Confederate Railroad Dropped From Illinois Fair Lineup Because of Their Name
Confederate Railroad / Facebook
First founded in 1987, country/Southern Rock band Confederate Railroad got their start as the backing bands for country outlaws David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck. They forged out on their own and were signed to Atlantic Records, beginning a long career.
Their charted singles include “She Took It Like a Man,” “Jesus and Mama,” “Queen of Memphis,” She Never Cried,” and “Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind,” just to name a few.
It is ironic that a lyric from the song “Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind” goes, “Daddy’d say you can’t judge a book by looking at its cover, it’s what’s inside that really matters,” because they are currently mixed up in something where they are being judged by their cover. In this case, their band name.
Confederate Railroad was slated to perform at Du Quoin State Fair in Du Quoin Illinois on August 27 as part of the 90s Country ReLoaded Day lineup alongside Shenandoah and Restless Heart.
According to WSIL, the Du Quoin State Fair has removed Confederate Railroad and Du Quoin Weekly reports that it is because of the band’s name.
The removal of Confederate Railroad comes a couple weeks after blogger Rich Hill wrote a post about them on his website Capital Fax.
“A band named Confederate Railroad. In Illinois. The Land of Lincoln. Playing at a state-owned facility. I’ve never heard anyone claim that the group has Confederacy-loving song lyrics or anything,” he wrote, asking his audience to explain if they think having the band perform at an Illinois state fair is appropriate or not.
Fair manager Josh Gross said of the removal of the band, “While every artists has a right to expression, we believe this decision is in the best interest of serving all of the people in our state.”
According to the band’s Facebook page, they are actually playing many different state fairs and recently played in Greenville, Illinois to a massive crowd. Greenville is just an hour-and-a-half north of Du Quoin.
https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateRR/posts/2465023590220603?__tn__=-R
Many people came to the band’s defense, including Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Daniels.
He wrote, “This political correctness thing is totally out of control When a fair cancels the Confederate Railroad band because of their name its giving in to facism, plain and simple and our freedom disappears piece by piece. Sick of it.”
Joe Bonsall, of the Oak Ridge Boys, tweeted the following:
What do you think about Du Quoin State Fair removing Confederate Railroad from the lineup?
