
Garnering his third No. 1 single on the Billboard charts, Eric Church continues to buck the trends that make his contemporaries so popular. He's blazed his own trail, and "he's never happy to stay back on his own laurels," UMG CEO Mike Dungan pointed out at the No. 1 celebration for "Give Me Back My Hometown."
Dungan continued, noting Church's achievements in creativity, "I can't tell you what it's like to represent an artist with such integrity and meat on his bones. This guy is constantly moving." Lifted from Church's eclectically-ranged The Outsiders, "Hometown" was co-written with Nashville tastemaker Luke Laird, who hit a milestone with a record 15 chart-topping singles.
Laird has penned such tunes as Carrie Underwood's "So Small," Blake Shelton's "Hillbilly Bone" and Little Big Town's "Pontoon." Earlier this year, the songwriter landed a Grammy Award win for Best Country Album for his contributions to Kacey Musgraves' critically-acclaimed Same Trailer Different Park disc. Shane MacAnally also produced.
Laird will return to the studio this fall to helm Musgraves' anticipated sophomore effort.
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