By Jof Owen
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It's been just over a year since Morgan Wallen was arrested in Nashville for throwing a chair off the roof off Eric Church's Chiefs Bar on its opening weekend, but it feels like he might finally be putting the chapter behind him and moving on.
During an interview with the LA Times, Eric Church spoke about his new album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, and explained how the lyrics to an old Billy Joe Shaver song could have been one of the things that helped Morgan Wallen turn his life around after the incident at his Chief's Bar on Broadway in Nashville last April.
Originally charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct, after been accused of throwing the chair off the top of the six-story Bar on Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday 8 April last year, Morgan Wallen pled guilty to a reduced two misdemeanour charges of reckless endangerment during his plea hearing on Thursday 12 December 2024 where he was sentenced to serve seven days in a DUI education center with two years of supervised probation to follow.
Celebrating his 48th birthday last weekend, Eric Church opened up about the incident to the LA Times as he discussed his new album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, last week, and explained how he thought that the incident had been a turning point for Wallen.
"It was actually a good thing for Mo," he added. "I think that was a line for him, and he’s done really well since then – it was a thing he’s reacted positively to as a person."
As well as co-writing songs, collaborating on music and sharing a stage together, including a duet at the 2023 CMA Awards, Morgan Wallen has publicly acknowledged Church as a mentor and someone he looks up to.
"Morgan called me from the street after it happened," Church told the LA Times. "I was watching college basketball, and he said, 'Hey, this just happened.' I said, 'Uh-oh.' I knew it was gonna be noisy, and it was – it was damn noisy. The next day on Fox News, the number one story was Morgan throwing a chair, and number two was Israel and Gaza. But you just kind of roll with it."
"I used the old Billy Joe Shaver line on him, 'I’m just an old chunk of coal, but I’ll be a diamond one day.'" Church said, explaining how the words of one of country music's original outlaws came back to him. "He went down [to Chief’s] and apologized to the staff, shook everybody’s hand. I was proud of him."
Written by Billy Joe Shaver, 'I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)' was a hit for John Anderson in 1981. It's a song about personal growth and transformation, acknowledging your flaws and imperfections, but showing determination to become more mindful and show a commitment to self-improvement and becoming a positive influence.
It was later covered by Miranda Lambert for the Billy Joe Shaver tribute album Live Forever and Jamey Johnson on the John Anderson tribute album Something Borrowed, Something New.
Evangeline vs. The Machine has already been met with high praise following its release last week, and the Chief takes the new songs out on the road this May, making his first stop at London's Royal Albert Hall for two nights before taking it back across the pond for two nights at The Pinnacle in Nashville and three nights at Red Rocks in Colorado in July.
Chief's Bar is just one of the ventures beyond music that the 'Springsteen' singer is involved in, along with a line of JYPSI whiskeys, co-ownership with Morgan Wallen for the revitalization of the Field & Stream brand and a minority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, and a year on from the bar's infamous opening weekend Church explained how he wants the bar to be different to the other bars on Broadway in Nashville.
"We're different than other places," he told the LA Times. "Listen, it’s been a roaring success – maybe the best bar down there. But we’re leaning into songwriter shows and shows by upcoming artists versus being somewhere to hear 'Friends in Low Places' and get blackout drunk. The biggest challenge is just trying to make sure that people know what it is when they walk in the room."
For more on Eric Church, see below:
Eric Church Talks About Morgan Wallen Throwing a Chair Off the Roof of His Chief's Bar in Nashville – Holler Country Music
