Country singer/songwriter/guitarist Eric Church grew up in Granite Falls, NC, and started singing as a child. At 13, he began writing songs, later teaching himself to play guitar. while attending college at Appalachian State, he formed a band, the Mountain Boys, that played around western North Carolina. After graduating with a degree in marketing, he moved to Nashville, TN, to pursue a career in country music.
It took him a year to get a song publishing deal with Sony/ATV Tree, after which he began getting his music recorded by other artists, an example being Terri Clark’s version of “The World Needs a Drink.” He met producer Jay Joyce, who took an interest in him as a recording artist, and they started making demos. That led to his being signed by Capitol Records Nashville. His debut single, “How ‘Bout You,” was released in early 2006, and it had reached the country Top 20 by the time Capitol put forth his first album, Sinners Like Me, on July 18, 2006. The record was both a critical and commercial success, and Church came it up with Carolina in 2009.
