock Nashville, in 2025.
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The deal will include 44 acres of development over a 55-acre site in Nashville’s Whites Creek neighborhood. The Rock Nashville campus will include three buildings with more than 515,000 square feet of sound stages as well as creative offices and production facilities in various sizes with the capacity to support various production specifications for live shows, from local bands to A-list artists. The campus will include resources for performers and 13 band and production studio rehearsal spaces ranging from club/theater sizes to amphitheater, arena and stadium-scale (including one space up to 95 feet tall to replicate venues of that size), as well as set storage, backline rental, artist relation offices and a community cafe.
The campus is expected to become home to nearly 35 companies, including rehearsal studio complex SoundCheck, which had a hand in designing Rock Nashville and helped spearhead the strategic partnership between the team at Rock Lititz and Al. Neyer. SoundCheck will move from its current home on Cowan Street in Nashville, where it has been located for over three decades. Additionally, Clair Global, which provides live production spaces, systems integration and audio solutions, will be located at the new campus.
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Groundbreaking for the new facility occurred in mid-April, and construction is expected to be completed in Fall of 2025. Rock Nashville is expected to be home to 400 employees, and 85 employees at support businesses.
“As a full-service developer, we’re thrilled to be involved in the design, construction, and development of the future of Music City and live entertainment. As we continue to invest in the growing market of Nashville, this is our first foray into the entertainment world. We couldn’t imagine a more perfect operating partner to bring a new offering to the Nashville market alongside,” said Patrick Poole, Nashville Market Leader for Al. Neyer, in a statement.
“As we approach ten years since Rock Lititz opened its doors, we’ve been eager to find the next space and partner for expanding our support for the live entertainment industry. This unique and hard-working community thrives with access to specialized training, mentoring, and resources to help create custom live experiences for audiences worldwide. It is with great excitement that we’ve identified Nashville and Al. Neyer as the right city and partner. We are passionate about growing this network, and Nashville is the perfect location to join with other industry leaders to create something special,” added Andrea Shirk, Rock Lititz President and CEO, in a statement.
“SoundCheck has been part of the Nashville entertainment community for over 30 years, and we couldn’t be more excited to make Rock Nashville our new home,” said Soundcheck GM Kindal Jumper. “As Music City continues to grow as a premier destination for all genres of music, the campus’s state-of-the-art facilities will allow Soundcheck to meet the growing needs of today’s acts, ensuring the highest caliber production experience for artists and crews from Broadway to Bridgestone.
Rock Lititz was founded in 2000 by Troy Clair, owner of Clair Global, and Adam Davis, CEO of the TAIT Group. The Rock Lititz campus in Pennsylvania opened in 2014 and is home to more than 40 companies that support the live entertainment space.
In addition to earning his own top 20 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit “Flower Shops” in 2022, Big Loud Records singer-songwriter Ernest’s songwriting acumen has become a not-so-secret hitmaking weapon in Nashville’s songwriting circles, stealthily helping to fashion the sound of modern-day country music. He’s a writer on seven No. 1 Country Airplay hits, including Morgan Wallen’s 10-week No. 1 “You Proof” and three-week No. 1 “Wasted on You,” as well as chart-toppers by Kane Brown (“One Mississippi”) and Jelly Roll (“Son of a Sinner”).
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With that in mind, the industry has recognized his ability to spin words and melody into chart hits, lauding him with a nomination as artist-songwriter of the year at the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards in May.
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On Ernest’s new album, Nashville, Tennessee, which released April 12, this rapper-turned-modern country traditionalist declares his intentions right from the start in not only honoring his hometown of Nashville, but the creative spirit and community that has long made Nashville “Music City.”
“It listens more like a playlist than a true album,” Ernest tells Billboard. “The true denominator is country music and all the influences I’ve taken, definitely going back to the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, all the way to present-day. It has a little bit of all of it.”
Nashville, Tennessee features collaborations Ernest’s with fellow Nashville native and country hitmaker Jelly Roll, as well as Lainey Wilson, Lukas Nelson, as well as the other members of his Big Loud Records labelmate singer-songwriter trifecta, Morgan Wallen and HARDY.
