Eric Church's Rebel Spirit Celebrated in New Museum Exhibit: See the Highlights

Of course you’ll get to see a pair of his signature Ray-Ban Aviator Mirror sunglasses.

But more important, you’ll come away from the new Eric Church exhibit at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with a strong sense of the artist behind those reflective lenses.

From start to finish, “Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul” offers ample proof that no one more than Church has so fearlessly — and stubbornly — forged his own path in country music. The exhibit itself, in country’s hallowed museum, is testament enough that he’s proven himself — a fact not lost on Church, given his remarks at the July opening.

“I will say that there is something to doing it your own way and you can still get to where you want to go if you do it that way,” the 46-year-old superstar told invited guests at a reception held in the Hall of Fame rotunda.

Church had just made his way through the expansive exhibit for the first time, along with his wife, Katherine, and their sons, Boone, 11, and Hawk, 8. For Church, “the best part” was getting to relive his career with his children.

“Both of my kids, from 2 and 3 months old, they grew up on the tour bus,” he said, “and when you’re in the tornado and you’re going through it, you forget all these things that happen. … When they’re 1 or 2 or 3, and they just don’t remember that — that was my favorite part of this entire exhibit, experiencing it again with them.”

What they saw begins with a newspaper clipping that records Church’s first taste of the spotlight: As a 4-year-old, he made the finals of a local talent show singing the Oak Ridge Boys' hit “Elvira.”

Growing up in Granite Falls, North Carolina, Church knew in high school that he wanted to be a songwriter, and a page out of his yearbook reveals he was voted “most talented” by classmates.

Arriving in Nashville in 2001, he had a record deal by 2005, but he didn’t make a tidal-sized wave until 2010, when he insisted his tribute to the high life, “Smoke a Little Smoke,” be released to country radio, even threatening to walk his contract if his label didn’t make it happen.

The song went on to affix his renegade spirit in fans’ hearts and helped to launch his stratospheric career.

Many of the fruits he’s harvested over the next dozen years are on prominent display: multiple plaques for gold and platinum albums; the 2012 CMA and ACM trophies for album of the year (for Chief; he won a second CMA album of the year, for Mr. Misunderstood, in 2016); a congratulatory note from The Boss himself for the success of Church’s 2012 hit, “Springsteen”; the 2020 CMA entertainer of the year trophy; collectible posters and scribbled-on setlists from his sold-out tours; the Tom Ford purple suede jacket he wore to sing the national anthem, with Jazmine Sullivan, at the 2021 Super Bowl.

Along the way, Church has often made shocking career moves, dropping his opening acts to play two full sets at concerts; releasing Mr. Misunderstood in 2015 with no advance notice (and giving away the first 80,000 copies to fan club members); writing and recording 28 songs in 28 days, the basis for his epic three-disc album, Heart & Soul (2020).

He also has paid the price for some of his decisions, which is reflected in the exhibit, as well.

In 2006, Church was fired as Rascal Flatts’ opening act for repeatedly playing too long, and a 16-year-old Taylor Swift stepped in to replace him. She’d just released her debut album, and Church told her at that time that she owed him her first gold record—which explains why a Taylor Swift plaque is in the museum exhibit.

“Eric, Thanks for playing too long on the Flatts tour,” she wrote in the framed display. “I SINCERELY appreciate it. Hahaha. Love you! Taylor”

More recently, in 2022, Church disappointed San Antonio fans when he canceled a show in that city to attend the NCAA Final Four college basketball game between his beloved North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils. Featured in the exhibit is a Jim Mazza-designed poster for the two free makeup concerts that Church performed months later in New Braunfels, Texas.

The exhibit offers generous nods to Church’s collaborators, both his bandmates and his fellow songwriters. It also acknowledges his impact and influence on a new generation of artists, most notably Thomas Rhett, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen.

His own influences are as surprising and adventuresome as his career, which can be seen from Church’s handwritten notes that have guided the playlist for his SiriusXM satellite radio channel, Outsiders Radio, launched last year. On page after page, in alphabetical order, he lists the artists and songs that make up his musical chromosomes. Just “K” and “L” (on display) feature, among others, Kid Rock, Kings of Leon, Kip Moore, Kris Kristofferson, KT Tunstall, Lacy J. Dalton, Lake Street Dive, Lead Belly and Led Zeppelin.

The list is a favorite artifact of museum writer-editor Angela Stefano Zimmer, who spent the last several months curating the exhibit. Her hope, she said, is for visitors to see how Church has “kept chasing that new thing and trying not to stay the same.”

In her research, she was impressed that he has defined himself as an outsider and as someone who’s misunderstood, but that he’s resisted being labeled an “outlaw.”

As Church told Rolling Stone in 2018, “I hope ‘different’ is a word for me. If you look at our writing and what we’ve recorded, I hope people go, ‘Man, that guy did it his own way.’”

Church is now out on his “Outsider’s Revival” tour with a rotation of 18 supporting acts, including Jelly Roll, Ashley McBryde, Lainey Wilson, Parker McCollum and Jackson Dean.

“Eric Church: Country Heart, Restless Soul” is open through June 2024 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.