If you’ve ever been to Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee, it’s either for you or not for you. Now, you can be in the middle. But popular opinion has often molded the view of the street into a strict paradigm of “yes” or “no”. That being said, if you like expensive drinks, cover bands, and rambunctious energy, then Broadway is for you. If you find yourself liking low-lit venues with original music and cheap bottles of beer, then Broadway isn’t your thing. And at first, it wasn’t Eric Church’s thing, either.
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Despite now owning his bar on Nashville’s most famous street, Church didn’t frequently play in the honky-tonks and bars of Broadway. Rather, he found himself playing just a couple blocks away on the comparatively quaint Printer’s Alley. Other than not being able to score a job on Broadway, Church preferred Printer’s Alley due to the opportunity it provided him.
Printer’s Alley: The Start of Eric Church’s Music Career
In an interview with CBS Mornings, Eric Church sat down to discuss the opening of his now staple Broadway bar, Chief’s. However, before he got into the weeds about being a proprietor, he spoke about his previous experiences on Broadway. He specifically talked about how it was not the most welcoming place upon first arriving in Nashville as just another dreamer.
“I did what a lot of dreamers do, you pack your car, right, your beat up car, you put a guitar in it and you got to the center of what Nashville is, which is Broadway, ” Church said. “I couldn’t get a gig on Broadway. They didn’t want original music. They wanted you to play whatever the songs were at the time and I didn’t really do that. I was a songwriter.”
Church needed to find somewhere where he could showcase what he could produce and what songs he had written. Luckily, he found that place on Printer’s Alley.
“I found a place not far from here on Printer’s Alley,” he continued. “I found my tribe there because that’s where all the people that also got kicked off Broadway ended up. What I found with those guys were that these were all old dog songwriters that had written for George Jones and Waylon Jennings. I learned the craft of songwriting from the same guys that came to town and had the same thing happen to them that happened to me.”
Church’s Nashville upbringing is a testament to the kind of artist he is. He’s an artist not interested in what’s in vogue, but an artist who is interested in the craft and the truth-telling it entails.
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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