The sprawling, 26-song album’s essence is highlighting the artistry of country music’s top songwriters, including Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famers, alongside newcomer hit writers. Two sets of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame country writers and their next-gen country songcrafters are present on the album: Dean Dillon (known for numerous hit songs including “Tennessee Whiskey,” Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy,” Kenny Chesney’s “A Lot of Things Different” and George Strait’s (“The Chair”)) and his daughter, the Grammy songwriter of the year-nominated Jessie Jo Dillon, as well as Rivers Rutherford (the Dolly Parton/Brad Paisley collab “When I Get Where I’m Going”) and his son Rhys Rutherford (Bailey Zimmerman’s “Is This Really Over?). ACM and CMA song of the year winner Nicolle Galyon, Ryan Vojtesak and Grady Block are featured, in addition to writers signed to Ernest’s own Cadillac Music publishing company: Chandler Walters, Cody Lohden and Rafe Tenpenny.
Along the way, he nods to a plethora of country music’s towering figures, including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Lefty Frizzell—while also signaling his expanse of influences outside the genre in covers of songs from John Mayer and even Radiohead. In simultaneously mining country music’s history, yet eschewing any borders, he sets forth a music-first mantra. Within Nashville and beyond, fans responded immediately, with 6,000 people showing up at Ernest’s pop-up show in Nashville on the album’s release day.
Ernest spoke with Billboard about some key tracks from the new album:
“Would If I Could” with Lainey Wilson was written three decades ago by Dean Dillon and Skip Ewing. How did you come across this song?
Ernest: Jessie Jo Dillon sent me that song and said, ‘This is the only song my dad and Skip ever wrote. I think you would like it.’ I did fall in love with it. I listened to it probably a thousand times, and within a week I recorded my own voice note of it on my phone, and I sent it to Dean just out of the blue. I don’t know that he even knew that I had the song, and I sent it to him and said, I’m going to cut this song. And he was like, well, damn son, if you’re writing him like this, what do you need me for? And then I was like, you wrote this. And it all came back to him.
How did Lainey come to be on the track?
Ironically, I guess within the same few days, Lainey put that song on hold. She found it in the Sony catalog, and cut it for an Apple Music session. I texted Lainey and said I planned on cutting the song. She called me and was like, ‘I’ll just sing on your record. I’ll do that song with you.’ So it worked out so naturally and beautifully, and it wasn’t written as a duet, but it turns out it’s a great duet.
You co-wrote “I Went to College/ I Went to Jail” with Luke Bryan, Chandler Walters and Rivers Rutherford. But it sounds perfectly written for you and Jelly Roll. How did it come about?
That song really is the perfect song for Jelly. We both grew up in Nashville. I’d known him for a while, and that’s what me and Luke Bryan were talking about. We’re playing golf. He was like, ‘You go back a while with Roll, don’t you? I said yes, and started singing, “I went to college and he went to jail,” and said, ‘We have to write that right now.’ We started writing it in the golf cart. The heavens dropped that song in our little golf cat that day. We FaceTimed Jelly Roll and he loved it was like, “Let’s go, baby!” Classic Jelly Roll.
It was a great song to start the album off with, with [both of us] being from Nashville and just kind of setting the tone for the record, that it’s a good time and it’s real storytelling and all that. It’s not too serious.
“Hangin’ On,” featuring Morgan Wallen, sounds a little more modern country than some of the other tracks on here. How do you decide which songs to keep and which to give away?
It was fun getting to be a bit selfish on this album. Usually, I’m just going in and writing a song that I’d like to sing. Then there are special days were Morgan will come in and we’re writing Morgan songs. I knew that I would typically have given that song to Morgan. So instead I just asked if he wanted to feature instead of just straight-up giving it away. [The 2024 Morgan Wallen collab] “Cowgirls” was kind of the same way. When I first did it, I didn’t show it to Morgan immediately, and when I finally did, it was always a no-brainer — it was going to be a Morgan song and he asked me to feature on it with him.
The midway point of the album is a family moment you share with your son Ryman Saint, singing “Twinkle Twinkle.” It’s from your concert at Boston’s Fenway Park. Why did you want to include that?
It’s a little palate cleanser, where you get into the “Life Goes On” segment of the record. But me and Ryman sing that song every night before he goes to bed and fall asleep singing it. And so when we were on our way to Fenway, I asked if you wanted to sing with Daddy, and he wanted to sing that song. So he did his first time ever. It was a proud parent moment.
You also include John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” and a bluegrass spin on Radiohead’s “Creep.” Why was it important to include those on an album like this?
