Did You Know Eric Church’s “Homeboy” Is About This Country Artist – Who Wasn’t Happy About It At First?

Come on, homeboy…

I know we’re a little biased, but I feel like it’s fair to say that Eric Church has easily cemented himself as one of the top songwriters in country music. Since the release of his debut album, Church has shown off his masterful songwriting on songs from deep cuts like “Where She Told Me To Go” to hits like “Springsteen” and “Record Year.”

Of course a big part of that is that Church learned from the best, and continues to surround himself with some of the best songwriters in country music. As Eric recalled when speaking about getting his start in the music business:

“I walked in this bar. They were like, ‘Hey, that guy’s been doing it for 30 years, he’s wrote for Waylon, he wrote this song for George Jones.’

I just walked up, new kid, introduced myself. And he took a liking to me, and he started introducing me to all the old dogs in town. The guys that were really committed to their craft.

It wasn’t just about writing a song and releasing a song. It was about crafting a song. And even if it never made any commercial success at all, knowing your craft and being the best at your craft and working at that craft allows you a chance to have so much more success.

And he introduced me to all these old writers that had been doing it forever. That was my workshop. That was my woodshed. Everyday I would go write with these guys, and I got better, and I got better, and I got better.

And I learned that it’s not just about sitting down and writing an idea. It’s about crafting that. It’s about understanding the craft of songwriting, and understanding the business that I was in, with the best in the world.

It was invaluable to me to be able to have that time and go in rooms with these guys, and learn, and watch, and be involved in it.”

And one of those songwriters that he frequently collaborates with is Casey Beathard.

Even if you don’t know the name Casey Beathard, you no doubt know his music. He’s one of my favorite songwriters in Nashville, a masterful wordsmith who manages to set himself apart in a town full of talented songwriters. And he’s written quite a few songs with Eric Church, including songs like “Hell Of A View,” “Mr. Misunderstood,” “The Hard Way,” “The Outsiders,” “Like A Wrecking Ball,” and many, many others.

On his latest album Evangeline vs. The Machine, Church once again turned to Beathard for the song “Bleed On Paper,” which is one of the few songs that Church has recorded that he hasn’t also had a hand in writing. The song was written by Casey Beathard along with his son, Tucker Beathard, and Monty Criswell.

Tucker Beathard is an artist himself, and continues to release new music every once in awhile after having some success with his debut single, “Rock On,” back in 2016. But as it turns out, he also served as the inspiration for one of Eric Church’s early hits.

“Homeboy” was the sixth track on Chief, Eric Church’s 2011 album that also gave us “Drink In My Hand” and “Springsteen”. Written by Casey Beathard and Church, it’s an allusion of sorts to the Bible’s prodigal son story, with the narrator begging someone to give up the hard living, bad acting life they’ve taken up and just come home (boy).

“You were too bad for a little square town,
With your hip-hop hat and your pants on the ground,
Heard you cussed out mama, pushed daddy around
Before you tore off in his car
Here you are running these dirty old streets
Tattoo on your neck, fake gold on your teeth
Got the hood here snowed, but you can’t fool me
We both know who you are”

Well, it turns out that Casey Beathard had a very specific person in mind when putting this one together, although he’s quick to offer the disclaimer that the muse wasn’t nearly as wild or troublesome as the character in the song.

During an acoustic performance back in 2017, Casey and Tucker got around to playing “Homeboy,” but before the father-son duo got to singing, Casey filled in the backstory on how it came to be:

“As songwriters you keep your antennas up all the time for phrases or things. I had this title in my head but I didn’t know how to write it. And I saw them [Tucker and his other son CJ Beathard, the former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback] get out of the car and I knew that they were so tight if Tucker ever got in too much trouble, CJ would go, by all means, anyway he could to go find him and try to get him out of that trouble… 

So the song was written from that perspective of CJ trying to get him out of trouble.”

Casey made sure to tell the crowd that Tucker had never actually gotten in that much trouble…

Pretty cool, huh? Your dad writing a song about how much of a pain in the rear end you were growing up?

Tucker’s since embraced it, but it sounds like it did take a little bit of time. He spoke with Music Choice back in 2016 about coming to terms with being “Homeboy.”

“I don’t know, I kind of hate it honestly. I never wanted nobody to know that but you know, you tell one person and then they’re like, ‘There’s our next headline; Tucker Beathard is “Homeboy.”‘ It’s like, whatever. 

But at the same time, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t kinda cool. But it’s far fetched, so I don’t want anyone getting the representation that I got tattoos on my neck or fake gold on my teeth or nothing like that.”

The post Did You Know Eric Church’s “Homeboy” Is About This Country Artist – Who Wasn’t Happy About It At First? first appeared on Whiskey Riff.