I recorded my song “Reedy’s Dream” with Charlie Daniels. It’s a song about my grandfather. Charlie played mandolin and fiddle, and sang backing vocals on the piece. I will forever be grateful to that man for giving his time and talent to me. I suppose it was this song that allowed me to see that maybe I could do pretty well as a songwriter and singer.

     As far as Charlie Daniels is concerned, I just remember how truly kind he was to me. The night we finished up recording, I drove him through the countryside to his bus. It was waiting to pick him up at an elementary school somewhere near Mt. Juliet, Tenn. It was foggy that night, and I remember thinking how awful it would be to have an accident in my vehicle and hurt a national treasure. 

     As we pulled into the parking lot, I told him one day that I would like to warm up for him. He told me to keep on with what I was doing, and he’d be warming up for me. That very weekend, I think, he was at the Superbowl playing with other country performers as the halftime act.

     I also remember sitting at the sound board with him while he was tuning his fiddle. I told him that I had seen him while I was in high school at Market Square Arena, and the place had been sold out. He looked at me and grinned and played the hook from “Devil Went Down To Georgia”.

      Charlie and I had talked throughout the session about his past friendship with Toy Caldwell and Ronnie Van Zant. I was very familiar with Charlie’s work with Toy, and I think that was pleasing to him. I had grown up on Southern Rock and Country music, and I told him some of the funny stories from my childhood and teen years as we had listened to his music so intently. “Took off runnin’ like a motorcycle” was a line from the CDB song, “Trudy”, that had become slang for, “trying to get away” in our weird little circle of friends.

     I also remember him telling me how he had regretted certain lines in the song, “Long Haired Country Boy”, but I am not sure he would want me to share that information in-depth. But, Charlie had/has a solid relationship with Christ, and I know he would never want to steer anyone away from their relationship with God.  

     You can view/listen to my “Ready’s Dream” video at https://youtu.be/iCrBWICNyYM . I hope you enjoy it. Your comments are much appreciated!