Singer-songwriter extraordinaire Eric Church’s second single off Mr. Misunderstood has hit No. 1— just in time for fans to celebrate his seventh summit to the top of both MediaBase and Billboard charts when he kicks-off his first of two sold-out solo shows at Red Rocks on August 9th. “Record Year” was co-written by Church and his guitarist/banjo player, Jeff Hyde (who also penned “Cold One” (with Luke Hutton), “Springsteen” (with Ryan Tyndell), and “Smoke A Little Smoke” (with Driver Williams).
Church drove home the homage-paying theme of “Record Year” when he performed it at the 2016 ACM Awards in April, which was interfolded with clips of David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Lemmy, and Scott Weiland, before releasing the music video for the ode later that month.
Enjoy the official “Record Year” music video below.
Since its release in February, the hit has caught the attention of critics; Los Angeles Times calls the single a, “deeply felt heartbreak song,” Rolling Stone dubbed it “the most moving moment” on the album, while Stereogum called it a, “pun-happy lament” that “does quiet to loud in an efficient gears-changing way that screams professionalism rather than catharsis.”
Whether it’s the direct mentions and subtle allusions to his variety of musical muses such as George Jones, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and more, or the undeniable responsibility anyone freshly jaded out of a relationship puts on their favorite artists to cope, Church “has always been excellent at balancing whiskey-charged toughness with open-hearted musical subtlety” according to Rolling Stone.
Fan loyalty has always meant a lot to the award-winning outlaw, which was made obvious when he directly shipped copies of Mr. Misunderstood on vinyl to his Church Choir fan club before making it available to the general public.
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