Country star Eric Church has officially launched Chief's, a six-story venue that combines a bar, restaurant and music hall, right in the heart of Nashville's iconic Broadway. The "Record Year" singer is currently hosting a 19-show residency at this intimate 400-seat location.
Reflecting on his early days in Nashville, Church said when he left his small town in North Carolina, all he had was dreams of stardom.
"I didn't know anybody," he said. "I didn't even know where Nashville started and ended. I just knew that I came to the center of it."
Despite his ambitions, the beginning was fraught with rejections. He said he couldn't even get a bartending job on Broadway.
"Broadway didn't want me at all," he said. "I couldn't get a gig on Broadway."
Today, Church is revered as one of country music's most respected figures, often described as Nashville's renegade. But he admits, even now, after all this success, he sometimes still sees himself as an outsider.
Chief's is more than just a venue. It's a heartfelt project that offers Church a way to connect deeply with his fans.
"I desired a space where I could simply show up, without cell phones or recorders, in a cozy living room setting, and perform songs that never made it onto albums," Church expressed.
The importance of Chief's as a sanctuary is underscored by the personal tragedies Church endured, such as his near-fatal encounter with a blood clot in June of 2017. Following emergency surgery, it took him months to recuperate. One of his initial performances after returning was at a festival in Las Vegas. Just two days after his show, a tragic event unfolded as a gunman attacked the crowd, resulting in the loss of 60 lives.
"I witnessed those individuals that night, holding up boots and singing at the top of their lungs," he recounted. "And then, two days later, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Many fans who had stayed over the weekend to catch all the shows were among those who perished. I can't quite explain it, but something about that experience shattered me," he shared.
The sudden passing of his younger brother Brandon — due to complications from a seizure less than a year later — plunged him into eight months of profound "darkness."
"I have overcome many challenges in my life. In the midst of it all, I turned to the one thing I know I can rely on. I wrote songs," he reflected.
Chief's provides a platform for him to perform the songs born from these personal trials — songs too personal for albums, but therapeutic for his healing process.
"What I'm trying to show with the residency here is it was really the songwriting and the songs that nobody's heard that I've never put on a record," he said. "Cause it was too personal, was too close. I'm gonna play those. I'm gonna say, this is what got me through."
Beyond the music, Church wanted Chief's to feel personal. The stained-glass windows feature those artists who have inspired him. He's covered a bar with about 4,000 of his concert posters. There are nods everywhere to his life and music that is now a distinctive part of the Nashville sound.
Despite his continued self-view as an outsider, Church feels a sense of redemption in being able to establish such a personal stake on Broadway, where he once faced rejection.
"I started here, you know, they didn't want me here. I'm here. They can't kick me out now."
