Two of the best on stage together.
Anybody who follows us knows that Eric Church is one of my all-time favorite artists. The man is a master songwriter, puts on a hell of a live show, and is one of the few out there who’s not afraid to give a middle finger to the machine (pun kind of intended) for the sake of his art.
I’ve also been beating the drum of Charles Wesley Godwin for anybody who would listen since he released his debut album, Seneca, back in 2019. (I think the first article I wrote about him was in 2020, well before he was on his way to becoming a household name like he is these days. Don’t say I don’t know ball).
I mean sure, I’m a little biased because he’s a fellow West Virginian, but his songwriting is second to none and his powerful voice only helps to showcase the emotion and authenticity in his music. And if there’s anybody who can give Eric Church a run for his money when it comes to putting on a live show, it’s CWG. The man and his Allegheny High band just bring it every single night.
So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw that Church was taking CWG out on tour with him to open some shows on his Free The Machine tour this year. Church is getting an incredible opener, and Charles is getting a well-deserved opportunity to introduce his music to a whole new audience. A lot of opener/headliner pairings don’t work because they’re too different to share the same audience, but Church provides an audience that’s already shown they have an appreciation for meaningful songwriting and high-energy live shows, so this one seems like a match made in heaven.
And during a recent show at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, the two even shared the stage for a mashup of an iconic country song and one of Church’s most meaningful hits.
The two started out with a cover of the Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson hit “Pancho and Lefty” before Church joked that he was going to “test” Charles by transitioning to “Sinners Like Me,” the deeply personal single from Church’s debut album. And it makes total sense to have Charles up there for this one, because not long ago he posted his own cover of the song while revealing just how meaningful it is to him:
It no doubt takes on a lot of meaning for Charles too now that he’s a father of three, and he also recalled listening to the song in his truck long before he started on his own musical journey:
“Singing with The Chief Eric Church was something I never could have imagined when my brother and I used to roll around town in his old Tundra listening to Sinners Like Me on repeat. The Free The Machine Tour rolls on! What a life.”
Their shared passion for music and their families shine through for both of them as they put their own spin on the early Church hit:
Love it.
I’ve got a request for the next time the two of them team up though: Charles frequently covers “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot, and even released his own cover of the song. And it was also one that Church performed on his Double Down tour in Canada a few years ago. Now I need to see the two of them doing it together with their full band.
Think about it, Eric and Charles. Would be electric.
In the meantime, here’s their full performance together from Seattle:
