The duo I never knew I needed.
It’s safe to say it’s been a pretty big week for both Eric Church and Ella Langley. It should go without saying that Langley has arguably been the hottest country artist on the planet since the start of the year. Riding the waves of “Choosin’ Texas,” on Monday, she went #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 with the monster track. In turn, she became just the seventh female artist IN HISTORY to go #1 on the Hot 100 with a country song. Additionally, she became the first woman to ever to triple up and score #1s on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay and Hot 100 chart simultaneously.
As for Church, he also had a pretty monster week. Given the success of his Grammy-nominated 2025 album, Evangeline vs. The Machine, the “Springsteen” singer released his first-ever concert film, Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive, into theaters across the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday (and again tonight, Feb. 14). Simply put, it was nothing short of a masterpiece from the Chief, being one of the most unique and immersive concert movies released in recent memories.
Ironically, both Church and Langley have been out on the road together for quite a few weeks at this point, as the “Dandelion” singer has been opening up for Church on his Free The Machine Tour. Despite this and the fact that Langley has been the hottest artist in the genre lately, the pair had yet to team up for a performance on the tour.
That changed last night in Buffalo, New York.
After Langley fired up the New York crowd, Church opened up the show, per usual, with the entirety of Evangeline vs. The Machine before diving into past hits like “Desperate Man,” “Smoke a Little Smoke” and the severely underrated “Stick That In Your Country Song.”
It’s become pretty standard practice for the North Carolina native to pull out iconic covers from various artists depending on what city/state he’s performing in, with “Sweet Home Chicago” being played in the Windy City, “What Made Milwaukee Famous” getting covered in Wisconsin and John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind” appearing on Florida setlists in the past. This time around, in New York, Church called upon Langley to deliver a stellar duet of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind.”
Though Joel never released “New York State of Mind” as a single upon its inclusion on his 1976 album, Turnstile, it has not only remained one of his signature songs but also one of the most iconic tracks featuring New York in general.
Admittedly, it’s not the song I would have expected the pair to pull out for their first-ever live performance. With that being said, they absolutely nailed it. In particular, Langley sounds incredible, taking control of the majority of the song while Church provides some great harmonies here and there.
Watch here:
@rachelmcap New York State of mind 😍🤠🎤#ericchurch #ellalangleylive ♬ [Raw recording] Record playback noise 01 (3 minutes) – Icy Light
2026 Free the Machine Tour
Feb. 14 || Albany, N.Y. || MVP Arena || Ella Langley
Feb. 19 || North Little Rock, Ark. || Simmons Bank Arena || 49 Winchester
Feb. 20 || Kansas City, Mo. || T-Mobile Center || 49 Winchester
Feb. 21 || St. Louis, Mo. || Enterprise Center || 49 Winchester
Feb. 26 || Tulsa, Okla. || BOK Center || Stephen Wilson Jr.
Feb. 27 || Fort Worth, Texas || Dickies Arena || Stephen Wilson Jr.
Feb. 28 || Austin, Texas || Moody Center || Stephen Wilson Jr.
Mar. 5 || Knoxville, Tenn. || Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center || 49 Winchester
Mar. 6 || Greensboro, N.C. || First Horizon Coliseum || 49 Winchester
Mar. 7 || North Charleston, S.C. || North Charleston Coliseum || 49 Winchester
Mar. 19 || Birmingham, Ala. || Legacy Arena at the BJCC || 49 Winchester
Mar. 20 || Atlanta, Ga. || State Farm Arena || 49 Winchester
Mar. 27 || Hollywood, Fla. || Hard Rock Live || Kashus Culpepper
Apr. 3 || Greenville, S.C. || Bon Secours Wellness Arena || Ashley McBryde
Apr. 4 || Charlotte, N.C. || Spectrum Center || Ashley McBryde
Apr. 10 || Jacksonville, Fla. || VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena || Ashley McBryde
Apr. 11 || Tampa, Fla. || Benchmark International Arena || Ashley McBryde
