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Country singer Eric Church paused to catch his balance as he tossed a pair of crutches aside before jumping with one foot up the steps to a stage outside Lowe's Motor Speedway.
He grabbed his guitar, and despite a broken foot and torn ankle tendons, he performed enthusiastically from a stool, gesturing forcefully with his hands and stomping on beat.
His wife, Katherine, who had just tightly wrapped his leg in a bandage, smiled as she rolled her eyes. "He can't stop stomping on stage," she said.
Perhaps it's that enthusiasm and unwillingness to back down that helped launch Church, 32, a Granite Falls native, to country music stardom.
"Carolina," the follow-up to his 2006 album, "Sinners Like Me," debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Country Album Chart in March. With a handful of top 20 songs under his belt, Church returned to North Carolina for a gig Oct. 17 at the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Church appeared at ease during an interview with a television station and after the concert quickly signed a stack of pictures of himself without even looking. It comes naturally now.
But it's not something he takes for granted. He recalled how he used to take his guitar down to the boiler room of his dorm at Appalachian State University, where he graduated with a marketing degree. From that room, he'd look across the street at the club Legends. He'd hope that he could play there one day. And then he finally did.
Foundation in North Carolina
Church takes pride in his music, and admits he doesn't make records quickly. Three years passed between his two albums.
"We try to dot the 'i' and cross the 't,'" he said. "I treat it seriously."
He said he obsesses over every detail. His wife nodded and laughed.
"He gets crazy," she said.
Church wrote or co-wrote all the songs on "Carolina." "It's hard for me to go out there and sell a song I didn't write," he said.
Church told the Observer in 2006 that his first album was based on his experience growing up in a small town. Although he said "Carolina" is more diverse than his first album, living in North Carolina continues to have an influence on his music.
"That's always the foundation of what I do," he said. "That makes up who I am."
He has a house south of Nashville now, but North Carolina will always be home.
Follows his dreams
His mom, Rita, said she'll never forget a birthday card Church gave her. Inside he wrote, "Thanks for giving me wings and allowing me to follow my dreams."
Church continues to follow his dreams. The closing song on his latest album is "Those I've Loved," a song that thanks the people in his journey.
"'Cause I wouldn't be the man I am today if not for those I've loved along the way."
