Eric Church Admits He Can Be ‘Hard to Love’

Eric Church has been married to his wife, Katherine, since 2008. The singer, who along with his spouse is also a proud parent to sons Boone and Hawk, found true love with her, in part because of her patience with him.

“True love to me is when you love a person in spite of all their fallibilities,” Church says (quote via Sounds Like Nashville). “For me, I have a lot of ’em. I’m definitely at times hard to love, and that’s what’s great about Katherine and the way she loves me. She loves me in spite of those things and really for those things.”

Church spent part of last year away from home, crossing the country on his Holdin’ My Own Tour (although he takes his family on the road with him as much as possible). The tour, which wrapped up in May, was challenging, especially since her performed for more than three hours each night without an opening act.

“I didn’t really know where to be when the tour wrapped,” Church said. “I was emotionally drained, physically drained, voice shredded and didn’t really know what to do when you didn’t have go somewhere the next week and play, because it had been such a — it was almost like a battle. Week to week was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get through these three. We’re here, here and here.’ Ten to 12 hours of music in three or four nights, it becomes one of those things that I have to mentally prepare for, especially on the Thursday night show, the first of three. I know I’ve got to do a night and then I’ve got to do it again and again.

“So, it was just such a focal point of my entire life and career that that’s all I focused on week to week — I never looked past the next three or four, ever,” he continued. “Really, I got to where I never looked past the next show.”

Church’s latest single, “‘Round Here Buzz,” from his 2015 Mr. Misunderstood album, just landed at the top of the charts. Download the song on iTunes.