Eric Church Hits Career High With 'Hands Of Time'

03-25-2025

(EBM) Eric Church's "Hands Of Time" sets a new personal record en route to becoming most added at Country radio this week with 135 first-week stations. The milestone adds to the anticipation for the next ambitious and sonically rich chapter in his groundbreaking career, with new album Evangeline vs. The Machine arriving May 2.

The song earned immediate praise upon its release last Thursday, March 20, with Stereogum lauding the "juicy, fired-up Southern rocker about living in a world that increasingly makes no sense to you;" Rolling Stone celebrating the "nostalgic jukebox, full of allusions to songs and artists that were essential to Church's career: Bob Seger and 'Hollywood Nights,' Tom Petty and 'Even the Losers,' AC/DC's 'Back in Black,' and Willie and Waylon's 'Luckenbach, Texas,' among them;" and Billboard honoring the way "the song builds into a punchy, rock-fueled anthem as Church sings of turning to simple pleasures - particularly music - to fend off the impact of the passing decades."

Among the other songs featured on the forthcoming Jay Joyce-produced album is "Darkest Hour," released ahead of the project to support relief efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024, with all of Church's publishing royalties donated to provide ongoing funds in support of a more resilient future for his home state of North Carolina. "That song had the chance to change things-it already has," Church reflects. "The greatest concert I've ever played was the Concert for Carolina - that's the greatest thing I've been involved with. This song played a big part of that night and is a rallying cry for the people there that still need a lot of help. As a person who writes and performs a song, seeing it truly impact people's lives is the greatest thing you can hope to accomplish."

Also included is "Johnny," a soul-stirring reinterpretation inspired by "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and the Covenant School tragedy, which Church has previewed in limited settings at both his Chief's To Beat The Devil residency and the recent Country Radio Seminar, leaving audiences in awe. "About a year ago, we had a shooting here in Nashville at the Covenant School," he explained when introducing the song during CRS. "Where my kids go to school, my two boys, is about a mile from that school. I will 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 the shooting and watching them walk inside. I sat in the parking lot for a long time, and as fate would have it, as I was pulling out, Charlie Daniels was playing, 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia.' I remember thinking, man, we could use Johnny right now, because the Devil's not in Georgia, he's everywhere. I went home and wrote 'Johnny'."