Confederate at Lake Winnepesaukah
Railroad
All aboard for Confederate Railroad’s performances at Lake Winnepesaukah’s Jukebox Junction Stage on Sunday, Sept. 2, with shows at 3 and 8 p.m. According to a media release, few acts have carved as distinctive a niché in modern musical history as Confederate Railroad. With their high-energy combination of honky-tonk rockers, sensitive ballads, and offbeat humor, they have created a unique identity that has brought them chart success, multi-platinum sales, and continued popularity as a road band. Confederate Railroad’s line-up includes vocalist/guitarist Danny Shirley, Mark DuFresne on drums, Wayne Secrest on bass, Rusty Hendrix on lead guitar and Bobby Randall on steel guitar. The group’s love of the give-andtake of live performance is such that they still perform 100 dates a year. “There’s nothing profound about this,” Shirley said. “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 they have employed since the band’s early days in the 1980s. The strategy, while effective in the long run, was not a quick ticket to the top. “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 the decision back then that we would be ourselves.” Shirley said the band’s first single, “She Took It Like A Man,” went to number 26, “and management and the label were bummed out, but I was thrilled.” He had reason to be. The next two singles, “Jesus and Mama,” and “Queen of Memphis,” shot to the top of the charts, and three more — “Trashy Women,” “When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back,” and “She Never Cried” — gave them a half-dozen hits from their first album. Hits on their second album, such as “Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind,” “Elvis and Andy,” and “When and Where,” further established the band as among the most versatile acts in the business. The road warriors may be a little tamer these days, but they’re still providing both poignant moments and pure fun, and enjoying it. “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.” All Jukebox Junction concerts are free with admittance to Lake Winnepesaukah Amusement Park. All guests under 18 must be accompanied by a guest age 18 or over and must purchase either an unlimited ride pass for $26 or a ticket package for $18. Parking is free. Park hours for the remainder of the season are: noon until 10 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2; noon until 8 p.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 3; 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Saturdays through Sept. 29, and noon until 8 p.m. on Sundays through Sept. 30. Lake Winnepesaukah is recognized as one of America’s top 10 family amusement parks by Travel and Leisure magazine. For more information, call 706-866-5681 or 877-LAKEWIN, or visit lakewinnie.com.