Throughout his career, which is nearing its 20th year, country music singer-songwriter Eric Church has crossed paths with several big names in the genre. But probably his most memorable encounter came from the very first time he met Toby Keith.
Since partnering with Capitol Nashville, Church has released nine studio albums, each bringing a new hit to his discography, which includes “Guys Like Me,” “Love Your Love the Most,” “Drink in My Hand,” and “Springsteen.” Toby Keith, meanwhile, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame just before his death at 62. In honor of Keith’s memory, Church reflected on their remarkable first meeting that managed to stand out even among each artist’s Grammy-studded career.
Eric Church recalled when Toby Keith dragged a man out of a bar the first time they met
Speaking on Country 102.5, Church recalled his first memorable, yet entirely in-character first meeting with Keith. “My first time I met Toby, we both frequented a bar in Printer’s Alley in Nashville called The Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar,” he shared.
RELATED: Inside Toby Keith’s Hilarious First Time Smoking With Willie Nelson
Church went on, “And I remember walking in my first time and apparently some of the patrons had been harassing a bartender behind the bar and as I walked in, Toby had taken the guy harassing the patrons and had drug him by his shirt collar all the way down the bar.”
“And as I walked in the door, the guy dropped in front of me,” Church added, “and I look up and there’s Toby Keith, and I kinda stuck out my hand and said, ‘Hi.'”
Church remembers the nature of Keith’s character as one that went against the grain
This marked the start of a long friendship that lasted the rest of Keith’s life and resulted in some solid collaborations that fans of both artists appreciated. 2011 saw the Locked and Loaded Tour featuring Toby Keith and Eric Church.
Additionally, according to Whiskey Riff, the two wrote a song together that has not yet been released that fans can look forward to.
“All I need to tell you about his direction and whether me and him were gonna fit as friends or as anything else is we co-wrote a song the other day,” teased Church. “He brought the idea, he goes ‘We need to write a song,’ and I said ‘Okay.'”
Through their friendship and collaborations, Church was privy to the nature of Keith’s character, and praised, “Toby was always a guy that did things his own way, and I think of that, I think of that fondly now when I think of him.”