By Rodney Richey, Herald Bulletin Feature Writer
ANDERSON — For Danny Shirley, founder of veteran country group Confederate Railroad, the past 30 years have brought him full circle.
“When you’re a teenager, sitting in your bedroom learning to play guitar, it’s because you enjoy it,” said Shirley, 53, who will front the five-man band in four free shows tonight and Saturday at Hoosier Park Racing and Casino.
“Then you put a little band together, and you do that because it’s fun. Then you go out and play for people because it’s fun.”
The catch, says Shirley, the band’s lead singer, comes later.
“You wake up one day and you’re a corporation,” he continued during a phone interview from his Tennessee home. “You’ve got hit records, and you’ve got 30 families depending on you to get up and sing every night. After a while, you can lose some of the fun out of it.
“If you’re fortunate enough to hang around as long as we have, which is so unusual nowadays, it’s like you get to go back and do it for fun all over again.”
Confederate Railroad, former backing band for legends David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck, will be the first act in a new format debuting tonight at the casino: nationally renowned musical acts performing on the floor of the casino, for free.
“We have done bands on the casino floor on a regular basis, but not to this (national) level,” said Jim Brown, general manager of gaming for Hoosier Park. “We’re still determining how often we’re going to do this and to what level.”
The group is known for hits like “Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind,” “Queen of Memphis,” “Jesus and Mama” and “Trashy Women.”
“It’s kind of hard to describe (our sound),” Shirley said. “The same year we were up for a Grammy for ‘Trashy Women,’ we were up for two Christian awards for ‘Jesus and Mama.’
“The years with Coe and Paycheck, we kind of picked up some of that outlaw influence. ... We toured with Skynyrd for a while, and at my age, we were right in the middle of that Southern rock deal. And we still tour with George Jones, so there’s a little traditional country influence as well.”
The past year has been a sad one for the group, as its steel guitar player, Gates Nichols, 65, died in August after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
“He was the only steel player Confederate Railroad ever had, and I don’t think I’ll replace him. I think we’re just going to do it without him.”
Shirley said he understands the changes in country music and listens to comparatively recent acts like Jamey Johnson and Montgomery Gentry.
“A lot of these new guys, I’ve done shows with them. They’d be on stage talkin’ about, ‘Back in 1994, when I was too young to get in a club, Confederate Railroad was playin’ in my hometown. And I went and sat out back in my pickup truck and listened to them.’ Stuff like that’s really cool to hear. Unless they make me sound REALLY old.”
Contact Rodney Richey, 640-4861, rodney.richey@heraldbulletin.com.
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If you go ...
What: Confederate Railroad in concert
Where: Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, on the casino floor
When: 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Admission: Free
