Eric Church Reveals Nashville Residency To Mark Grand Opening Of His Bar

Eric Church revealed plans for a residency to mark the grand opening of his long-awaited bar on the famous stretch of honky tonks on Lower Broadway in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Church’s “To Beat The Devil Residency” is slated to kick off on Friday, April 5 — the official grand opening date of his bar, Chief's — with more than a dozen shows spanning through early June.

“I have designed a one of a kind show that I’ll be performing at Chief’s starting on Grand Opening Day, April 5th,” Church said in a statement as he revealed the list of residency dates on Tuesday morning (March 12). “Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one.”

Church revealed in 2022 that he would open a six-story venue that will serve as a bar, a barbecue restaurant and a music venue, named after his famous moniker and 2011 studio album, Chief's. Church teamed up with Ben Weprin, founder and CEO of private real estate company AJ Capital Partners to bring the venue to life. Chief's, which previously aimed for a 2023 opening date, is located at the intersection of Broadway and Second Avenue, the former location of Cotton Eyed Joe. Church previously shared renderings of the highly-anticipated bar and music venue, planning “one-of-a-kind design elements,” including thousands of concert posters spanning Church’s career. The North Carolina-born singer-songwriter is also including a nod to his home state by joining forces with Rodney Scott, whose Whole Hog BBQ will debut a “Hell of a Q” rooftop location, per Church’s record label.

“I remember driving through downtown Nashville over 20 years ago with a pawn shop guitar, riding shotgun in a beat-to-hell truck just trying to chase a dream,” Church said in a statement when he announced plans to open his bar. “Chief’s is the culmination of catching that dream. Like everything else we do in our career, I wouldn’t even attempt a project like this if I didn’t think it would be the best, so that’s what Chief’s will be: the best.”

Shortly before he announced his residency and the grand opening date, Church unveiled a unique way he’s dedicating the Chief's building to his fans. The “Drink In My Hand” hitmaker doled out deeds to individual bricks making up the six-story building to tens of thousands of his fans.

“You’ve helped me build my career brick by brick, and I want the whole world to know that the building is yours,” Church said as he made that announcement last week. “This is not just another club downtown. This is our house. I’ve been involved in every step of restoring this historic building into a place we can call our own and, because you’ve been with me every step of my career, I’m proud to dedicate a physical brick of the Chief’s building to each and every one of you.

“My songs are mine, until I release them, and then they’re never mine again. And this building’s a lot that way,” Church continued. “It’s been mine in the building of it, in the cultivating with the stories, the challenges, and the successes. But once Chief’s opens, it’s not mine anymore. It belongs to the Choir. It belongs to the fans. It belongs to the patrons. It belongs to the stories they create there. It belongs to the music they listen to there and share from there. So, my story ends where theirs begins and that’s the essence of what you do musically and what we’re trying to do at Chief’s.”

Chief's will join a growing list of Lower Broadway bars paying tribute to country artists and their careers in the music industry. Others include Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, to name a few. Venues in the works include ones by Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen.

Tickets to Church’s “To Beat The Devil Residency” will be available to the general public beginning on Friday, March 22 at 10 a.m. CT, per his announcement on Tuesday morning. See the list of Church’s residency dates below.

Friday, April 5th

Wednesday, April 17th

Thursday, April 18th

Monday, April 29th

Tuesday, April 30th

Wednesday, May 1st

Tuesday, May 7th

Wednesday, May 8th

Friday, May 10th

Saturday, May 11th

Tuesday, May 14th

Wednesday, May 15th

Friday, May 17th

Tuesday, May 21st

Wednesday, May 22nd

Thursday, June 6th

Friday, June 7th

Saturday, June 8th

Sunday, June 9th