A Live Concert Album Is Coming from Eric Church
‘Evangeline vs. The Machine: Comes Alive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)’ accompanies the release of an IMAX® concert film filmed in Tennessee.
Eric Church has announced a live album accompanying the release of an upcoming IMAX® concert film.
Evangeline vs. The Machine: Comes Alive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a 19-track recording of Church’s two performances at The Pinnacle in Nashville, Tennessee in May 2025. The film of the same name will premiere exclusively in IMAX theatres across the U.S. and Canada on February 13, 2026, the same day that the live album is out via MCA.
Backed by a 6-piece band, 4-piece horns, 4-piece strings, 8-piece choir and vocalist Joanna Cotten, Church performed the Evangeline tracklist front-to-back. The players then launched into hits from across his discography. One offering, the title track of Church’s 2018 record Desperate Man, is available to hear now.
“This live album is special.” says Church. “It has been a while since the band and I had played a large club like the Pinnacle. Those two nights were electric. And listening back, the magic of those nights has definitely been captured.”
This year’s Evangeline vs. The Machine was Church’s followup to 2021’s triple album Heart & Soul, which featured the singles “Hell Of A View” and the Grammy-nominated “Stick That In Your Country Song.”
Evangeline vs. The Machine features the single “Darkest Hour.” Released in October 2024, Church gave the publishing royalties to the people of North Carolina to provide immediate relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene while also supporting the ongoing resiliency of his home state. Church explained the album’s title during an interview with Rolling Stone. “The Machine is the world that we live in now. Technology-wise, it can either choke out or round the edges off creativity. So, the best stuff, the most creative stuff, has to fight the hardest to find its way, and that’s what this was.”
Church’s Free The Machine Arena tour continues through the end of the year alongside special guest Charles Wesley Godwin. The tour picks back up in 2026 and will feature guests like Caylee Hammack, Ella Langley, Stephen Wilson Jr., 49 Winchester, Kashus Culpepper, Ashley McBryde.
Listen to Eric Church’s “Desperate Man (Live At The Pinnacle, Nashville, TN / May 24, 2025)” now.
