Church's first #1 came in 2011 with "Drink in My Hand." His second was a year later when "Springsteen" topped the charts. As the first hit came a full five years after his first single released to radio, BMI's Jody Williams told those in attendance that watching his slow but steady rise to the top was "like watching the little engine that could."
Both Church and Laird were presented with custom-made wooden plaques shaped like their home states with stars marking their hometowns and gift certificates to Pizza Hut by Beth Mason Laird (Luke's wife and business partner). The pizza tie in comes from Luke growing up in such a small town that going to the chain for dinner was a big deal for his family, so Pizza Hut is a definite "hometown" reminder for him.
A real family affair, Laird shared how when he was just getting his start, singing his tunes at Nashville's Broken Spoke saloon, he was encouraged by music publisher Katherine Blasingame. She worked for Jody Williams at the time at his publishing company. Jody went on to BMI and Katherine went on to become Mrs. Eric Church.
Luke then went on to share the story behind the writing of the hit song. He said that as he was on his way to the cabin in North Carolina that Eric had rented for their writing session, his car started acting like it was going to die on him. He stopped in Knoxville and bought a Ford 150 - a truck he has always wanted. Once he got to NC, he told Church that they had better write a song that would make enough money for him to pay for his new truck. By the end of the session, the two men had written that song - and four others.
Mike Dungan, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group (and the man who first signed Eric Church), talked about Eric's career, saying, "Ironically, Eric Church's goal has never been to have No. 1 records. His goal was to make great records." And so far, he certainly has done that.
