Confederate Railroad came on the country music scene smack dab in the middle of a time when the industry was suffering intense growing pains. Caught in an era where everyone was trying to fit a certain mold, Confederate Railroad cast their own. With a 'devil may care' attitude they've remained loyal to their own brand of country music since the band's inception over nine years ago. 

"In the early 90’s it seemed like they took the reins off and let a little more attitude be in the new country music on the radio. That’s what brought the young people back into country music again." Danny muses, "Then I think the whole industry got a little paranoid, and things were going so good they didn’t want to screw it up, and they screwed it up even worse I guess you would say. They just got so worried ‘Man, we’re going to mess this up, let’s just really watch what we’re doing’ and when they did that they kind of pulled the reins back in on it."

He continues, "Then you get into this whole political correctness thing. Anytime you start trying to hold down creative juices, 'Well you don’t want to offend this, be really careful',  anytime you have to be careful with it, any art-form is going to suffer. And I think that’s what’s happened with country music."

Confederate Railroad seems to have been immune from the pressure to conform. "We’ve never been very politically correct." he laughs "I think the difference is when I put together a record I don’t think 'Now, we need to come up with this kind of song because radio won’t play that' or 'People will really like this'. I just go in and record songs that I like, and try to leave everything else out of the equation." 

He continues, "Then you get into this whole political correctness thing. Any time you start trying to hold down creative juices, 'Well you don’t want to offend this, be really careful',  any time you have to be careful with it, any art- form is going to suffer. And I think that’s what’s happened with country music."

It's a formula that seems to have garnered respect from the band's new label, Audium Records. Known for giving a home to country artists who make their music on the fringe of today's mainstream fare (Dale Watson, Danni Leigh and Loretta Lynn, for example), the maverick label has in turn, earned the band's regard. "The great thing is they said here’s your budget go make your album. 'You’re not going to tell me what I have to do, what I can’t do, what I need to do, what I should do?' 'No, we just want a CRR record'. He shares, "I think any artist given that freedom, is going to record a better product. The people at Audium are passionate about country music. I think a lot of people thought I was crazy for leaving a major label to go to a smaller label, but I think that’s where the change is going to come in country music, because you don’t have those corporate confines."

Long-time Confederate Railroad supporters are almost certain not to be disappointed with the upcoming Audium debut "Unleashed', scheduled for release August 28th. Danny and the boys have put together a solid, high energy, rockin' country album that CRR fans have come to expect. However, true to their ever-rebel attitude, they've upped the ante, tossing a few twists into the mix. 

For the first time in the band's history, Danny Shirley collaborates with not only one, but two country music legends for a pair of pure country duets that'll have everyone on their feet. The CD leads off with "Still One Outlaw Left", a pure southern rocker that showcases country's ultimate outlaw, David Allen Coe. 

"David and I have been friends for almost 20 years. I was his band leader, road manager, opening act, booking agent and everything else for several years up until the time we got our deal. We remained close friends even after I left and he’s been one of our biggest supporters over the years. He and I got together down in Daytona this past March. We were talking about trying to get together to write something for the album, but the way it worked out our schedules were so busy we couldn’t make the time to sit down and write anything we liked." he recalls "When I was picking material for this album, we came across ‘Still One Outlaw Left’ and we agreed that the song would be a great one for me and David to do. I called David on it and he liked the song, we had a great time doing it." Undoubtedly, one of the album's highlights, Coe's voice is instantly recognizable, as the country music renegade asserts his willingness to be the last remaining outlaw. You'd be hard pressed to find someone wanting to argue the point.

Ironically, the album's second duet came as a direct result of the first. "After I did the Coe thing, I thought ‘Man this is really fun, I wonder if we could slide two of them on this album.’ Then I got to thinking about who I’d like to work with. I wanted to record with a friend. I got to thinking about my friends in Nashville and I thought who better to record a song with than George Jones?" The collaboration produced yet another of the album’s highlights, with a song seemingly tailor-made for the supple range of Jones’ unadulterated pure country voice.  George is in rare form as he sings 'She treats her body like a temple, I treat mine like a honky-tonk'. Despite their long time friendship, George's vocal ability is something even Danny is struck by . "When you’re friends with somebody like that, it’s like two different relationships. You do the friends stuff together, but when you start singing with him its like ‘God, I’m singing with the greatest country singer of all times!’ It’s a little intimidating!"

The admiration appears to be mutual. Danny recalls one of the most honored moments of their relationship that took place almost 9 years ago. "I was lying on the floor at his house watching the Tennessee-Georgia football game in 1992. He turned to me and said 'You sang real good on that 'Jesus and Mama' song. That comment was like getting a blessing from the Pope." Danny recalls, obviously still humbled almost a decade later.

The superstar duets aren't the only collaborations on the album. Danny graciously invited a handful of songwriters to sing vocals on their own songs. Joining the band are Bob DiPiero and Craig Wiseman on the infectious 'Diggin' It', Anthony Smith for 'What Brothers Do' and James Allen Otto lending a hand on the almost biographical, southern rock-edged 'Borrowed Time'. "There are some songwriter’s in Nashville that aren’t vocalists, and have no desire to be a vocalist, but for some that’s why they came to town" he relays, "They want to be an artist, and for one reason or another never got the shot. Nobody’s going to understand the song better than the one who wrote it, the emotion in it, the feel of it and we thought it would be a great idea to include some of them on this."

"If the Opry had called me because I was singing songs I thought they wanted to hear that would be great, but if I’m singing songs that I like to do regardless of consequences and the Opry still calls I think that makes it a little sweeter."

Although, known for their offbeat sense of humor and up tempo offerings, Danny's quick to point out the band's ability to walk the other side of the musical line. "If you look back on the history of Confederate Railroad, the first thing people think of is 'Trashy Women' and 'Queen of Memphis', but if you stop and think we’ve had just as much success with songs like 'Jesus and Mama', 'If You Leave That Way' and 'Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind.'" he says, when asked about the album's more subdued cuts: 'What Brothers Do' and 'Between Rainbows and the Rain'.  "I’ve always preferred to do my ballads about family situations and the 'Brother’s' song is an excellent example of that. 'Rainbows and the Rain' is a lost love song but its got enough of an edge to it. I’ve never liked going in and doing like a typical male/female country love song. Where we get into trouble is when we try and get in the middle of the road and play it safe. I would rather do something extreme left or extreme right."

August 2001 - Laurie Joulie - Take Country Back