“Slow Dancing” has been one of my favorite songs for forever. I think that’s true for most people. It’s one of the best John Mayer songs, and it’s fun to play it with the steel guitar in it. And then as for “Creep,” that just was a fun little accident of me picking up a banjo and realizing it was the “Creep” chords. We were like, “If Old Crow Medicine Show did Radiohead, what would that be like?” Then it sat around for a year and I was like, “This would be the perfect song to get Hardy on for the record.” It was kind of the perfect way for me and Hardy to coexist on that album.
Morgan Wallen‘s ex-fiancée KT Smith is speaking out following reports that the country superstar launched a chair off of a Nashville bar after finding out that she married Luke Scornavacco just days after getting engaged. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Although it may seem like it […]
Eric Church‘s Nashville bar has officially responded to Morgan Wallen‘s arrest at the venue. The Chief’s official Instagram account shared a photo on Tuesday (April 9) of a new sign outside the establishment that reads: “Our pigs fly, our chairs don’t.” See the post here. The slogan is seemingly in reference to the chart-topping country singer getting […]
Contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy winner Lauren Daigle brought her Kaleidoscope Tour to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Saturday (April 6), as the Lafayette, Louisiana-born Daigle ushered in a cavalcade of sounds, a tight-knit horn section, superb backing vocalists, a full band, and a brightly-hued, joyous production for the roughly two-hour show.
Daigle, who has notched six pinnacle reachers on Billboard‘s Hot Christian Songs chart, has long approached her music with a free-flowing, genreless mindset, one that positions melodies and lyrics as leaning into a vast spectrum of sounds, each a capable vessel of hope, healing and flourishing. As she has amassed success both in Contemporary Christian Music and pop music (most notably, her 2018 album Look Up Child, which debuted at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, while her song “You Say” reached the top 30 on the all-genre Hot 100), Daigle has made the natural step up to headlining arenas — and with it has constructed a show filled with colors, sights and sounds meant to capture and hold the audience’s attention from the first, uptempo moments of “These Are the Days.”
Helming uptempo anthems such as “Look Up Child,” as well as soaring ballads such as “Valuable” was Daigle’s soaring vocal, which has often drawn comparisons to both Adele and Joss Stone, as well as her joyous, easygoing performance style as she and her crew of musicians danced and shimmied around the mainstage and catwalk stretching into the middle of Bridgestone Arena. The full band resided aloft an elevated platform, placing them visually in the center of the massive video wall that shone an array of colors and images throughout the evening, while Daigle and her crew of vocalists/musicians/dancers took up residence on the mainstage.
“This song is my favorite,” was a refrain of regular occurrence from Daigle throughout the set, as she punctuated the evening with stories behind some of her songs. Her fourth, eponymous studio album — which released last year via Atlantic Records/Centricity Music — saw Daigle further embrace mainstream pop, welcoming artists including Gary Clark Jr., and Jon Batiste, as well as songwriting prowess from songwriters including Shane McAnally and Natalie Hemby.
As a companion to her song “Kaleidoscope Jesus,” she spoke of the soul-connecting power of touring and live concerts, comparing each concert to looking through a kaleidoscope and knowing that each turn of the instrument brings a new collage of shapes and colors unique to that moment.
She noted that the song nods to a memory of playing with kaleidoscopes at her aunt’s house as a child.
“When you look inside of a kaleidoscope, and put it up to the light, there are different shapes and colors, some have rough edges and some have smooth edges,” Daigle told the crowd at one point. “Then you put them up to the light and they make this beautiful image… you bring all of your different stories to this show; some of you are struggling, some are having the time of your lives, but we bring those stories to God and put them up to the light and ask, ‘God what are you going to do through all of this?’ and it becomes a beautiful moment.”
Daigle’s hope-giving work extends beyond song and stage; during the concert, attendees were encouraged to sponsor a child through an organization Daigle works closely with, ChildFund, which aims to provide children around the world with food, clean water, education, healthcare and more. Daigle, who also sponsors a child through the program, noted that more than 700 children were sponsored by attendees at Bridgestone that evening.
Opening the show was Nigerian-born singer-songwriter Blessing Offor, known for his 2023 hit “Brighter Days” and his feature on TobyMac’s song “The Goodness.“ “This show means the world to me because this is my hometown,” Offor told the crowd.
