{"id":20714,"date":"2019-12-26T08:24:26","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T15:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1816005"},"modified":"2019-12-26T08:24:26","modified_gmt":"2019-12-26T15:24:26","slug":"eric-church-pens-foreword-for-a-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/eric-church-pens-foreword-for-a-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Church Pens Foreword for a Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Alison Bonaguro<\/a><\/span>
\n29m ago<\/span>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

Eric Church and songwriter Jeremy Spillman go way, way back. They\u2019ve written songs together since they first sat down to write songs like the title track from Church\u2019s 2006 debut album Sinners Like Me <\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wrote it in an old house on Music Row, and in my head, that was just always such an Eric song,\u201d Spillman told me <\/a>back in 2016. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the first song we wrote together. We were buddies, doing all the crazy things you do when you\u2019re new to Nashville.\u201d Spillman came in with the title the day they wrote \u201cSinners Like Me,\u201d and Church had the idea to make it a waltz done in 3\/4 time. \u201cAnd then when we got to chorus, and we put in the \u2019la de dah de dah\u2019 part, we thought that was so emotional and so cool to not have words there. It was almost like a songwriting breakthrough because we were doing something we weren\u2019t supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now, Spillman has taken his way with words and gone far beyond the four-minute song limit. He\u2019s written a novel<\/a> called The DeVine Devils<\/em>. It is set in Arizona in 1867 and tells the tale of brothers Audie and Shane DeVine. <\/p>\n

Church may not have collaborated with Spillman on this book \u2014 that came directly from Spillman\u2019s pen \u2014 but he did write a foreword for the novel. <\/p>\n

\u201cWriting songs with someone is a creatively intimate process. You get to know someone at an inspirationally cellular level \u2014 what their fears are, their hopes, shortcomings, failures, triumphs, and dreams. The most important thing you get a glimpse at, though, is a person\u2019s imaginative soul,\u201d Church wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve written amazing songs with Jeremy Spillman \u2014 some you\u2019ve heard, some you haven\u2019t \u2014 but all were equally unique and special in their own way,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s just the kind of writer Jeremy is.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, Church admits he was unprepared for the day he found out what Spillman had been working on. \u201cJeremy handed mea manuscript and said, \u2019Hey man, I\u2019ve written a book.\u2019 Full disclosure here, I\u2019m an avid reader, maybe 50-60 books a year. I\u2019m even what academia would call a book snob<\/em>,\u201d he said, sharing that the story of Audie and Shane reminds him of his relationship with his own brother. \u201cJeremy does an amazing job of using that bond as a backbone to a dizzying adventure \u2014 one that deals with life, death, humor, loss, prejudices, love, and of course music. I very simply loved it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful Jeremy wrote it, and I\u2019m thankful he shared it with me and with the world. We are all better off for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the book project complete, Spillman and Church will likely have more time for their first love, songwriting. They still write together all these years later, and Spillman told me that\u2019s because Church is a loyal artist and collaborator. \u201cEric brings new people into the fold, but if you look at the songwriting credits,\u201d he said, \u201cyou\u2019ll see a lot of the same guys who wrote on the first record wrote on his last record and all the ones in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

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