ERIC CHURCH TAKES CBS NEWS ON THE ROAD, BEHIND THE SCENES

Seven-time GRAMMY nominated singer gives a rare peek behind the curtain on 

The Outsiders World Tour 

Eric Church with CBS' Mark Strassmann

Courtesy: Jill Trunnell

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES – (Feb. 5, 2015) – With music’s biggest night approaching, Eric Church gave the folks at CBS a rare behind the scenes look at the 100-plus person production of his wildly popular “The Outsiders World Tour.”

Camera crews followed the GRAMMY Award-nominated performer and his crew for 24 hours on a recent 220-mile run from Fresno, California, to Los Angeles. They captured the monumental effort it takes to put on the nine-month tour--assembling and tearing down the stage and lighting rig which stage manager Sam Coats called “100,000 pounds of rock your city” and loading it into 14 tractor-trailers after each show--and the difficult 18-plus-hour days crews work to pull it all off.

“These guys, they’re my family,” Church told CBS’ Mark Strassmann. “They would have my back in any situation and I would have theirs.”

“The Outsiders World Tour” hits SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Thursday night and then fans can catch Church performing live on the 57th annual GRAMMY Awards this Sunday on CBS. Church heads into Sunday's show and performance with four nominations, including Best Country Album for “The Outsiders” and Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “Give Me Back My Hometown.”

Church told Strassman that his live show is the key to his popularity and that “The Outsiders World Tour” was planned to celebrate with fans. “I felt like this was our moment,” Church said. “… I don’t think we have any of our other success without (touring).” Check the interview out here: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/eric-church-massive-tour-operation-behind-the-scenes/.

Church will perform at the Houston Rodeo on March 3 and then restart “The Outsiders World Tour” on March 4 at the Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Several members of “The Outsiders” tour crew have been with Church for years and he hopes new fans will come out and see what a little teamwork can accomplish.

“They’ve busted their ass since 7 a.m.,” Church said of his crew, “and they’ve been out there doing what they do. And I feel like when I walk out there, I get to, for them, spike the ball.”