Seated at a keyboard at the front of the main stage, he offered a Sterling display of his soulful, octave-leaping tenor vocal. He sang songs aimed at elevating his fellow musicians, particularly those struggling in the early days of their careers in “Don’t We All.” He sang “Believe,” and Tin Roof,” which Offor wrote with songwriter Natalie Hemby. CCM mainstay Chris Tomlin later recorded the song with Offor and included it on his country-leaning album Chris Tomlin & Friends. He followed with “My Tribe,” the title track to his 2023 album, and concluded with his breakthrough song “Brighter Days,” which drew the audience to appropriately light up three arena with a sea of cell phone lights.
Below, we highlight five top moments from Daigle’s set:
“Rescue”
As CMA entertainer of the year winner, 10-time Grammy nominee and whiskey enthusiast Eric Church has grown his varied business empire to include being a co-owner of the Field & Stream brand, launching his own SiriusXM music channel, “Eric Church Outsiders Radio,” rolling out the drinks line Whiskey JYPSI and his upcoming six-story venue Chief’s in downtown Nashville. Infusing his personal brand into every part of these ventures has been just as critical as it has been in his music.
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For some artists, putting out a whiskey might involve little more than slapping their name on a bottle—but Church has never been most artists. His name doesn’t appear on a bottle of Whiskey JYPSI, yet he’s been intimately involved in crafting its feel and flavor.
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“It’s not a celebrity whiskey,” Church says of Whiskey JYPSI to Billboard via email. “I’m a whiskey and bourbon connoisseur. It’s what I enjoy. I have my whole life and Whiskey JYPSI was built to produce a unique and high-quality product. It’s a true partnership and I happen to be a creative and that’s how I contribute the most.”
In 2020, Church joined forces with Raj Alva to launch Outsiders Spirits, an incubator for whiskey creativity. On April 2, the new Whiskey JYPSI Explorer Series launches, with the first release from the series boasting a blend of two six-year-old bourbons: a Kentucky-distilled low rye, as well as an Indiana high rye. The new offering follows the inaugural Whiskey JYPSI Legacy Batch 001, which released in 2023.
“We created this – Raj, Ari and I – it was important to us that we could be creative; to have creativity not just at the start, but through the whole process,” Church says. “We’re able to look around the world and find unique ingredients – like our initial Explorer release is finished with wood from the Appalachian Forrest in North Carolina, where I am from, and Legacy 001 had Canadian Rye that was very unique to its location. By finding unique ingredients and making smaller batches, you can super serve the product and get highly creative with the flavors. That’s what makes Whiskey JYPSI different as a brand.”
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Church’s imprint is also on every inch of his upcoming venue Chief’s. The 20,000-square-foot establishment at 200 Broadway in downtown Nashville celebrates its grand opening on April 5, and not only features Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ on the rooftop, but a two-story, approximately 350-capacity live music venue called The Neon Steeple.
The Neon Steeple is set to feature upcoming performances from not only the “Chief” himself, but Ray Wylie Hubbard, songwriter Casey Beathard, Jim Lauderdale, Sunny Sweeney, Suzy Bogguss and Radney Foster. Church has been very hands-on in selecting performers for the venue, with some artists in the inaugural batch of performers having ties to Church’s own music. In 2019, Church’s music video for “Desperate Man” featured the song’s co-writer Wylie Hubbard. Beathard has co-written several of Church’s hits including “The Outsiders” and “Homeboy.”
“I have a vision for it – there is a troubadour element, there is a songwriter element, and that will evolve over time like anything else but that has been the fabric of how we want to activate the first year,” Church says. “I’m excited to do my shows and we will have other artists that people will recognize. For a lot of artists, it will be an underplay, and for others it will be a perfect place to play Nashville.”
Also originating April 5, Church will launch the 19-show “To Beat the Devil” residency at Chief’s—one that promises a wellspring of creativity and intimacy with his ardent fanbase.
“Very rarely do I get to walk out with a guitar in a living room setting,” says Church, who notes that it is likely that attendees will see some surprise guests show up at various shows during the residency. “It’s very rare that you get to go out and have a conversation like that. It allows me to turn the show into a full musical piece and not just playing songs. It was conceived that way. I have most of it sketched out and I can’t wait to do it.”
In August 2023, Church performed two nights as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s artist-in-residence program, offering up a two-hour, 19-song set that included both Church’s radio hits as well as rarely-heard live renditions. The set was somewhat of a precursor to the unique nights of music he has planned for the Chief’s residency.
