Thomas Rhett Compares Early Eric Church To Zach Bryan: “It Was Kind Of Underground”

It's hard to keep track of all the artists who count Eric Church as one of their biggest influences in country music. From Luke Combs and Ashley McBryde to HARDY and even up-and-coming superstars like Hannah Dasher , it seems like Church's music universally influenced and shaped the next generation of country stars. And you can count Thomas Rhett in that group too. TR recently released his latest album About A Woman , and one of the songs that's gotten the most attention is the nostalgic Eric Church-themed anthem "Church." Church’s music serves as the backdrop for the love story, with songs like “Sinners Like Me” and “Love Your Love the Most” taking him back to the memories they made together listening to Church as their romance blossomed: “She played me her favorite song ‘Sinners Like Me’ And I ain’t been the same since the first time I heard the Chief She was my Carolina, red bandana, Ray-Ban singin’ oh, ‘Springsteen’ ‘Young and Wild’ that summer’s why “Love Your Love the Most” still sounds like, oh eighteen Back then these boots were almost new I was still learnin’ the words That Friday night I was holding onto her She took me to Church” The song evokes a lot of the same themes as Church’s own “Springsteen,” connecting melodies and memories like going to a Church concert and hearing “Talladega” and “Like Jesus Does,” and songs like “How ‘Bout You” taking him back to their first kiss. And speaking about the song in a recent interview with Kelleigh Bannen on Today's Country Radio on Apple Music, Thomas Rhett discussed his love for Chief's music and the influence Church had on him growing up - and he compared Church to one of the new superstars of the genre: "Eric Church then was like listening to Zach Bryan now. It was kind of underground... He was the outlaw. He sang about words that you couldn't say on mainstream radio, all this stuff. So me and all my buddies, that was our favorite. I was the biggest Eric Church fan that I knew." Thomas Rhett compares Eric Church when he first entered the music scene to the phenomenon we're seeing with guys like Zach Bryan and Wyatt Flores now, artists who don't get a lot of mainstream attention but force their way into the conversation by making music that listeners want to hear. And it's hard to deny that Church changed the game with his first two albums, Sinners Like Me and Carolina, despite the fact that they weren't huge commercial successes. It wasn't until Church released his third album, Chief, that he really began to break through as a mainstream artist, after he had already built up a massive following of hardcore fans - kind of like guys like Zach and Wyatt are doing.