New Eric Church album confirmed?
It’s been a few years now since we’ve gotten a new project from Chief, who last released a full-length album in 2021 with his Heart & Soul triple album. Of course he’s also been busy with plenty of other projects, including his Nashville bar, Chief’s, and his whiskey line, Whiskey JYPSI.
But last year, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Church confirmed that he had been in the studio working on a new album when he dropped the surprise new single, “Darkest Hour,” to benefit North Carolina:
“I was in the studio for a project next year. Kinda doing what we always do, which is trying to be different and challenge myself creatively. Playing with an orchestra and symphony and choir, doing some really interesting stuff.”
And over the weekend, Church dropped a cryptic teaser that had fans hopeful a new album was on the way:
— Eric Church (@ericchurch) March 15, 2025
He then confirmed that new music was dropping soon, with a new single “Hands of Time” coming this Thursday.
New single "Hands Of Time" releasing 3.20.25 pic.twitter.com/aDkYdkY4Gg
— Eric Church (@ericchurch) March 17, 2025
And yesterday, he gave fans a teaser of the new song.
We ain’t as young as we used to be…
3.20.25 pic.twitter.com/ZmDm3t8V7x
— Eric Church (@ericchurch) March 18, 2025
But eagle-eyed Apple Music users might have just spotted a clue about what else he’s got up his sleeve.
A new Eric Church album, Evangeline & the Machine, appeared on the streaming service this morning, allowing users to pre-save the new project which says that it will be released on May 2, 2025.
8 songs…?https://t.co/IfRSlI9Yag
— Sunny Lee (@muser_lee) March 19, 2025
The album appears to have 8 songs, including the already-released “Darkest Hour” and the upcoming single “Hands of Time.” It also contains “Johnny,” a powerful new song that Church performed during his To Beat the Devil residency at his Nashville bar, Chief’s, and performed publicly for the first time during CRS last month.
Eric revealed that the song was actually written the day after the tragic shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School:
“About a year ago we had a shooting here in Nashville and where my kids go to school, is about a mile from that school. And I’m gonna tell you something, the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, parent or otherwise, is dropping them off at that school the day after that shooting, and watching them walk inside.
And I sat in the parking lot for a long time, and as fate would have it Charlie Daniels was playing “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” And I remember thinking, ‘Man, we could use Johnny right now’ because the Devil is not in Georgia. He is everywhere, and I went home and wrote ‘Johnny.'”
@bonitawallace8 @Eric Church with a moving performance of “Johnny” with a powerful speech at @Ryman. #ericchurch #ericchurchmusic #nashville #nashvilletennessee #crs ♬ original sound – Bonita
Fans have also speculated that we may be getting another double album from Church. The original teaser featured both the Greek letter Sigma and the letter M. With the album art for the new project containing the Sigma, could there be a second half with the M? Are we just reading too much into things at this point? Who knows.
There’s obviously been no official announcement about the album, but this may also just be Chief’s way of breaking the news. You never really know with him.
Either way, it looks like a new album from Eric Church is coming sooner rather than later…and I couldn’t be more excited.
Blueprint for the Blue Ridge
While Church hasn’t released a new project since his 2021 triple album Heart & Soul, he’s been hard at work on much more important things.
Recently, Church and his team announced that through his foundation Chief Cares and the money they raised during their star-studded Concert For Carolina, they had purchased land outside of Newland in Avery County to build at least 40 homes for those who lost everything during Hurricane Helene.
They’re set to break ground on the project this April, and they’re targeting for 100 homes to be move in-ready by June, with keys in hand for the new owners. In fact, the foundation even opened a full-blown office in Newland.
Recently, The Avery Times also confirmed that Chief Cares opened an office that is located at the Newland Town Hall, where they will work on applications and the rest of the process for those receiving homes as they get closer to being build. Chief Cares team members will be their daily from 9 a.m to 1 p.m., for anyone who has questions or interest in the project.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in western Florida in September, and here we are now in March, and the devastation is still overwhelming, particularly in western North Carolina. The Category 4 hurricane brought sustained winds over 100 miles per hour, and mostly as a result of the flooding that followed, over 230 people people lost their lives. More than half of them in North Carolina.
Eric Church is of course a North Carolina native, and he immediately stepped up and released “Darkest Hour,” signing over all the rights to the song to the people of North Carolina. Then, he teamed up with fellow North Carolina native and country music superstar, Luke Combs, for the aforementioned Concert for Carolina, an all-star charity show at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The two were able to raise a whopping $24 million for those affected by the storm.
The project is officially titled “Blueprint for the Blue Ridge,” and Eric said this about it:
“Any time a community needs help, it’s always the community next door that comes running to help. And there are no communities next door. They’ve all been devastated. So we’ve made it our mission at Chief Cares that we’re going to be the community next door…
We’re going to go and keep those people in their community, put a roof over their head, let ’em interact with their community, let ’em be a part of their community, and let ’em help rebuild the community.
It goes way beyond 100 homes. I hope it’s a lot of homes. A lot more than 100 homes. I hope it’s about building the businesses and building the community back. That’s what we’re committing to at Chief Cares, and we would love your help.”
He also talked about how special the area is to him personally:
“I’ve wrote every album of my career but one in Avery county, right here. So creatively it’s been real special to me, but spiritually it’s the place that my soul’s at rest. It’s the place that I get away from what I do in the world to come here and recharge. So it’s the most special place in the world to me, the mountains of this area.”
Eric has a home in Avery County himself, so obviously this is all very personal to him. In fact, the project would’ve actually been done sooner had winter weather not delayed the build, but they also had to have engineers come in to look at everything and lay new roads, as well as sewer and water lines. The new neighborhood is also expected to have a community center and hiking trails.
