Cold One

Eric Church

The Outsiders

June 2nd, 2014

Out of the blue his girlfriend breaks up with him while taking a can of beer from his 12 pack, which he describes as a “cold one." It wasn’t the first time he’d been walked out on but it’s the most memorable. He still likes to drink beer but he can’t drink it from a bottle because it makes him break out in a sweat.

Did you know?

  • "Cold One" has peaked at number 20 on both the US Country Airplay chart and the US Hot Country Songs chart, number 87 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • Before the release of "The Outsiders" Church received media attention for saying "I think genres are dead." This comment irked certain news outlets.
  • The album received critical acclaim, and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums chart, with sales at 288,000 in its first week of release.
  • Kenneth Eric Church (May 3, 1977) was born and raised in Granite Falls, North Carolina.
  • At 13, he bought a guitar and began writing songs of his own.
  • By his senior year of high school, he had found a gig at a local bar, which occupied most of his time. He played many Jimmy Buffett cover songs and a few of his own original songs in some dive bars.
  • Before moving to Nashville, Eric graduate from South Caldwell High School and then Appalachian State University with a degree in marketing.
  • In December 2013 Eric was honored as one of the CMT Artists of the Year; his award was presented by Kid Rock and he received a video message of congratulations from Metallica's James Hetfield.
  • On January 8, 2008, Church married music publisher Katherine Blasingame in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
  • The couple's home (along with Eric's "man cave"), located in Nashville, was featured in an episode of CMT's Cribs.
  • Church wears his signature aviator sunglasses as a result of wearing contact lenses. When his career was getting started, he was forced to deal with the heat from the stage lights drying out his contacts. As he began performing in larger venues, his aviators and Von Dutch denim trucker hat became his signature trademark.
  • Eric has become an avid advocate for the use of marijuana and has even been questioned by his own record label for the song "Smoke a Little Smoke." At the time, the label urged him not to release the record. The song's success has kept the record label at bay, however.
  • Church's influences include Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Little Feat, The Band, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. Eric has also claimed that many hard rock and heavy metal bands influenced his music, including Metallica and AC/DC.