Looks like Eric Church showed up in Hollywood last week and showed California what country music is all about.  And he has the L.A Times talking all about it!

The article starts out with a description of Eric breaking stero-types of country music and groups him with names like Jamey Johnson and Randy Houser. 

There’s a new breed of Southern rocker who’s laying waste to the stereotype of the genre being the exclusive domain of beer-drinkin’, flag-wavin’ good ol’ boys.

The intriguing part is that they’re selling respectable quantities of their freshmen and sophomore albums and drawing the kind of critical accolades often more commonly heaped on brainy alt-rock bands or sensitive folk-rooted singer-songwriter types.

Church gave a strong example of how these threads are being pulled together in a vibrant package with a private show this week in the outdoor foyer of the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood.

The North Carolina singer, guitarist and songwriter has been building a solid club following in the South and Midwest, one that he’s increasingly expanding into the Eastern Seaboard and Southwest. But he hasn’t had a major show yet in Southern California. He’s scheduled to get here in December, though label officials may push to get a showcase for him earlier than that.

Church got heaps of praise for his 2006 debut “Sinners Like Me” and has continued the good notices with the recently released follow-up, “Carolina.”

He drew from both in a muscular 30-minute set for about 100 onlookers, many invited as members of his fan club, the others Capitol employees who were getting their first live exposure to one of their Nashville division’s most promising acts.

He can drop a punch line with the deftness of Brad Paisley (“Before She Does”), inspire a bit of hell-raising a la Waylon and Willie at their outlaw finest (“Smoke a Little Smoke”) and fan the fires of romance as well as any of the heartthrobs dominating the country charts (“Love Your Love the Most”). Even then, he brings an uncommon dimension to his recounting of what he values (“I’m a fan of Faulkner books/And anything my mama cooks/And small-mouth bass have got me hooked on Sunday afternoon.”)

Despite restricting his five-piece Eric Church Band mostly to acoustic instruments for the Capitol gig, there was no shortage of musical voltage. “It’s going to get a lot louder than this when we come back in December,” Church vowed with a devilish grin while scribbling autographs after the set.

Yee-haw, indeed.

–Randy Lewis

I say hats off to Randy Lewis and Californa for embracing country music and giving much credit where credit is due.

Tawny, who spoke with Eric last month, can tell you that Eric is someone who cares about the music and isn’t blinded by all of the hoop-la that can over take an artist making his way up the charts.

Country Girl wants you to be a Tattle Tale! Have you been to a country concert lately? Run into a country artist while out on the town? We want to hear all about your country music news and entertainment. Email me at countrygirl@countrymusictattletale.com

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