When country singer Eric Church hit the stage to deliver the commencement speech at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he drew on what he knew — music and his guitar.
“I’ve been grinding on this for a little bit about how to do it,” Church, 49, told the audience May 9. “I have torn up multiple speeches. I have thrown things. And in one of my fits of frustration, I sat down with a guitar.”
The North Carolina native drew from his musical side to give an emotional address to graduates by bringing out an acoustic guitar to aid him in his speech.
Church said there are “six strings,” or fundamental pillars in life: faith, family, marriage, ambition and resilience, community, and authenticity.
“The difference between a life that sounds like music and a life that sounds like noise is whether you stop and listen,” Church said, “whether you’re honest enough to hear which string has drifted out of tune and humble enough to make the adjustment instead of just turning up the volume and hoping nobody notices,”
“The part of you that knows what the chords should sound like will always notice. It will not let you go. Life won’t be right until it is tuned. Trust what your heart hears and is telling you about your song,” Church continued.
The “Hands of Time” singer closed his speech with a performance of his 2009 song “Carolina.”
As he did, he encouraged
students to “take your six strings, make it something worth hearing and play your song, as I leave you with mine.”
“You were made uniquely, wonderfully [and] distinctly,” Church said. “There’s a sound only you can make, a voice that has never existed before you and will never exist again: a contribution only you can bring, a way of seeing that belongs to only you. The world does not need another cover song. It needs an original.”