“It will be a lot of unique, new music that pertains to different times in my career; stuff that I wrote and maybe didn’t make an album or a story that nobody’s ever heard,” Church says. “That’s part of the reason we are going restrict cell phone use. That’s the only way people can truly be in the moment and experience the moment. As a parent, I understand the challenges of people being away from their cell phone though, so we are going to use Yondr [a pouch system that allows concertgoers to lock away their phones], which allows you access to your phone by stepping outside if you need to – which is important to me. But there will be no recording. What happens there is for the people that fought so hard to get tickets, and they get to talk about it,” Church says.
“It will be a completely unique show and one of the more challenging and special ones of my career.”
The star-packed lineup for this year’s Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival has been revealed, with Dave Matthews Band making a long-awaited return, alongside “Stick Season” hitmaker Noah Kahan, Hozier (who released the Brandi Carlile collab “Damage Gets Done” last year), and NEEDTOBREATHE as headliners. The festival will again return to The Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tennessee, on Sept. 28-29.
The Pilgrimage festival is known for its eclectic mix of performers, drawing from country, rock, Americana, folk and more. Others included on this yer’s bill are Better Than Ezra, Sierra Hull, Lukas Nelson, Allison Russell, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Chance Peña, Band of Heathens, The Cadillac Three, Charlie Worsham, Wyatt Ellis and Stephen Sanchez.
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“We are beyond proud to present this amazing lineup of talented musicians for Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival’s 10th anniversary,” ” said festival founders Kevin Griffin, W. Brandt Wood and Michael Whelan in a statement. “2024 promises to deliver so much of what has made this late-September festival weekend special over the last nine years. We look forward to sharing another memorable event with everyone who ‘makes the Pilgrimage’ to the Park at Harlinsdale Farm.”
Last year’s lineup featured Zach Bryan, The Lumineers, Ashley McBryde, The War and Treaty, and The Black Crowes.
Tickets go on sale Thursday (March 21) at 10 a.m. CT. Guests can select from 2-Day GA passes, 2-Day VIP passes, Single Day GA passes, and Single Day VIP passes, all of which can be purchased through the festival’s website. Parking passes will also be available for advance purchase.
Check out the official trailer for this year’s Pilgrimage Festival below:
The first round of performers for this year’s CMA Fest, slated for June 6 to 9 in downtown Nashville, has been revealed, as Music City gears up for the massive country music festival, which annually draws tens of thousands of fans from across the United States, as well as 51 international countries.
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The star-studded evening shows at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium will feature performances from Kelsea Ballerini, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Jordan Davis, HARDY, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Megan Moroney, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, The War And Treaty, Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman, with additional performances and collaborations to be announced in coming weeks.
The Chevy Riverfront Stage will feature performances from artists including The War and Treaty, Brian Kelley, Anne Wilson, Warren Zeiders, Wyatt Flores, Dylan Gossett, Lily Rose and BRELAND. Meanwhile, the Dr. Pepper AMP Stage at Ascend Park will feature a lineup that includes Mickey Guyton, Charlie Worsham, Brittney Spencer, Lorrie Morgan, Ty Herndon, Shenandoah and Lauren Watkins.
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Over at the Chevy Vibes Stage at Walk of Fame Park, performers will include HunterGirl, Carter Faith, The Castellows, Blanco Brown, Zach Top and Tigirlily. The Good Molecules Reverb Stage at Bridgestone Arena Plaza will feature Tanner Adell, Emily Ann Roberts, Madeline Merlo and RVSHVD, among others. Additionally, the Hard Rock Stage returns this year, featuring artists including Tucker Wetmore, Kasey Tyndall and Reyna Roberts. All outdoor stages at CMA Fest are free and open to the public.
Ascend Amphitheater will also return with three nights of performances at the open-air venue; lineup and ticket details for Ascend will be revealed in coming weeks.
CMA Fest will once again be filmed for a national television special to air on ABC this summer. For a full lineup of this year’s initial round of CMA Fest performers, visit cmafest.com.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne has signed with Monument Records and will now be managed by Little Big Town‘s Karen Fairchild, who is stepping into music management.
Led by co-presidents Shane McAnally and Jason Owen as well as general manager Katie McCartney, Monument will reissue Lynne’s 1999 album, I Am Shelby Lynne, on Apr. 5 in honor of its 25th anniversary, with a limited-edition vinyl release slated for the summer.
Meanwhile, Lynne is also working on her new studio album with Fairchild, fellow singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe and producer/engineer/mixer Gena Johnson (Ashley McBryde‘s Lindeville, Chris Stapleton‘s Starting Over).
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Lynne, who moved back to Nashville in 2018, said in a statement, “It’s good to be back in Nashville. Being back in this city has lit me up. I’ve come full circle and I can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on.”
