Advice she’ll carry with her forever. Ella Langley opened up a handful of shows for Eric Church on his Free The Machine Tour in February, and I’m sure it was a dream come true for Ella to open for a legend like Eric. They teamed up for a duet of “New York State of Mind” at a stop in Buffalo, New York, and during an interview on the radio show Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton, Ella opened up about some of the advice Eric gave her about having longevity and success you can actually enjoy in the music business. “He told me, ‘When this thing gets weird, make it about the music.’ He said, ‘I’ll never make another ‘Chief.’ That was it. You get one ‘Chief,’ and that’s what it is.’ Then he’s on to the next thing.” He’s certainly speaking from experience… of course, Church fans will always know and love Chief, but Eric has evolved so much since then and continues to surprise fans with the types of records he has released, which speaks to his talent and artistry. To have the kind of longevity he’s had in the music industry is absolutely not easy, and I think the earlier an artist can figure out how to cater to their core fan base, while still evolving as an artist in the way they want to, is an incredibly tricky balancing act very few pull off and do it well. Eric is certainly one of those people, and I think Ella would be wise to heed that advice early on, and I think she’s already doing that with what she’s cooked up for her forthcoming album Dandelion. In addition, Ella talked about the really cool tour present she gave to Eric. It’s pretty customary for artists to buy their openers gifts, especially if they spend the majority of the tour together, but Ella flipped the script, so to speak, and got Eric a very special gift to commemorate their run of shows together. She happened upon an antique pocket watch from the 20s that had an “E” engraved on the back, which sounds like a really cool and unique gift which is probably unlike most other items in his accessory closet (which he probably doesn’t have, but you get the point): “I randomly got him a pocket watch at an antique store. I gave it to him. It was like a pocket watch from the 20s, with a gold chain connected to a pocket knife. There was engraving on the back, and it was an ‘E.’ So that was cool.” Check out their duet of “New York State of Mind” here: @rachelmcap New York State of mind #ericchurch #ellalangleylive ♬ [Raw recording] Record playback noise 01 (3 minutes) – Icy Light Ella’s highly-anticipated sophomore studio album Dandelion is due out everywhere on April 10th. “Dandelion” The Dandelion Tour Dates 5/7/2026 Toledo, OH Huntington Center (+,&) 5/8/2026 St. Louis, MO Chaifetz Arena (+,&) 5/14/2026 Estero, FL Hertz Arena (@, &) 5/15/2026 Savannah, GA Enmarket Arena (@, &) 6/18/2026 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (+,&) 6/19/2026 Independence, MO Cable Dahmer Arena (+,&) 6/25/2026 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (+,&) 6/26/2026 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park (+,&) 7/23/2026 Pikeville, KY Appalachian Wireless Arena (#, %) 7/24/2026 Cary, NC Koka Booth Amphitheatre (#, %) 7/25/2026 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Coliseum (#, %) 7/30/2026 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion (@, %) 7/31/2026 Canandaigua, NY CMAC (@, %) 8/13/2026 Austin, TX Moody Center (#, &) 8/14/2026 Corpus Christi, TX Hilliard Center (#, &) 8/15/2026 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena (#, &) @ Kameron Marlowe + Dylan Marlowe # Kaitlin Butts & Gabriella Rose % Laci Kaye BoothThe post “You Get One ‘Chief'”: Ella Langley Reveals The Advice Eric Church Gave Her About Longevity In The Music Business first appeared on Whiskey Riff.