Concert Reports

The California Mid-State Fair hosted country music superstar Eric Church in concert on Saturday, July 21! Church’s concert is part of the annual Bud Light Concert Series that is underway in the Chumash Grandstand Arena at the Paso Robles Event Center.

All Photos: Ray Soto

MidStateFair.com

EricChurch.com

Eric Church, a two-time CMA Album of the Year winner, has a well-known reputation for always bringing his music to the people. With 2015’s Mr. Misunderstood, he went as far as overnighting fans copies of his surprise release. So this time around, after announcing new music is coming in a video message speaking directly to fans, Church exclusively debuted the “Desperate Man” music video via Amazon Music in the U.S. on Monday, July 16 ahead of his forthcoming October 5 Desperate Man album release.

Eric Church 7-21-18 from California Mid-State Fair on Vimeo.

VIDEO credit: Brandon Stier

   The cinematic and high-flying video directed by Reid Long and John Peets captures Church executing his mission to fight for what’s right. Ray Wylie Hubbard, who co-wrote “Desperate Man” with Church, guests in the video. For its release, Amazon Music, a service that has supported Church's music and provides a strong connection to his fans on a global scale, offered to premiere the music video for the title track “Desperate Man.”

“Excitement for new music from my favorite artists is a feeling I can remember from my formative years. The unknown and the possibilities of the anticipation are one of the true joys of music,” shares the North Carolina native. “Well, even though how we discover songs from our favorite performers may have evolved, the feeling remains the same.”Church embarked on his cross-continent, 60+-city Holdin’ My Own Tour in 2017 that was named the No. 1 most attended music tour in the world at the time of the tour by Pollstar. The double-set/sans-opener show that gave fans 3+ hours of pure Eric Church sold out every stop, consistently staying on Billboard’s Country Boxscore chart despite cancelling more than 33,000 tickets listed on the secondary market in an effort to reduce ticket scalper activity. The tour hit major markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia and ended with a two-night run in Nashville, Tenn. breaking Bridgestone Arena’s attendance record the first night and topping himself to set a new record the second.

The man New York Times said produces songs that insist music is "fuel for love, for anguish and, naturally, for other music” most recently earned the 2017 ACM Merle Haggard Spirit Award, 2016 CMA Album of the Year Award for Mr. Misunderstood and the 2016 ACM Music Video of the Year Award for the album's first title-track single.

The North Carolina native’s previous album, The Outsiders, debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart and Top Country Albums Chart with the highest debut and sales of any release in the format that year, making Church 2014’s top-selling country music artist. The album garnered GRAMMY, CMA and ACM Album of the Year nominations and featured his No. 1 hits “Give Me Back My Hometown” and “Talladega,” as well as multiple nominee “Like A Wrecking Ball.” The Outsiders was the follow-up to Church’s 3x Platinum-certified CHIEF, named the 2012 Album of the Year by both CMA and ACM, and GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Album. The LP featured five Top 20 singles: “Homeboy” (certified Platinum for sales in excess of one million); the Top 10 “Like Jesus Does” and the Top 5 “Creepin’” (both certified Platinum); and two No. 1 hits “Drink in My Hand” (certified Platinum) and “Springsteen” (certified Double Platinum for sales in excess of 2 million singles). Church's sophomore album, Carolina, (2009) is RIAA Platinum certified and his 2006 debut album, Sinners Like Me is RIAA Gold certified.

The 2018 California Mid-State Fair runs July 18-29 and this year’s theme is “Ole, It’s Fiesta Time!” Connect with the California Mid-State Fair on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
 

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