Somewhere out there in the world is a young man who can never listen to Eric Church’s “Springsteen” again, knowing that his parents conceived him to it.
At Church’s show at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto last Thursday, February 12, he led into a performance at his pre-show meet & greet with a wild story he learned from a fan. Church told the crowd about how he got wrapped up in a conversation with a rambling gentleman that went from confusing to straight shocking, “You never really see yourself get old, you see everybody else get old. But not you and I was talking to this guy, and he was telling me these stories. And the first three or four I couldn’t follow along.”
The fan continues with one of the most out-of-pocket statements you could tell your favorite artist, ”‘You know the first time we got pregnant was at your show.’” With a stunned look on Church’s face, the crowd erupted in hootin’ and hollerin’ laughs from fans equally as shocked at the confession.
Stuck in a crazy conversation like this, there’s really no other option but to dig a little deeper. Church shared, “So naturally that piqued my attention. He goes ‘it was when Springsteen came out.’ ” Back in 2011, when the song was first released, Church was on tour with both Jason Aldean for the My Kinda Party Tour and Toby Keith’s Locked and Loaded Tour, so you have to wonder if this crazy turn of events all took place during the opening acts.
Church hilariously expands by also pondering the details we’re all scared to ask, saying, “I was thinking to myself like, alright, I’m imagining this girl over a railing at an arena, during Springsteen.” Not knowing where to take the conversation next, he said, “I couldn’t help myself, I said, ‘What’d you name him?’” To which the man simply replied, “Jim.”
You can tell this was a haunting story that Church had to get off his chest somehow. After finishing the recount, he exclaimed, “Jesus Christ, bro, anyway, I don’t know why I told you that. I just thought that was bizarre.” Leading into his next performance, he gave the well-deserved shout-out, “This is for Jim!”
What’s unofficially known as one of country music’s greatest summer anthems, I highly doubt that this is the only “Springsteen”-fueled offspring out there in the world. If you’d like to hear the unexpected baby-making song live, Church continues to keep the Billboard number 1 track on his setlist and is currently continuing out on his Free The Machine Tour with incredible openers such as Ella Langley, 49 Winchester, Stephen Wilson Jr., and more.
Tour Dates:
Feb. 19 – North Little Rock, Ark. @ Simmons Bank Arena
Feb. 20 – Kansas City, Mo. @ T-Mobile Center
Feb. 21 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Enterprise Center
Feb. 26 — Tulsa, Okla. @ BOK Center
Feb. 27 — Fort Worth, Texas @ Dickies Arena
Feb. 28 — Austin, Texas @ Moody Center
March 5 — Knoxville, Tenn. @ Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
March 6 — Greensboro, N.C. @ First Horizon Coliseum
March 7 — North Charleston, S.C. @ North Charleston Coliseum
March 19 — Birmingham, Ala. @ Legacy Arena at the BJCC
March 20 — Atlanta, Ga. @ State Farm Arena
March 27 — Hollywood, Fla. @ Hard Rock Live
April 3 — Greenville, S.C. @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena
April 4 — Charlotte, N.C. @ Spectrum Center
April 10 — Jacksonville, Fla. @ VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
April 11 — Tampa, Fla. @ Benchmark International Arena
Watch the clip: