Eric Church Shares ‘Darkest Hour’ Story Ahead of CMA Awards

Eric Church describes the devastation after Hurricane Helene hit western Carolina as “biblical.”

Having the perfect song to call attention to the storm damage could have been the hand of God.

Ahead of her performance at the 2024 CMA Awards, Church spoke about “Darkest Hour” and gave an update on her people.

“They are doing well,” he shares. “We are rebuilding. The great thing about the people of western North Carolina is that they are resilient people.”

• Church spoke with ToC on CMA Radio Row, ahead of the Nov. 20 broadcast on ABC.
• He is part of an artist lineup that includes Kelsea Ballerini, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Jelly Roll and Cody Johnson.
• Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning are hosting the CMA Awards this year.

Related: How Much Did Luke Combs + Eric Church’s Hurricane Relief Concert Raise?

Hurricane Helene hit Florida in late September and worked its way to the southeast before parking over western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. More than 100 people were killed in North Carolina alone. The storm caused over $100 billion in damage.

Church spends about half of his year in the area with his family, but his roots run deep, having grown up in Caldwell County. He says he’s actually gotten his kids involved in the cleanup effort — he’s trying to set a positive example for his boys (ages 9 and 14) as he promises to build 100 homes in the area.

“We’re pretty good in this country for the 911 part, which is the food, the water, the diapers,” he explains. “We’re not very good at the next part, which is how do we keep people there, how do we rebuild the community?”

“And I realized pretty quickly that these people need a place to live or we’re going to lose the people and we’re never going to rebuild the communities if they disperse.”

Church is scheduled to perform at the 2024 CMA Awards (8 p.m. ET on ABC), but the song he will sing has not been announced.

He says “Darkest Hour” wasn’t written specifically for this case, but he was glad to have it in his back pocket after the storm.

“There’s a line in ‘Darkest Hour’ that says, ‘in your darkest hour I come running.’ And I realized that people there need us to come running,” he says. “And I knew I’d regret not putting the song out and making it an anthem to at least keep awareness of this project.

Look for “Darkest Hour” on Church’s next album, which he says is slated for 2025.