Eric Church, Manager John Peets Form Solid Entertainment

Eric Church and longtime manager John Peets have partnered to create Solid Entertainment, a new company to bring the country superstar’s business – including his SiriusXM channel and Nashville bar and restaurant – inhouse.

Solid Entertainment centralizes all things Church while focusing on the infrastructure behind investments in his growing professional footprint, including the artist’s new SiriusXM Channel Outsiders Radio and his Lower Broadway venue, bar and restaurant, Chief’s, along with his own in-house merchandise operation as well as his fan club, the Church Choir.

Industry pro Marshall Alexander becomes president of Solid Entertainment and will also serve as Church’s representative for Chief’s. Brandon Schneeberger will oversee day-to-day management for Church. Industry vets Shane Allen and Kimsey Kerr have been tapped to launch and run Outsiders Radio, Church’s new, dedicated SiriusXM Channel that officially launched Nov. 4. Bryan Chisholm joins the team to lead Digital Marketing and Hayley Harris has been appointed to manage Church’s fan club. Matt Wheeler continues to oversee Chief Merchandise.

Peets will continue his management role at Nashville-based Q Prime South where, in addition to Church, he manages artists including Ashley McBryde, Brett Eldredge, Brothers Osborne, and Marty Stuart.

“I’m incredibly proud of the path we’ve taken to get to this point in all our careers and to have experienced so much of it together,” Church said in a statement. “As our business continues to expand in different areas, it was important to me to establish a team of people that is focused on this growth. None of us got into music for the business of it, yet it’s part of how we are our most creative selves: through finding those other avenues for connection. It’s humbling to be in a position where such incredibly talented people want to focus on the future together.” 

Peets adds, “I am very proud to take our professional relationship to the next level. We have been working creatively together since 2004, and Solid Entertainment represents a fresh look and a continued commitment to all that we have built. I look forward to adding to this foundation with an eye towards all that is to come with the ongoing expansion of Eric’s empire.”

Church spent the first half of 2022 headlining arenas across North America on “The Gather Again Tour,” which launched in fall 2021. He also stopped by a handful of festivals, including Colorado’s Country Jam and Michigan’s Faster Horses, and played two special stadium shows with a May 28 gig at Milwaukee’s American Family Field with Brothers Osborne and Parker McCollum, followed by a June 11 stop in Minneapolis at the U.S. Bank Stadium with Morgan Wallen and ERNEST.

The U.S. Bank Stadium show sold 51,117 tickets and grossed $9.5 million, according to reports submitted to Pollstar’s Boxoffice.

Church ranked No. 26 on Pollstar’s 2021 Year End North American Tours chart with a gross of $20.3 million. Looking at the most recent data before the pandemic, Church ranked No. 13 on Pollstar’s Top 200 North American Tours chart with a gross of $68.6 million and No. 28 on the Worldwide Tours chart.