Eric Church has a sold-out St. Patrick's Day crowd lined up to see him Wednesday night in Madison, Wisconsin, but the green beer on tap for that gig couldn't possibly make the show any rowdier than normal. Anyone who's ever seen one of Eric's shows will tell you that his fans know every word to every one of his songs, and they sing the lyrics back to Eric at the top of their lungs.

Eric's unpredictable moves and intense musical delivery also encourage that kind of devotion from his fans. He says, "I've always just enjoyed being able to dictate the tone of how I wanted a concert to be. That's why we've done a lot of headlining. Sometimes maybe to our detriment."

Eric's hard work recently paid off with his first top-ten hit "Love Your Love the Most," and now he's headed back there with "Hell on the Heart," which sits at number 16 on Billboard's Country Songs chart this week. The slow build suits Eric just fine, and he's taking cues on how to build his fan base from the early career of "The Boss" -- Bruce Springsteen. "Bruce did this for a lot of years on the Jersey short," explains Eric, "He just kind of kept coming around the outer way, building that fan base, and we've tried to do the same thing...I'm proud to do it that way. That just fits me to a 'T.'"

That method is working for Eric very well it seems. His next four shows are complete sell-outs. Josh Thompson is also on the bill as Eric's opening act.

Bonus is Tour