Eric Church returns to home state for emotional commencement speech

Eric Church may not be a scholar, but he still has some pearls of wisdom to share.

The Grammy-nominated country music star delivered a commencement speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on May 9. A native of Granite Falls, North Carolina, Church graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in marketing before embarking on an entertainment career that includes eight studio albums, 11 No. 1 hits on Billboard's Country Airplay chart and seven Academy of Country Music Awards.

"I've been grinding on this for a little bit about how to do it," Church, 49, said. "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 "Hands of Time" singer tapped his musical side for his emotional address to graduates, bringing out an acoustic guitar to accompany his remarks. 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."

He added: "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."

In true Carolinian fashion, Church closed his speech with a performance of his 2009 song "Carolina," encouraging 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."