SEPTEMBER 2012
Big North
Classifieds and Careers B12-B13
B Section
FREE PRESS
■ CN CENTRE OCT. 28
For Daniels, deadlines are easy Country superstar with more than 50 years in music brings his tales to Prince George
ALLAN WISHART allanw@pgfreepress.com
There are a couple of reasons Charlie Daniels might have made a good newspaper reporter – and one reason why he wouldn’t. The country superstar is in Prince George on Oct. 28, and in a phone interview talked about some of the similarities between writing songs and writing newspaper stories. “There’s no particular unit of time it takes to write a song. If you’ve got a good idea of where the song is going, like you probably find when you’re writing a story, it goes pretty good. “If I can get the whole story in my mind before I start, it comes fast.” He also finds he works well under pressure. “Years ago, Hal Needham called me and said he needed some music for a movie he was doing called Stroker Ace, and he needed it pretty quick.” Daniels received a copy of what had been shot already on Thanksgiving, but decided not to take the holiday off. “So after dinner, I went down to the basement and watched the movie. Knowing what the story was about helped, and I got the songs written pretty quick.” Known for story songs like The Devil Went Down to Georgia, it comes as a bit of a surprise to find out Daniels doesn’t always start with the lyrics for a song. “A lot start with a guitar riff. There have been some songs where we’ve gone in and recorded the song and then added the lyrics at the end. “Producers will be saying, ‘So when are you going to write the song?’ and I say, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll get done’.” Daniels has a million stories about the music business and his more than 50 years in it, but he remembers a time he was at a loss for words. “We were doing an annual charity show at the Ryman Auditorium (in Nashville), where the Grand Ole Opry used to be, and all of a sudden Martina McBride shows up on the stage.” McBride was carrying a small package, which included a Christmas card wishing Dan-
Ph o to s ub mitte d
Charlie Daniels will be celebrating his 76th birthday when he plays the CN Centre in Prince George on Oct. 28, but he’ll be one bringing the presents of great music. iels the best of the season for all his charitable works. Then she dropped the bombshell: She invited Daniels to become a member of the Opry. “If you see that piece, you’ll see me in my speechless mode. That’s the dream of every country performer, is to be invited to join the Opry.” Daniels then had the opportunity to turn the tables on another act. Montgomery Gentry were playing a show at the new Opry facility when Daniels suddenly came charging out from the back of the audience. “There’s a balcony, so it’s kinda dark back there, and they thought at first I was just a drunk coming up. They were looking for security to take
care of me.” Instead, Daniels came right up on stage and extended the invitation for the duo to join the Opry. “They’re good friends of mine, and I was thankful to be given the opportunity to do the inviting.” Seeing Daniels wield a fiddle like a lethal weapon, it’s a little hard to believe he hasn’t been playing the instrument forever. “I started on the guitar, then added the mandolin. The fingerboard on a mandolin is basically the same as on a fiddle, so it wasn’t that hard a change to make.” He’s also had the chance, over the years, to tour and work with some great singer-
songwriters, such as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. “I never really talked writing with Leonard. I came from a whole different school of music, and his music is so personal. So Leonard Cohen.” What he did learn from them was “not to write like they do.” “You’re still concerned with the same things, like communication and imagery and flow, and it inspires you to raise the calibre of your writing.” The show on Oct. 28 at CN Centre will be a special occasion for Daniels, as it will also mark his 76th birthday. He doesn’t anticipate anything different for the show, though. “At the beginning of each year, we do a rehearsal for the
next tours. We know there are some songs we have to play, like Devil Went Down and Legend of Wooley Swamp and Long-Haired Country Boy. “That gives us the skeleton, and then we look at it and say, “Where do we go from here?’” Where they went for this year will be found out by the audience at CN Centre on Oct. 28. Oh, the one reason Charlie Daniels probably wouldn’t make a good newspaper reporter? He phones a few minutes early for the interview. Tickets for the Charlie Daniels Band at CN Centre on Oct. 28 are now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations.