Eric Church Shares the Story of ‘Darkest Hour’ Ahead of CMA Awards [Exclusive]

Eric Church describes the devastation left after Hurricane Helene hit western Carolina as "biblical."

Having the perfect song to bring awareness to the storm damage might have been God's hand.

Ahead of his performance at the 2024 CMA Awards, Church talked about "Darkest Hour" and provided an update on his people.

"They're doing good," he shares. "We're rebuilding. The great thing about the people of western North Carolina, is they're resilient people."

• Church spoke with ToC at CMA Radio Row, ahead of the Nov. 20 broadcast on ABC.
• He's part of a performer lineup that includes Kelsea Ballerini, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Jelly Roll and Cody Johnson.
• Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning will host the CMA Awards this year.

Related: How Much Did Luke Combs + Eric Church's Hurricane Relief Concert Raise?

Hurricane Helene struck Florida in late September and worked the southeast before parking over western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. More than 100 people were killed in North Carolina alone. The storm caused over $100 billion in damage.

Church spends about half his year in the area with his family, but his roots run deep, having grown up in Caldwell County. He says he's actually gotten his kids involved in the cleanup effort — he's trying to set a positive example for his boys (ages 9 and 14) as he pledges to build 100 homes in the area.

"We're pretty good in this country at the 911 part, which is the food, the water, the diapers," he explains. "We're not very good at the next part, which is how do we keep people there, how do we rebuild the community?"

"And I realized pretty quickly that these people need a place to live, otherwise we're going to lose the people, and we'll never rebuild the communities if they disperse."

Church is scheduled to perform at the 2024 CMA Awards (8PM ET on ABC), but the song he'll sing hasn't been announced.

He says "Darkest Hour" wasn't written specifically for this cause, but he was glad to have it in his back pocket after the storm.

"There's a line in 'Darkest Hour' that says, 'in your darkest hour, I'll come running.' And I realized that the people there need us to come running," he shares. "And I knew I would regret not putting the song out and making it an anthem for at least keeping awareness on this project.

Look for "Darkest Hour" on Church's next album, which he says is slated for 2025.