Eric Church was among the guests at the all-star musical tribute to Willie Nelson, held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. For his turn on the stage, Church even sang one of the country’s legend’s great road songs, “Me and Paul.”
The title track from Nelson’s 32nd studio album released in 1985, “Me and Paul” nods to Nelson’s drummer Paul English — a devilish figure who wore an outlandish cape — and imagines the outlaw life to resemble something akin to that of a running and gunning country musician. Church keeps it loose for his rendition, getting some enthusiastic applause for the first time he sings the line, “I guess Nashville was the toughest, but you know I’ve said the same about them all.” Longtime Nelson bandmate Mickey Raphael steps up to provide a colorful harmonica solo at one point, shining a light on the evening’s stellar house band, which included Raphael, Don Was, Amanda Shires, Jamey Johnson and steel-guitar ace Paul Franklin.