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 Confederate Railroad (l-r: Wayne Secrest, Cody McCarver, Mark Dufresne, Danny Shirley, Gates Nichols, Jimmy Dormire)
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Years active | 1987-present |
| Label(s) | Atlantic, Audium, Shanachie |
| Associated acts | David Allan Coe |
| Website | http://www.confederaterailroad.net |
| Members | |
| Mark Dufresne Rusty Hendrix Cody McCarver Gates Nichols Wayne Secrest Danny Shirley |
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| Former members | |
| Jimmy Dormire Chris McDaniel Michael Lamb |
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Confederate Railroad is an American country music band founded in 1987 in Marietta, Georgia by Danny Shirley (lead vocals), Michael Lamb (lead guitar), Mark Dufresne (drums), Chris McDaniel (keyboards), Gates Nichols (steel guitar, Dobro), and Wayne Secrest (bass guitar). After serving as a backing band for outlaw country act David Allan Coe, the band signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records, releasing their self-titled debut album that year. Throughout the 1990s, they released four more albums for Atlantic.
Confederate Railroad has released ten studio albums. In addition, more than twenty of their singles have entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Only two changes in membership have occurred, both in the late 1990s-early 2000s: Michael Lamb was replaced by Jimmy Dormire on lead guitar, and Cody McCarver took over for Chris McDaniel, the band's original keyboardist. In addition to his work with Confederate Railroad, McCarver has released one solo album and two singles. Dormire was replaced in 2008 by Rusty Hendrix.
The band's most recent compilation, a compilation of cover songs entitled Cheap Thrills, was issued on the independent Shanachie label in 2007.
Contents |
History
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Please help improve this section by expanding it with: more info on formative years and on sales. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2007) |
Confederate Railroad was founded in 1984 by Danny Shirley, Michael Lamb, Gates Nichols, Chris McDaniel, Wayne Secrest, and Mark Dufresne. The six members began playing at bars in and around Atlanta, Georgia.[1] Over time, they also worked as a road band for David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck.
After several years in the Atlanta area, they signed with Atlantic Records in 1992 and released their eponymous debut album. The album spawned six hit singles and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum in the U.S.[1] In 1993, Confederate Railroad was awarded Best New Group at the ACM awards.[2] "Notorious", the group's second album, was also considered a success, with more than one million sales, but subsequent albums failed to meet the "platinum" level of sales. Eventually, Confederate Railroad left Atlantic Records and signed with Audium/Koch for one album, "Unleashed". The album produced one Top 40 hit. The group's latest album, "Cheap Thrills", was released in April 2007 on the Shanachie label.[3]
Musical stylings
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (February 2008) |
A "gruff, reliable twanger",[4] lead singer Danny Shirley cites outlaw country acts such as Waylon Jennings as his major influence.[5] According to him, the band's music is "straight-ahead outlaw country",[5] although their image has also drawn comparisons to Southern rock.[1]
Confederate Railroad's novelty numbers, such as "Trashy Women", show a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. A reviewer for New Country magazine wrote that they are "one of the few bands who can pull off a song about how they prefer trashy women and sound like they really mean it".[4][6] A more serious side of the band is shown in their ballads. Those on Notorious, for instance, were described by New Country magazine as "show[ing] men left stunned and confused by a world that changed faster than they could follow".[5]
Member changes
Lead guitarist Michael Lamb, one of the group's original members, left in the mid 1990s and was replaced with Jimmy Dormire. Chris McDaniel, the keyboardist, left and was replaced with Cody McCarver.[1] McCarver has released a solo album, although he continues to tour as a member of Confederate Railroad as well. In June 2008, Jimmy Dormire announced that he was leaving Confederate Railroad to continue his solo career. He was replaced by Rusty Hendrix.
Solo contributions
In addition to his work in the band, frontman Danny Shirley made a guest appearance alongside Mark Collie on the song "Redneck Heaven" from Billy Ray Cyrus's 1992 album Storm in the Heartland, a song which Collie and Shirley co-wrote. Cody McCarver released a self-titled solo album for the Aspirion label in 2006, which produced the non-charting singles "Red Flag" and "Through God's Eyes".
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | RIAA | Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US 200 | US Heat | CAN Country | ||||
| 1992 | Confederate Railroad | 7 | 53 | 3 | 19 | 2× Multi-Platinum | Atlantic |
| 1994 | Notorious | 6 | 52 | 13 | Platinum | ||
| 1995 | When and Where | 21 | 152 | ||||
| 1998 | Keep On Rockin' | 57 | |||||
| 2001 | Unleashed | 63 | Audium | ||||
| 2007 | Cheap Thrills | Shanachie | |||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Greatest Hits | 60 | Atlantic |
| 2000 | Rockin' Country Party Pack | 63 | |
| 2008 | The Very Best of Confederate Railroad | Rhino |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1992 | "She Took It Like a Man" | 37 | 41 | Confederate Railroad |
| "Jesus and Mama" | 4 | 14 | ||
| 1993 | "Queen of Memphis" | 2 | 3 | |
| "When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back" | 14 | 18 | ||
| "Trashy Women"A | 10 | 12 | ||
| 1994 | "She Never Cried" | 27 | 28 | |
| "Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind" | 9 | 7 | Notorious | |
| "Elvis and Andy" | 20 | 8 | ||
| "Summer in Dixie" | 55 | — | ||
| 1995 | "When and Where" | 24 | 17 | When and Where |
| "Bill's Laundromat, Bar and Grill" | 54 | 58 | ||
| "When He Was My Age" | 66 | 90 | ||
| 1996 | "See Ya" | 51 | — | |
| 1998 | "The Big One" | 66 | — | Keep On Rockin' |
| 1999 | "Cowboy Cadillac" | 70 | — | |
| 2000 | "Toss a Little Bone" | 71 | — | Rockin' Country Party Pack / When And Where |
| 2001 | "What Brothers Do" | 39 | Unleashed | |
| 2002 | "She Treats Her Body Like a Temple" | 59 | ||
| "White Trash with Money" | — | — | ||
| 2007 | "Please Come to Boston" | — | — | Cheap Thrills |
- A"Trashy Women" also peaked at #13 on the U.S. Bubbling Under Hot 100.
References
- ^ a b c d Confederate Railroad at Allmusic
- ^ Confederate Railroad - Unleashed CD Review - By Jolene Downs
- ^ Confederate Railroad | Music Artist, Videos, Photos, News, Ringtones, Album and Movie Info | VH1.com
- ^ a b Dickinson, Chris (August 1995). "Confederate Railroad - When and Where review". New Country 2 (10): 62.
- ^ a b c Mansfield, Brian (April 1994). "When Good Things Happen to Rough People: Confederate Railroad Stays on the Country Side of the Tracks". New Country 1 (3): 36–39.
- ^ T&T Management and Booking Agency - Confederate Railroad
