Fans at Wednesday’s Confederate Railroad concert got more than time-honored country classics – they also got a sneak preview of music on the band’s upcoming album, due to be released late this month.

Thursday, August 02, 2001

Fans at Wednesday’s Confederate Railroad concert got more than time-honored country classics – they also got a sneak preview of music on the band’s upcoming album, due to be released late this month.

Confederate Railroad took several years off from performing and recording after they were named the Academy of Country Music’s best new vocal group in 1992. Their 2000 release, &uot;The Rockin’ Country Party Pack,&uot; was mostly rereleased material and covers, but this year’s album will feature new material including &uot;That’s what brothers do,&uot; a song inspired by lead singer Danny Shirley’s four and two year-old sons, and &uot;She Treats Her Body Like a Temple, and I Treat Mine Like a Honky Tonk,&uot; recorded with George Jones.

The group has always combined hard edged, honkytonk toe-tappers like &uot;Queen of Memphis&uot; and &uot;Trashy Women&uot; with heart-wrenching, tearful story songs like &uot;Jesus and Mama&uot; and &uot;Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind,&uot; said Shirley.

&uot;We like to do all kinds of songs – off-beat stuff and serious stuff,&uot; he said. &uot;We feel like country music has always had both elements and there should be room for all.&uot;

Like the song &uot;The Big One,&uot; which tells the story of a boy whose father has a bout of flatulence during a church service, which had the Freeborn County Fair crowd laughing out loud.

&uot;Yeah, some of these songs are a little out there,&uot; Shirley said. &uot;We’re lucky Atlantic lets us stick to our taste and style despite what their reservations might be.&uot;

Some of their songs have had people questioning that tack, like &uot;Trashy Women,&uot; a surprise number one hit which describes the singer’s taste for women who don’t have any.

&uot;USA Today said it could only be performed or appreciated by people with a total lack of class,&uot; Shirley said. &uot;Then you people went out and bought three million copies of it, and it won at the Grammy awards.&uot;

Another crowd favorite was the song &uot;I Hate Rap,&uot; sung in a rap style. Shirley said the rest of his family likes rap music, and some members of the band do, but he can’t seem to stomach it, though he’s tried. He vents his feelings in the opening lines of the song:

&uot;Talk about a generation gap,&uot; he sings. &uot;I don’t turn my cap. I don’t grab my lap. I don’t do like that cause I’d look like a sap.&uot;

After the song, Shirley asked how many people in the audience agreed with the sentiment, and several cheered.

&uot;The magic of Confederate Railroad is we don’t pretend to be hip or even worry about it,&uot; Shirley said. &uot;We just deliver the goods every single time we hit a stage.&uot;