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Eric Church Debuts Powerful New Song “Johnny,” Inspired By The Nashville Covenant School Shooting
NEW Eric Church… I’ve been ready.
Today, the country star performed at Country Radio Seminar (CRS), which is a three-day industry event that brings together country music industry professionals for education and networking and includes presentations, showcases, and a showcase of “new faces.”
Eric is set to be honored alongside Luke Combs tomorrow with the CRS 2025 Artist Humanitarian Award because of their incredible efforts to help their home state of North Carolina in recovery from Hurricane Helene, and he definitely went all out this year.
It’s typical to see artists onstage with their acoustic guitars performing unreleased new songs for radio people, but this… this is just next level, as Eric brought out an entire choir to help him debut a brand new, unreleased song called “Johnny.” It was inspired by the Charlie Daniels’ 1979 classic, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” which of course finds the main character Johnny challenging the Devil to a fiddle playing contest:
“Johnny, rosin’ up your bow and play your fiddle hard
‘Cause Hell’s broke loose in Georgia and the Devil deals the cards
And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold
But if you lose, the Devil gets your soul”
As you probably know, Johnny ultimately beats the Devil and wins both his soul and a golden fiddle, though Eric’s song is a little less hopeful. He makes several references to Johnny and lyrics from the Charlie Daniels song, in addition to questioning the cruel world we live in and begging Johnny to come back and beat the
“I was thinking to myself this morning,
Watching my boys play,
How different my life was when I was their age,
Now machines control people, and people shoot at kids,
I shutter to think about what the next thing is,
And Johnny oh Johnny, where did you go?
The Devil’s broke out of Georgia,
And he’s feasting on our souls,
There’s fire on the mountain, and flames are closing in
So run and get your fiddle boy,
And send him to hell again,
I know redemption comes, but it’s taking way too long,
Can’t you see it in our faces can’t you hear on our songs?
Yeah we’re holding onto hope,
But we’re hanging by a thread,
Won’t you put on your rattlesnake boots and crush that serpent in”
It’s a chilling, beautiful song, and clearly a sign of the times that represents the hopelessness I think a lot of people have been feeling over the last several years, as well as the broader scope of how much the world has changed with so much technology and everything else these days.
This one definitely seems in line with the song Eric already released in “Darkest Hour,” which he put out for his home state in order to raise money for recovery from Hurricane Helene, in terms of the dark, more introspective aspect and gospel feel to the production and writing too.
He revealed that the song was written after the tragic shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School:
“About a year ago we had a shooting here in Nashville and where my kids go to school, is about a mile from that school. And I’m gonna tell you something, the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, parent or otherwise, is dropping them off at that school the day after that shooting, and watching them walk inside.
And I sat in the parking lot for a long time, and as fate would have it Charlie Daniels was playing “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” And I remember thinking, ‘Man, we could use Johnny right now’ because the Devil is not in Georgia. He is everywhere, and I went home and wrote this song.”
@thetraveladdict.com Eric Church discusses writing “Johnny” after a Nashville school shooting. @Eric Church #ericchurch #devilwentdowntogeorgia #charliedaniels #nashville #nashvilletennessee #countryradio #country #johnny #route91 ♬ original sound – thetraveladdict
Eric has already said he has a new album in the works, and if the first two songs are any indication of the overall project, I think we’re in for something really different, and really special.
@thetraveladdict.com Eric Church sings “Johnny” in Nashville in an emotional performance. @Eric Church #ericchurch #devilwentdowntogeorgia #charliedaniels #nashville #nashvilletennessee #countryradio #country #johnny #countrymusic ♬ original sound – thetraveladdict
Chill bumps…
“Darkest Hour”
The post Eric Church Debuts Powerful New Song “Johnny,” Inspired By The Nashville Covenant School Shooting first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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