Photo by Aubryn Gates.

by ALYSSA BOYER
Intern Lifestyles Reporter

Legends sold out Monday night when country music star and Appalachian State University alumnus Eric Church returned to the High Country.

The concert was unique not only because it was a homecoming for Church, but also because it introduced his new album “Carolina,” which was released Tuesday

The Appalachian: What is your greatest memory from your time at Appalachian?

Eric Church: That’s when we actually started playing for the first time. I can remember there used to be The Mountain House, a breakfast place. I can remember coming into town after we’d been out playing at 5 or 6 o’ clock in the morning and having to do a paper there because I’d have to turn it in for an 8 or 9 o’ clock class. Sometimes they’d have coffee stains on them.

TA: Where was your first gig?

EC: It was in Blowing Rock at The Woodlands Barbecue. It wasn’t very good. We knew 12 songs and I didn’t realize that the clientele wouldn’t leave after the first set, so we did 12 songs four times. So I’m sure we weren’t that good.

TA: Did you like coming back to Boone and why come here for the release of your new album?

EC: This is home to me. I love Appalachian. I love Carolina. I love being able to come back here and see the students and the campus. You know, this is where I dreamed of doing this.  I lived in Doughton, so I can remember being in Doughton and daydreaming of playing Legends.

TA: How does this album compare with your last album?

EC: Well, it’s a little different. I think it’s a little more diverse. Musically, I think it’s a little bit of a different journey than “Sinners” was. I think “Sinners” was a little more moody than this one is. I’m married now, so my life is probably a little happier than it was then, a little more content. I think you can hear that.

The most important thing is there are similarities but I made the record to be different and sound different. We didn’t try to make “Sinners” all over again; we tried to change it. I’m a fan of making records. I love albums and that’s what we try to do. We don’t make them fast. It takes about three years, four years, but we try to make them the best we can.

TA: When did you decide that performing music was what you wanted to do with your life?

EC: Pretty young. I knew music would be a part of it I just didn’t know where or how. I love songwriting and I’ve done songwriting for a long time, so I think if I weren’t doing this I’d still be writing songs somewhere, whether they were just in a drawer and they were mine or if they were professional.

TA: If you could play with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?

EC: I’ve played with one of them. I got to play about 30 shows with Bob Seger and I love Bob Seger. The dead thing is hard. I’m going to leave that alone and just stick with alive. I’d love to play [with] Springsteen. I’d love to do a thing just he and I and a couple of acoustic guitars and just do songwriting. That’d be cool.

TA: What advice would you give to students who are aspiring musicians like you were?

EC: Well, you can’t do it to get famous. You can’t do it to get rich; you can’t do it for any other reason than it’s just what you do. If it’s in your soul you’re going to do it anyway and if you’re going to do it anyway you might as well try to figure out how to make a little money while you’re doing it.

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