Eric Church Reveals His Guilty Pleasures, Tour Necessities + More

Eric Church is back to burning up the country music charts with his latest single, 'Homeboy.' The new tune is the first release from Church's forthcoming album on Capitol Records, slated for release later this year. The singer and first time father-to-be is gearing up to hit the road with superstar Toby Keith on his Locked and Loaded Tour, set to kick off on July 1 in Milwaukee, Wisc. and runs through October. Taste of Country caught up with Church between tour stops, where he opened up about what stresses him out, his guilty pleasures and the things he never leaves home without.

What is your guilty pleasure?
I’m not a big TV guy, but I love either ‘Auction Hunters’ or those repo shows on truTV. It’s really just glorified Jerry Springer is all it is. Every now and then it’s just mindless entertainment. We’ll be on the bus, and we’ll laugh at it. Those are my guilty pleasures.

What is your favorite getaway place?
The mountains in North Carolina. I go there as much as I can just to kind of get away. There’s no cell service and you’re out in the middle of nowhere. For me, I love to go hunting or fishing there.

When you get home from a long run on the road, what is the first thing you love to do?
That depends on the time of day. It’s either go to bed, because we haven’t been in a bed that hasn’t been moving in a while, or we have a big yard, so I like to get the dog and we’ll go out back in the yard and play.

What is your must-have tour accessory?
I have a couple of things. The two important things are a certain kind of sheets, because again, just anything that can make the bus feel like home [helps], so a high-quality thread count sheets … that’s a good one, and Jack Daniel's. We have it here [at home] and we have it on the road. We just make sure it’s nearby [laughs].

What is something you never leave home without … besides your Jack Daniels?
[Laughs] I’ll say this, because I’ve left them before and had to use another pair: I have a certain pair of boots that are kind of my lucky pair of boots. They’ve become stage boots after a while. That’s the only time I wear them. I’ve got a bunch of different pairs of boots, but these particular boots, I just can’t go onstage without them. I always try to have them nearby.

What is your favorite article of clothing or fashion accessory?
If I were on stage, I’d say those boots, but also sunglasses. I wear them onstage, I wear them offstage, I wear them all the time. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like a lot of bright lights [laughs]! I like to keep my shades on.

What is something that freaks you out?
I should say my wife being pregnant [laughs]! I tell you what freaks me out … you know the little ticker? The Wall Street Dow Jones up and down thing that’s moving when the stock market’s open? That thing freaks me out. It’s up, it’s down, it’s just maddening to me. I guess I’m such a super-focused kind of person that I get distracted really easy. I’ll watch that thing, and it’s like I’m losing money, I’m getting money. It’s just crazy. I just can’t do it. I try to stay away from all financial channels.

What is something that stresses you out?
I don’t get real stressed out, but traveling with [my wife] Catherine stresses me out because if the plane leaves at nine, we’re still trying to get there about then. The jog through the airport makes flying with her a unique experience.

What is something you always have in your fridge?
Diet Sun Drop. I grew up in North Carolina, and they have a soft drink called Sun Drop. I love the diet version of it. It’s the greatest thing on the face of the earth. I always have it in my fridge -- bus fridge and home fridge.

What is a habit you have that you would like to break?
I really love pizza after midnight. I should probably give that up soon!

Watch Eric Church Perform 'Homeboy' Live