Country music will be well represented at the highly anticipated “Aerosmith & Friends: California Dream On” event in a couple of weeks.
The legendary rock band is having a reunion of sorts on October 29 and November 1 at the historic Hollywood Bowl, and they aren’t going in alone. They’ll be joined by the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Black Crowes, RUN DMC, Heart, Andrew Watt, Billy Idol, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains, Mike Inez (Alice In Chains), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Pat Monahan (Train), Sammy Hagar, Steve Stevens, Sully Erna (Godsmack), Tom Morello, Adam Wakeman, Audley Freed, Kenny Aronoff, Marcus King and the one and only Eric Church.
As you can see, it’s a group heavily represented by rock… while King and Church stand as the two country artists that rock enough to get the invite.
King’s style is very influenced by blues and southern rock. He often credits B.B. King and The Allman Brothers Band for helping him discover his own sound. As for Eric Church, his influences range from country greats like Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr. to rock legends such as Bruce Springsteen or AC/DC. All that to say… both King and Church will fit in perfectly with Aerosmith, and the rock band’s fans should be treated to quite the performance.
And I called it a reunion of sorts because Aerosmith last placed back in 2023, during their Peace Out: The Farewell Tour. Considering that, it’s not a stretch to call these two shows coming up comeback performances. Steven Tyler and the rest of the band shouldn’t feel too much pressure when they make their triumphant return. They’ve got plenty of talented help that will be standing with them.
Including the Chief himself:
“Eric will join an incredible lineup for California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends on October 29th live at the Hollywood Bowl in LA!”
What a lineup… and as you can see, it looks like certain artists will be playing on certain nights. Eric Church appears to be scheduled for the first night of the two-night concert.
Both Marcus King and Eric Church are chameleons of sorts. They’re both highly respected in the music industry, and can very easily cross genre lines. King sat in with the Black Keys in Nashville not too long ago, and Eric just recently took center stage during a halftime performance with Trombone Shorty.
It seems like Church loves to dip his toes into music that he might not be known for. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point you towards a performance from a couple of years back (okay… more than a couple) when Eric treated the Detroit crowd with a cover of Eminem.
A wild pairing right? But the Chief can do it all, and he’ll be flexing that muscle when he steps on stage and accompanies Aerosmith in California at the end of October and beginning of December. I’ll leave you with the cover I just mentioned… not many country stars can do Eminem justice, but Church did just that:
