- April 25, 2024
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Platinum-selling country outfit Confederate Railroad rocks Family Fun Fest as the Saturday headliner.
Danny Shirley, lead singer/guitarist of platinum-selling country band Confederate Railroad, will perform 9 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at the Palm Coast Family Fun Fest. All festival concerts are free with gate admission.
When he was discovered in the 1980s at owner Bob Orr’s Atlanta-based Miss Kitty’s nightclub, Shirley was part of a five-musician lineup — along with other multi-platinum artists, such as Travis Tritt and Diamond Rio — who took the stage in weekly rotations.
According to Orr, Shirley was offered his first record deal by Rick Blackburn, then president of Atlantic Records Nashville, who approached Shirley on stage after a set and offered him a contract on the spot — in front a crowd of 1,500 people.
“He was the hardest working musician I’d ever seen,” Orr said. “Danny has a very good heart … He does a lot of charity-type stuff … (and) he’s involved in Make-A-Wish Foundation and Toys for Tots.”
In 1990, Shirley’s Confederate Railroad was named the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Group of the Year. The band’s first album went double platinum.
Former backup band to both David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck, Confederate Railroad rambled into Florida earlier this month to play at Daytona Beach’s Bike Week. The band plays roughly 100 shows a year.
