Eric Church on authenticity and building locally
I’ve mostly placed Eric Church in the bro-country category, so I’m not overly familiar with his work. But I finally watched his commencement address at Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill), which has been receiving quite a bit of social media attention, and I found it moving for a number of reasons.
I especially appreciated his comments about making it a priority to build locally rather than globally.
Church said it’s important to resist the temptation of “performing for everybody but not belonging to anyone.” He went on to say, “Build the thing your community needs, even if the internet will never see it.”
I’m not a songwriter, but I’ve always had an affinity for them. I love poetry and music, and there is obviously a great deal of creativity and authenticity in that line of work. So in many ways, it makes sense that Church would do well in a commencement format. The overly ideological speeches, or the speeches that are too narrowly career-focused, often fall flat. But a good songwriter knows how to speak plainly about longing, place, failure, and hope.
On a personal level, his comments about building where you are, and his reminder that “generosity is not something you do after you make it, it’s how you make it,” really hit home. That is something I struggle with myself. Too often, I drift toward the mindset that I have to build more wealth before I can truly be generous.
With a busy work schedule and three boys, I sometimes find it hard to give of my time. Not unlike many Americans. Recently, though, I made it a point to coach flag football at the school my boys attend. We were not a particularly great team, but one of the players came up to me after the season and personally thanked me for coaching them.
That simple gesture nearly moved me to tears.
More than that, it has pushed me to think more deeply about generosity and what it means to give my time to the communities around me. Maybe generosity is not mainly about waiting until we have excess. Maybe it begins with offering what we already have, right where we are.
Also, while not much of a fan of Church’s music, being in North Carolina, I’m familiar with his song “Carolina.” Ending with that was a beautiful touch.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat