Church gives thanks he's not what he almost was.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

The WOW Hall offers you another way to go to church when country crooner Eric Church headlines a Sunday show with guests Jennifer Lynn and Megan Munroe.

Church hit Nashville a naive kid with a dream, as so many do. But he actually landed a publishing deal within a year, and a record contract shortly there after.

Now, Capitol Records is breaking in its new artist.

Church is touring behind his debut, "Sinners Like Me." Its 12 tracks are produced by Jay Joyce, the guy who had a large hand in getting the budding talent signed.

"I think we've made an honest record," Church says in his bio. "I don't think there's a song on there that's not me. It's songs about what's going on in the world - this is what I think.

"You can agree or disagree. I just don't want them to hear it and go, `That's nice' and move on. I personally like music that goes way out and picks a side."

The side he's chosen is the PBR-drinking, patriotic side. He sings about predictable things - cowboy boots and trucks - but he does so in a convincing way.

Church grew up a three-sport athlete in Granite Falls, N.C.

If it's true that his songs tell you who he is, then he lost a football scholarship due to a late-season injury in high school.

"I was a Friday night hero with Division I dreams," he sings in "What I Almost Was."

Church did get a degree, in marketing, because his father bribed him to stay in school. According to a bio, Church's dad said he would fund the first six months in Nashville if Church would go to college.

"And I thank God I ain't/ What I almost was," he sings.

Find out what he became at Sunday's 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door.

The WOW Hall is at 291 W. Eighth Ave.

The Polyphonic Spree

Saturday, McDonald Theatre

The symphonic pop ensemble has dropped its robes, but don't get too excited.

No, there will be no Polyphonic Spree, nude edition. But the costumes that the group is known for remain, with choir garb surrendering to a military motif for the latest tour behind its CD, "The Fragile Army."

Polyphonic Spree not only tours with 16 instrumentalists but with an eight-member choir. Everyone on stage wears a black military outfit with universal signs of peace, such as a heart and a cross.

"We're not part of any scene," says Julie Doyle, one of the band's two lead songwriters, in a news release. "To be a part of the Polyphonic Spree is the coolest thing, because there's so many of us that we're our own scene."

Tim DeLaughter, the group's founder and Doyle's songwriting partner, formed the band in 2000. His previous project, Tripping Daisy, fell apart after the guitarist died of a drug overdose.

DeLaughter, Doyle and a couple other members of Tripping Daisy wanted to create something light in the wake of that darkness, and the Spree was their answer. Paste magazine presumes the army exists to fight "the current malaise with life-affirming sonic wails of orchestral splendor."

In that Paste article, DeLaughter says he believes people are ready for a big change, and "The Fragile Army" is his contribution to encourage that change. He wrote the title track after listening to a State of the Union address.

Change has "got to happen," he says in the interview, "that's a fact. And this is the time for people to take advantage of the change."

Another bright, optimistic band, Rooney, plays before the Spree. The Redwalls open the Saturday show at the McDonald, 1010 Willamette St.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the 8 p.m. show.

Cherryholmes

Tuesday, the Shedd

Touring family band Cherryholmes stops at the Shedd on Tuesday.

The wife-and-husband duo of Sandy Lee and Jere Cherryholmes perform with their four children, ages 14 to 23. The band was nominated for the Grammy best bluegrass album for its self-titled 2005 release. That same year, Cherryholmes won the International Bluegrass Association's top honor: Entertainer of the Year.

The six Cherryholmes musicians are touring behind "II: Black and White." Sandy Lee shares the lead vocals with her son B.J.

When the band formed in 1999, some of the kids hadn't even picked up instruments yet. But after attending a bluegrass festival to lift their spirits after the death of a child, the couple decided starting a band would be a good way to spend time with the children and bring the family closer together.

Despite the kids' lack of experience, the band was a local hit in Southern California, where they lived at the time. They have since relocated to Nashville and become a full-time touring band.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Shedd, 285 E. Broadway Tickets are $26, $32 and $36.

Uz Jsme Doma Thursday, WOW Hall

Czech progressive rock band Uz Jsme Doma returns to the WOW Hall on Thursday.

The band has been working for two decades. It has played more than 600 shows in the United States, according to a bio. Right now the band (pronounced oosh-smeh-dough-ma) is touring with a new album, "Cod Liver Oil."

The All Music Guide said Uz Jsme Doma was the second group to establish an alternative rock sound for the new European republic.

"If the (Plastic People of the Universe) embody the Communist repression of the 1970s and 1980s in their gloomy, despair-driven music," the AMG bio says, "then Uz Jsme Doma represents the exuberance of liberation."

The new album came out Oct. 23. A bio promoting it also touts the band's live show, saying the concerts feature "frenetic tempos and time changes, soaring operatic vocals and guttural chanting, rock anthems and folk dances."

Uz Jsme Doma is touring with Capillary Action. Eugene's On the First Day ... They Were Kittens opens the show at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.