Since issuing her 1989 debut album, Sunrise, Lynne has traversed genres including country, rock and pop with her music. In the early 1990s, several of her songs, including “Things Are Tough All Over,” cracked the top 30 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, while her sixth studio album, 1999’s I Am Shelby Lynne, featured the top 20 Billboard Triple A chart hit “Gotta Get Back.” The album also led to Lynne winning best new artist at the 43rd annual Grammy Awards. She has also picked up honors including the ACM Awards’ top new female vocalist accolade. Additionally, she has been featured in movies and TV shows including Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
In addition to Little Big Town, Fairchild has written songs recorded by Kelsea Ballerini and Anne Wilson. In a way, Lynne’s signing to Monument Records marks a full-circle moment for Fairchild as well, as Little Big Town’s 2002 self-titled debut album was released on the label (the group has been with Capitol Nashville since 2008).
McAnally said in a statement, “Artists like Shelby Lynne come once in a lifetime. Her impact on artists and fans alike, including me, has been deep and wide. I’m so proud to be a part of bringing her artistry back to the forefront with new music.”
Fairchild added, “It feels important to reintroduce Shelby Lynne’s genius to a fresh wave of artists and fans. I’m blown away by her profound knowledge of music and the enormity of her talent. Shelby’s uniqueness lies in her extraordinary capacity to delve into human pain and beauty through her powerful voice and storytelling.”
As Eric Church gears up for the opening of Chief’s, his downtown Nashville restaurant, bar and music venue located at 200 Broadway, the CMA entertainer of the year-winning artist gave premium members of his Church Choir fan club a surprise. Tens of thousands of Church fans were sent deeds of ownership to individual bricks that make up the physical framework of the six-story Nashville venue.
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Additionally, fans received access to a virtual fan community and the first in a series of digital collectibles, including a digital version of their brick, which offers access to exclusive content such as previously unheard demos, unreleased video footage, and priority entrance to Chief’s. Other digital collectibles some fans can receive include Vinyl For Life, which gives fans first-edition vinyl of Church’s catalog and a copy of every new piece of vinyl released going forward, including all color variants. Other prizes include a signed guitar (which also grants access to content including a video guitar lesson from Church’s guitarist Driver Williams, and videos of performances from Church playing the guitar). Other prizes include year-long subscriptions to SiriusXM and an opportunity to record a guest DJ set at Chief’s studio as part of Outsiders Radio “Insiders Hour.”
According to Rolling Stone, the virtual component also serves as a database for concerts on Church’s tours, giving fans the ability to “check in” to shows they have attended, view setlists and view tour posters for each concert.
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“You’ve helped me build my career brick by brick, and I want the whole world to know that the building is yours,” Church said in a message to fans. “This is not just another club downtown. This is our house. I’ve been involved in every step of restoring this historic building into a place we can call our own and, because you’ve been with me every step of my career, I’m proud to dedicate a physical brick of the Chief’s building to each and every one of you.”
In 2022, Church announced the upcoming venue, for which he has partnered with real estate developer and hospitality entrepreneur Ben Weprin of AJ Capital. Chief’s will include not only a ticketed music venue, but also additional live entertainment throughout the building, as well as a studio to be used for broadcasting (including for Eric Church Outsiders Radio on SiriusXM), with the capability to host broadcasts from various media partners. Street-level windows will also offer fans a behind-the-scenes look into seeing the broadcast in action. Chief’s will also honor Church’s Carolina roots via a partnership with Rodney Scott. Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ will overlook Nashville’s downtown from its “Hell of a Q” rooftop position. An opening date has yet to be set for the venue.
Giving his fans a stake in ownership — not simply fan-fueled allegiance — has been a cornerstone of Church’s career, most notably back in 2015, when Church surprise-released his album Mr. Misunderstood, by sending copies of the album directly to his Church Choir fanclub members before anyone else heard the project.
“My songs are mine, until I release them, and then they’re never mine again. And this building’s a lot that way,” Church further added in a statement. “It’s been mine in the building of it, in the cultivating with the stories, the challenges, and the successes. But once Chief’s opens, it’s not mine anymore. It belongs to the Choir. It belongs to the fans. It belongs to the patrons. It belongs to the stories they create there. It belongs to the music they listen to there and share from there. So, my story ends where theirs begins and that’s the essence of what you do musically and what we’re trying to do at Chief’s.”
