In 2006, Eric Church was famously fired from the Rascal Flatts tour for playing well past his allotted time. At the time, he insisted there was no bad blood between him and the Flatts, but later he admitted no one in country music would bring him out as an opener for nearly five years. The artist that replaced him on the Me and My Gang Tour was Taylor Swift.

Soon after getting the gig, the 'Tim McGraw' singer called Church. "I joked with her, ‘This is your crowd; they're going to love you. You're going to owe me your first gold record,'" Church told the Arizona Daily Star in 2011. "I was kidding, but when she got her first gold record she gave me one. It came with a note: 'Thanks for playing too long and too loud on the Flatts tour. I sincerely appreciate it. Taylor.'"