#1 Song of 2012: “Springsteen”
Eric Church had a big year in 2012. His CD “Chief” was certified Platinum, he celebrated his first #1, his Blood Sweat & Beers tour was a huge success, and he won the CMA Album of the Year. At the end of the year, Eric received even more good news. His hit song “Springsteen” was the #1 Song of 2012, as determined by Mediabase and Country Aircheck. Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton, who is also the publisher of Country Aircheck, congratulated Eric with the news: “Crazy, here’s why that’s crazy. If you had told me that 3 or 4 years ago, I would have said ‘Whatever you’re on, I’d love some.’ I never thought that would be my path.I really didn’t. But it was a big part of the year we’ve had. That song was easily the biggest song we’ve ever had. To have that means a lot. It also means a lot coming from the folks in radio. There are a lot of folks who were there for us early on when it wasn’t popular, and they believed in the music, I owe a lot to those guys, and everyone else who played the song, it means a lot.”
LISTEN: 12-53 Eric
I know at some point this summer you actually heard from Bruce Springsteen? “His assistant showed up at a show in New Hampshire, he said he had something for me, he came on the bus, and he told me, ‘Bruce played Fenway Park last night, and he asked me what I was doing for the weekend, and I told him I was seeing Eric Church. Bruce said, ‘No kidding, I wish I could go with you, hand me my briefcase.’ He took out an old setlist and started writing on it. It was so cool, cause it was heartfelt, talkin’ about how he was a fan of the song, he and his family got a big kick watching the success it had, hoped to see me soon, hope to get to a show and hang out, and that’ll probably never see the light of day, because I’ve got it locked up where it’s safe. It means a lot to me.”
Your song Springsteen is #1, but at #2 is a good friend of yours: Brantley Gilbert with “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do.” The two of you toured together this year, and now here you are back to back on the year-end chart. “For me, I have a little bit of history, because I know both of our pathes came from bars and clubs and underground word of mouth, and to go from that to have the #1 and #2 most-played songs on country radio goes back to where the format is now, and what’s working out there now, but it’s cool for me because we were on tour together, that’s a neat feeling for me.”
See the entire Top 70 of 2012 HERE
What’s it like performing Springsteen now in your show? “They start to get into it early. It starts a song or two before we play it. Every time it goes dark, they think it might be now. But there was a buddy of mine who came to a show, and he was watching from the pit. We were in our encore, and when the lights go down, it looks like we’re done. A girl comes up to him and says, ‘You know him, right?’ He was wearing an all access pass. She says, ‘You realize every person in here will tear this place up if he doesn’t play Springsteen!’ The cool thing for me is I had that experience in Charlotte North Carolina. I was in the audience, seeing an artist, and that night a melody and a memory connected for me. That’s what I make music for. That’s the reason, so you can hear a song and go back to that moment. I think that’s the coolest part is not just the song, but the experience that hopefully none of us will forget.”
What was that song? I won’t tell you. I’ve said many times I’ve never named the artist or the song because I didn’t want to taint it for anyone else who had their own moment. I wanted it to be my moment, and everybody’s got that moment.”
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
