Eric Church on Taking Risks and Pushing Boundaries with IMAX Film ‘Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive’

It’s no secret that Eric Church has always pushed creative boundaries rather than playing it safe in his artistry. His drive to explore new ways to challenge himself and his music recently led him to the IMAX® exclusive theatrical release of Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive. This rare concert experience gives fans and Church himself the chance to feel the energy of his live performances in a brand-new way.

During a recent appearance on CBS Mornings, the legendary entertainer shared that it is an “honor” to have done what he loves for so long and to have found great success in the process. Since he has had so many years of experience in the business, he has learned the importance of evolving and embracing change in order to stay relevant and continue connecting with fans.

“It was such a moonshot for me to ever be able to have one successful song or one successful album. I feel like the more successful you are, the more you should push that boundary. And that comes from the artists that I grew up with that had that creative compass,” Church explains. “And to me, it’s like people, sometimes when they get successful, they pull back and they do what made them successful because they’re making money and they’re successful and they stay there. I think that’s actually the time that you do push the boundaries.”

The North Carolina native has seen first-hand how music is able to bring people of all walks of life together, even if only for one night. With the IMAX film, he’s hoping to recreate that powerful sense of community for those who cannot or choose not to experience live music in a real concert setting.

“I see it every night. When I go to these cities and we play for 15,000, 20,000 people, I know that a majority of those people that are watching me do not agree with the person beside them. But for those three hours, they do. And they’re all pulling on the rope the same way.”

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He goes on to explain how music and sports both serve as a setting for people to come together, but unlike sports, you can’t tune into any concert around the world at any time to watch. To him, that’s what made creating something like the IMAX film so important. Plus, he felt drawn to the idea that the film “freezes a moment in time.”

“I’m going to get older. Those fans are going to get older, but we froze that moment in time forever musically.”

Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive makes its exclusive IMAX debut across the U.S. and Canada on Friday, February 13, 2026. In collaboration with IMAX, MCA, Mercury Studios, and Q Prime South, the limited theatrical release captures Church performing his eighth studio album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, front-to-back, as well as many of his hits that were reimagined with a 6-piece band, 4-piece horns, 4-piece strings, 8-piece choir and vocalist Joanna Cotton.

“The instruments we use for this are instruments that have been used for hundreds of years in orchestra music,” he told CBS Mornings. “And we tried to bring that in to show that you can still take the same song that I wrote on the first album many years ago, I write the song now, and this is the changes that can be made musically to give a different interpretation.”

Filmed over two nights at The Pinnacle in Nashville, Tennessee, the experience comes alive with IMAX’s groundbreaking 12-channel sound and unmatched image quality, delivering Church’s music on a cinematic scale unlike ever before. Accompanying the film is the 19-track live album, Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) arriving Feb. 13 via MCA.

The Chief hosted a special screening event for members of his passionate Church Choir in Nashville, allowing them to preview the limited theatrical release before it opens to the public. When asked what it was like to see himself on a screen of that scale, Church admitted, “It was unnerving” as it gives him a completely different perspective of the show that he normally does not get to see.

“From my perspective, every night I see my microphone and I see the people. I never see this behind me. And first of all, in IMAX, you’re 12 foot tall, which I didn’t mind. But it was unnerving in that. And also kind of enlightening to see it all happen. The stuff that I never get to see, I got to watch it on the IMAX thing.”

A full list of locations for the February showings is can be found at IMAX.com/EricChurch, with tickets on sale now.

As fans flock to the theaters to experience the film, Eric Church will continue to bring his live shows to audiences across the country with the second leg of his Free The Machine Tour. The trek launched January 22 and runs through April.