Eric Church hasn't written a new song since the COVID-19 pandemic began over a year ago; in fact, he hasn't written one since his sessions for Heart & Soul, he shares in a newly published interview.

Instead, Church tells Garden & Gun magazine for their April/May 2021 issue, he's been enjoying the quiet of his 1,800-acre property in the hills of Tennessee, outside Nashville.

"The seclusion has been good for my career," Church admits. "I’m not a big people guy. You’re a mile from any road, and that works for my personality. It’s been a lifesaver."

The massive rural property, the magazine reports, houses a cabin, a boathouse, a 1920s-era moonshine still and circular building with a hangout-ready outdoor space called "the silo," but also miles of trails and two man-made lakes. Church and his wife Catherine have been working to clear and build an oasis on the land for a decade now, at times slowed because it's also home to a protected salamander species.

"I can’t tell you what the filter is on how I write songs," Church admits, "but there are many times I’m on a boat in the lake and that’s where I find clarity."

More than a year after its making in January of 2020, Church is preparing to release Heart & Soul, a triple-album project, in three parts: Heart is due out on April 16, followed by the Church Choir fan club-only release & on April 20 and Soul on April 23. He and his band and studio crew converted a restaurant in Banner Elk, N.C., into their recording studio for the album sessions, and recorded 28 songs in 28 days.

"Doing it that way allowed for the songwriters to get involved in the studio process and the musicians to be involved in the creative process," Church says. The goal was to write and record one song per day; some days, they didn't have a complete song, "but I liked [what we had of] the song and I decided, just start it — we'll figure it out as we go.

"It really put creativity in the driver's seat," Church adds, "and it was exciting to me."

Once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, Church is planning to tour in support of the album as well.

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