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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, November 1, 2012
Eye Street Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Index Little River Band ...................................... 22 Arts Alive .................................................. 23 First Friday................................................ 24 Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” ........................ 24 Laf-A-Lot Dance Club................................ 25 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz.............. 26 Bakersfield Independent Film Festival .. 27 Calendar .............................................. 32-33
Just don’t call him an outlaw Church does it his way, but rowdy singer hates labels BY MATT MUNOZ Californian staff writer mmunoz@bakersfield.com
H
e rose to fame as a rebel, but it would be hard to find a guy more beloved by the country music establishment than Eric
Church. On the strength of his 2011 CD, “Chief” — which spawned the hits “Drink in My Hand,” “Creepin” and “Springsteen” — Church is headed to Bakersfield on Tuesday with his “Blood, Sweat & Tears” tour and leads the field at tonight’s County Music Association Awards, with five nominations. “It’s surreal, because it’s not something I saw coming,” said Church during a recent phone interview. “I knew ‘Chief’ had been a special record, I knew ‘Springsteen’ was a monster of a song, but I didn’t see being most nominated. Neither did anybody else, so don’t let anyone kid you. I think it’s better that way because there’s no expectations for me. “It’s pretty cool for the industry, because at times I felt like I didn’t know where we belonged. I thought we were too rock for country, I thought we were too country for rock, I didn’t know if we had a home. So, for them to kind of open their arms and say, ‘You’re one of us’ is the biggest thing I took from being nominated.” That affirmation is all the more sweet, Church said, considering that he got his start not as a pretty-boy Nashville creation, but as a honky-tonk hero, grinding it out night after night in one sweaty barroom after another. Church, 35, broke out of a pack of fellow rowdy country rockers like Jamey Johnson, starting talk of a new generation of outlaws, the heirs of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Just don’t call Church an outlaw to his face.
KYNDELL HARKNESS / STAR TRIBUNE
Eric Church performs at the State Fair Grandstand in Falcon Heights, Minn., in August. He will be at Rabobank Theater Tuesday.
“I hate labels. It seems like we could come up with a different word. ‘Outlaw’ is a word that was issued 30, 40 years ago, and I think there’s a different theme now. I mean, yeah, our paths have been somewhat similar as artists from way back. Maybe finding some success outside of the normal parameters where people find success, yeah, I get it. I’m just not big on calling it this or that, and certainly not going
back to a word 30 or 40 years.” Not big on country music’s penchant for hype, the North Carolina native prefers to keep his material and stage show about the purity of a rowdy good time. “A lot of times in my career, especially from where we came from, it wasn’t busy. I’m just taking it in stride. It’s pretty simple for me now. You gotta keep it about the
Eric Church When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: Rabobank Theater, 1001 Truxtun Ave. Admission: $36 to $199, plus fee Information: 852-7777 or ticketmaster.com
Please see CHURCH / 31
‘John Williams of England’ debuts work with BSO BY SUSAN SCAFFIDI Contributing writer
M
ulti award-winning composer Christopher Gunning will be on hand to hear the world premiere of his latest work performed by the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra this weekend, in a program of storytelling music. Titled “Hector’s Return,” Gunning’s nine-minute musical essay is the composer’s description of a hero’s return, first inspired by lis-
tening to the music of Hector Berlioz. “The influence of Berlioz may or may not be evident, but as I was composing I was reminded of other Hectors, notably the Trojan prince of Greek mythology,” Gunning wrote about this piece. Gunning is renowned as a film and TV composer, winning four BAFTAs — the British equivalent of the Academy Award — as well as four Ivor Novello awards for the film “La Vie en Rose,” plus the
themes for “Agatha Christie’s ‘Poirot,’” “Middlemarch” and “Porterhouse Blue.” “He’s really kind of the John Williams of England,” said BSO conductor John Farrer. “It’s really hard to encounter any film in England he hasn’t had a hand in.” Farrer said he became friends with Gunning while making a recording in London. He said he told Gunning he should write an essay-length work for orchestra. Farrer said programming an
effective concert requires balancing long works, such as a fulllength symphony, with shorter works like an essay to provide variety for the audience. While composers are attracted to the challenges of writing the big works, Farrer said conductors want those shorter pieces as well. “There’s a vast audience for this, a need for this,” Farrer said. The orchestra has three other story-telling works on its program Please see SYMPHONY / 29
Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra When: Lecture 7 p.m.; concert 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Rabobank Theater, 1001 Truxtun Ave. Admission: $34-$50. Available at Rabobank Box Office, and ticketmaster.com