A tradition started by Eric Church's grandmother lives on at his holiday gatherings.
Eric Church, and his wife Katherine, says that they’ll be continuing a family holiday tradition started by his grandmother that may invoke some tears on Christmas morning.
“My grandmother, when she was alive, would always come over, and every year she would bring this Christmas story, and some of them were gut-wrenching,” Church says. “I’m not going to lie to you. They were just heart-tugging stories about people … who had something happen to them, something magical for Christmas, that had turned [their] life around … whether it was a homeless person, or just anything.
“And she would always look all year long and find this story, and then we would have breakfast, and she would read it, and it was just our family, and we’ve carried that on,” he continues.
“My mom does that now, and she’s kind of taken it, and she finds the story, and that’s something I’m going to do with my family. And Katherine and I have talked about it. It’ll be her turn to find that … and we have a big Christmas breakfast, and we sit around, and we share that.”
Church admits that sometimes it can be somber, however he believes in the tradition and is happy to continue it.
“I mean, it can be hard, you know,” he says. “You get up on Christmas morning, and you’re in a good mood, and they’re just gut-wrenching, you know, but it’s fun to put things in perspective, and it makes you think about people that aren’t as fortunate.”
Church’s album The Outsiders took home “Album of the Year” at the 2014 American Country Countdown Awards and was recently certified platinum. He will return to touring in 2015, including joining Kenny Chesney for select dates.