Eric Church will spread the festive cheer this holiday season at one of the most important places in America: the White House. The country superstar has been announced as one of several performers enlisted for a PBS special titled In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season.
The hour-long show will air on the television network on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 7 PM CT.
Servicemen and women, as well as civilians at the U.S. Department of Defense locations all over the world, will be able to watch it at a later date after the televised broadcast on the American Forces Network.
Hosted by Jennifer Garner, In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season will feature special remarks from President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, as well as not-to-be-missed performances by Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli, Virginia Bocelli, Camila Cabello, Jonas Brothers, Norah Jones, Pentatonix, Billy Porter and country’s own, the “Heart on Fire” singer.
Joining the star-studded bill will be the United States Marine Band; Voices of Service, a singing quartet, part of the nonprofit Center for American Military Music Opportunities (CAMMO); and Northwell Health Nurse Choir, a choir group of frontline nurses from various Northwell hospitals, nursing specializations and areas of New York.
Performances will be taped from historic White House rooms, including the East Room, the State Dining Room, and the Blue Room, home of the Official White House Christmas tree. Viewers will also get a glimpse of the First Family’s “Gifts from the Heart”-themed holiday decorations currently on display throughout the White House.
Fresh off his massive the Gather Again Tour in the nation’s capital this past weekend (Dec. 11 and Dec. 12), Church has been using his platform to spotlight important issues and the unifying power of music. Earlier this year, the country singer was one of the first artists in the genre to advocate the COVID-19 vaccination and, later in September, to kick off a full arena tour to promote his latest album, Heart & Soul.
Best Country Albums of 2021 – Critic’s Pick
There have been many creative country albums in 2021, but not all have hit the mark. Artists are more than ever toying with distribution methods and packaging as much as they are new sounds, so you get double and triple albums, Part 1 and Part 2, and digital EPs in lieu of a traditional 10 or 11-song release.
The bar for an EP on this list of the best country albums of 2021 is higher than an LP, but one project did crack the Top 10. Too much music proved to dampen other artist’s efforts, although Alan Jackson’s first album in years was filled with country music we couldn’t turn away from. Where Have You Gone has 21 songs, but somehow no filler.
More than ever, this relied on staff opinion and artistic merit to allow for some parity among major label artists and independents. The 10 albums listed below are not ranked, although the year-end list published in the fall will crown a true best album of 2021.