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Eric Church

Eric Church was born in the small town of Granite Falls, North Carolina in 1997. He bought his first guitar in middle school, and honed his skills by teaching himself to play everything in his parents’ music collection from Motown to bluegrass. By high school he began playing regularly at a local bar, and continued to nab the occasional barroom gig while pursuing his marketing degree at Appalachian State University.

Later on in his career at Appalachian State University, Church decided to form a more serious band with some friends of his. Their group, the Mountain Boys, became a popular regional party band, playing nightly at bars and fraternity socials across the South. Church wanted to drop out of college to pursue his musical dreams, but his father cut him a deal: he promised to pay for Eric’s first six months in Nashville if Eric finished college. Two years later with diploma in hand, Church headed to Nashville, Tennessee to make a name for himself in the world of country music.

Using the first six months to get acquainted with the city, Church learned the ropes and made contacts in various record companies, eventually landing a job as a songwriter for Sony Tree Music Publishing. A hard-working small town boy, Church amazed executives by churning out hundreds of songs during his short tenure at the company. In early 2006, Church’s hard work finally paid off. He signed a deal with prolific record label Capitol, and released his first album Sinners Like Me in late 2006.

An under-the-radar success, Sinners Like Me produced three top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs index and sold over 300,000 copies. Singles "How ‘Bout You", "Two Pink Lines", "Guys Like Me", and title track "Sinners Like Me" introduced listeners to Eric’s smooth vocals and bouncing country-rock sensibilities. As of early 2008, Church is getting ready to release his second album Carolina later in the year, again on Capitol records.

From Lastfm:

Eric Church is a country music singer and songwriter. Eric grew up in Granite Falls, N.C., in an area known as one of the world's furniture capitals. He recalls being 4 years old, standing on a table at a local restaurant, singing "Elvira" to a waitress and a handful of patrons who would reward him with change. He was 13 when he started writing songs, and he bought a cheap, hard-to-tune guitar and taught himself to play, influenced by his parents' eclectic tastes, which stretched from Motown to bluegrass.

At a little bar in the mountains of North Carolina, he watched a band called the Harris Brothers getting big tips for playing songs that he knew, and by the summer of his junior year, he had a gig of his own. His first gig was with M. Snow at Woodland's Barbeque in Blowing Rock. The wait staff eventually drove them off because of their ablility to keep fans around for longer than desired hours. He quickly formed a band with Snow, his brother and another guitarist and was bestowed the name The Mountain Boys by several fans at one of their first gigs at a restaurant called Arizonas. The first night they knew just 14 songs, but they faked their way through a four-hour set and held onto enough of the crowd to help launch them as a regional act. In a year or so, Church was throwing original songs into the set mix and not long afterward was selling CDs of his own material. For two years, they played often in bars and restaurants in the Hickory, Lenoir, and Boone area.

Church played basketball, baseball and golf in high school, but in college, he turned to music. Before moving to Nashville, he graduated from college with a degree in marketing. In return, his father paid for his first six months in Music City.

The financial cushion his father had given him gave him time to make contacts. Six months in, he had to take a day job, but six months after that, he was signed to a publishing deal at Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing. He began getting cuts, including Terri Clark's "The World Needs a Drink." Then, Arthur Buenahora at the publishing company introduced Church to producer Jay Joyce. The two clicked instantly and began cutting demos.

Following a showcase, Church signed to Capitol Nashville, with Joyce producing his debut album, "Sinners Like Me."

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From Wikipedia:

Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977 in Granite Falls, North Carolina) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Capitol Records in 2006, Church released his debut album Sinners Like Me that year. This album produced four chart singles on the Billboard country charts, including the Top 20 hits "How 'Bout You," "Two Pink Lines" and "Guys Like Me." His second album, 2009's Carolina, has produced two more singles: "Love Your Love the Most" and "Hell on the Heart" which have become his first two Top 10 hits.