Keith Urban and Eric Church Debut New Music at CRS
During a Country Radio Seminar showcase at the Ryman Auditorium, Keith Urban and Eric Church took the stage to perform previously unheard songs.
Church sang a new song he had penned about his grandfather's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. "The hardest thing was to have a relationship when that person doesn't remember you," Church told those in attendance (quote via People). "It may never be recorded. We'll see how it goes."
The song included the touching lyrics, "I don't want to hear he's going downhill / Thank God he's around still / He doesn't have to know me 'cause I know who he is." According to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper, the heartfelt, poignant song song had many attendees wiping away tears.
Urban debuted a new song called "John Cougar, John Deere and John 3:16," which earned him a standing ovation. He and Church ended by singing their duet "Raise 'Em Up," which is on Urban's Fuse album. The lyrics include, "You take her by the hand, make a stand, buy some land, make some love ... and then babies come."
"That's right," quipped Church, who welcomed newborn son Tennessee Hawkins on Feb. 15.
More than two dozen artists from the Universal Music Group conglomerate performed songs for the programmers, radio hosts and station members in attendance at the Country Radio Seminar. Canaan Smith sang "Bronco," a song he dedicated to his brother, who was killed in a car accident when Smith was a child. David Nail sang "Home," a moving memorial to his late grandmother. Kacey Musgraves performed her newest single, "Biscuits."
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