Confederate Railroad headlining Festival in the Park

By Brenda Neugent

Published: May 8, 2008

Country favorites Confederate Railroad will return to the Danville area next weekend for a show celebrating 20 years of hits.
The Southern rock-country musicians have been around for almost two decades, playing and penning music that reflects Americana at its brazen best, from women who are a little too wild and trucks that are a little to fast, smoky honky tonks, cold beer and working-class guys who every now and then take a minute to contemplate their lives through the lyrics of a sentimental ballad.
And although it might be the band’s salty sense of humor, or perhaps the relatable lyrics, members aren’t sure why their songs topped the charts, firmly cementing their place in country music history.
“I don’t think I have any more of a clue now than I did when we started,” said the band’s founder and frontman Danny Shirley. “I know that if you start thinking, ‘Is radio going to like this’” or ‘Is this going to offend anybody?’ that it really waters things down, so I don’t try to second-guess anybody. What I do is look for songs I like — that
seems to work best.”
In many ways, the band tells America’s story, from their earliest days in Georgia, where members played the Atlanta club scene before hitting the road as a touring band for David Allan Coe.
After about a decade of paying their dues and finding their own personal style, the group landed a contract with Atlantic Records, and its first album, 1992’s self-titled
debut, scaled up the charts with the hits “Queen of Memphis,” “Jesus and Mama” and “She Took It Like a Man,” followed by “When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back” and “She Never Cried,” a string that sent the album double platinum.
The Academy of County Music responded with a Best New Group award, which was followed by a Grammy nomination and a continued series of hits that has firmly cemented Confederate Railroad’s position in country music history.
“It pretty much played out the way I had envisioned,” said Shirley in an interview with the Danville Register & Bee in 2006. “I’ve really been blessed to be able to do what I want to do. I’m one of the lucky few.”
The band — which has performed with country superstars including George Jones, Steve Earle and Charlie Daniels — will headline at this year’s Festival in the Park, running March 15-18 at Ballou Park. Confederate Railroad’s gig starts at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Shirley credits the band’s success to its unwavering dedication to staying true to its roots, releasing music that suits Confederate Railroad instead of conforming to the wishes of record companies.
“There’s nothing profound about this,” Shirley said on the group’s Web site. “We’ve been playing music in one form or another for 20 years, and we still enjoy it. One reason is that we do material we like. We do what we want, the way we want, regardless of the consequences.”
It is a strategy that they stuck with, even in those early days back in Georgia, when Confederate Railroad was playing a club called Miss Kitty’s and watching other acts landing record deals.
“I knew eventually we’d get a label deal and a real shot at it,” Shirley said, “but we had a rougher image than what was the going thing then. When other club acts around us — people we were often out-drawing — began getting deals, I questioned myself for a time. ‘Do I need starched Wranglers and western shirts? Should we try to be a little more mainstream and play the game?’ We made a decision back then that we would be ourselves.”
That’s worked for Confederate Railroad, and it has keep the process fun over the years, despite grueling touring schedules and more than 100 shows a year.
“You start playing music in your bedroom because it’s fun, an enjoyable part of your life,” Shirley said. “Then as you start to become successful at it, it becomes a business. If you’re fortunate, and you’re around long enough, it gets to be fun again, and that’s where it is for me.”
Too, it’s something he wanted to do all his life.
“Some people are born knowing this is what I’m meant to do, and this is mine. There were times when things were going badly, and the money wasn’t great, but I don’t think I would have ever quit playing.”
And that’s thanks to a lesson he learned from his father, who retired from DuPont but always had dreams of being a builder.
“He always said, ‘If I could have done it over again, I would have done it differently,’ and hearing him say that, well … He was never one to say ‘get a real job.’ He and I were real close.”
Shirley has never regretted following his father’s suggestion and taking the chance.
“It was a long shot that I’d ever be able to do this for a living,” he said. “So many people come to Nashville with that dream. It’s been the best time of my life.”
Confederate Railroad will perform at 6 p.m. May 17 at the Festival in the Park. Admission to the concert is free.
• Contact Brenda Erickson at or at (434) 791-7978.