If it weren’t for Eric Church’s brother, Brandon, the country music world may have never had its Chief. There are all kinds of small moments and decisions in life that turn out to be huge with hindsight. For Eric Church, his life changing moment was one that his younger brother actually played a huge part in. Without the support of his Brandon, Church may have very well packed up and moved back home to North Carolina… and we would have never gotten albums like Chief, Sinners Like Me, and Mr. Misunderstood. During a recent conversation with Hometown Titans (an interview series affiliated with the Tennessee Titans), Church sat down and discussed his connection to Nashville. From the story of him chasing his country music dreams, to headlining Nissan Stadium, the country music superstar got to speak a lot about the vital part that Music City has played in his life. Arguably the most important part of his Nashville story? That’d be his brother talking him into staying in town to continue chasing his music career goals. As Eric Church explained, he was literally a drive away from leaving it all behind. It was his little brother, Brandon, that convinced him to stay and keep at it: “I packed up the car. I was leaving. It was actually my brother that saved me. He’s no longer with me. But he was the guy… I remember calling him one night, we were in a band together in western North Carolina, and he was not enjoying college very much at the time. I called him one night, and it was one of those conversations where I was like, ‘I’m done with this.’ He goes, ‘Where are you? What’s going on?’ The next day, unexpectedly, he showed up with a duffle bag. I had a one bedroom apartment. He showed up with a duffle bag, and ended up sleeping on a fold out couch. The way he pitched it was, ‘I’ve got nothing better going on anyway. Let’s give it three months, I’m gonna sleep on your couch.’ Which I think he enjoyed. He was enjoying his life.” Early on in 2018, Church’s younger brother Brandon tragically passed away after having complications stemming from a seizure. He was one of the few people who kept pushing Eric to pursue music even when it wasn’t going well in the beginning. And Eric Church is forever grateful for the support that he got from his younger brother. The Chief revealed later in the interview that it was only when Brandon was crashing on his couch in Nashville – in a supportive fashion, of course – that the puzzle pieces of his music career started to come together. Without him, Church isn’t sure how everything would have played out: “He said, ‘Give it three months. I’ll sleep here. I’m coming with you. Instead of you coming back home, I’ll be another person that leaves the family and comes out.’ It was really during that period that things started to kind of work for me.” You can hear more from Eric Church in the interview below: The post How Eric Church’s Late Brother Saved His Country Music Career: “I Packed Up The Car… I Was Leaving” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.