Eric Church Celebrates 10th Anniversary of ‘Caught In The Act’

Eric Church is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the release of his 2013 album Caught In The Act this week. The live album was captured in 2012 at the Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Eric said recording the album reminded him of when he played the bars and clubs before getting his record deal. He told us, "We kinda left the lights up, so you could kinda look around and see everybody. You could see the emotion; you could see the faces; you could hear 'em. I felt at home. I felt like I was back in those bars and clubs that I love so much, and theaters, that I've had that interaction, that connection with individual people."

The title, Caught in the Act, perfectly describes how they recorded the album. Church explained, "We wanted it to be as loose as it could be because that's what our career has been. It's been real. I remember, like an hour before that first show of myself and the band, we pulled out a sheet of paper, took out a pen, and went down and made a set list. We didn't know what we were starting with. We didn't know what we were finishing with."

He added, "We just went down and said, 'Hey, what do you want to play? What do you want to play? Hey, man, remember, we haven't played this in a long time.' There were songs that I thought there's no way I'll get through that, but our sentiment was let's try it. Let's go for it."

Eric concluded, "It was just one of those things that it was so by the seat of our pants and off the cuff that it may or may not have worked. We could have easily recorded this, filmed this, and came to the end and went, 'This isn't good.' We could have done it. We treated it that way. It wasn't overthought. It was, let's try to see if we can create this environment that the magic and the music can mesh together."

The 17-song collection features tracks from his previous three albums, 2011's Chief, 2009's Carolina, and his 2006 debut, Sinners Like Me, including "Over When It's Over," "How 'Bout You," his first charted No. 1 "Drink In My Hand," "Hungover & Hard Up," "Sinners Like Me," "Smoke A Little Smoke" and "These Boots," among others.

Church recently announced that he will headline outdoor venues throughout the summer with "The Outsiders Revival Tour." Kicking off June 22, the tour will play 26 cities across the U.S. and Canada. He said of the upcoming tour, "We have never done an outdoor summer tour, never headlined amphitheaters. Never brought a summer experience to your town that featured artists we want to share the summer with. Until now. See you in the season of sunshine with some fellow outsiders that shine brightest when the sun goes down."

When country music's best guitarists play what they do best, sometimes the faces can be quite expressive, shall we say.

As the guitar riffs get to flying for fans this CMA Fest, we take a look at some of country's best "Guitar faces" over the years.

-Nancy Brooks