AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CLASS OF 1996 - UNCW

I would like to clear up a few points about my addressing your class at commencement exercises, points which I feel have been distorted by a few overzealous, uninformed,pseudo-journalists.

I will not address the one-hit wonder,” “goober brained redneck” aspect of these pieces, and one letter published in The Seahawk I will not address at all except to say that the racial overtones it contained were totally unfounded and offensive beyond description.

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." - Luke 24 1:1-3 New International Version of the Holy Bible

Since Jesus was crucified on a Friday and Shabbat - or the Sabbath - began at sundown, His followers had not been able to carry out the anointing of His body with the fragrant spices and ointments and it had to be delayed until Sunday morning, after the Jewish religious law forbidding working on the Sabbath was lifted.

Apologies to Charles Dickens and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn for the title paraphrasing “A Tale of Two Cities.”

As I was scheduling posts for April 13, it thought crossed my mind that “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Kind of sums up the day. There were two monumental events in the life of the Daniels family that took place on this date six years apart, so as the old saying goes, “I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.” 

April 1, 2025 marked the 11th anniversary of 'Off the Grid – Doin’ It Dylan,' the CDB’s tribute to Bob Dylan. An April Fool’s Day release? Sure. A joke? Not even close—at least not to those who knew how much Dylan meant to Dad’s musical journey.

On March 13, 2020—just over five years ago—Dad and the band took the stage together for what would be their final show. It was in Huntsville, Alabama, at the Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall.

After that night, he and Mom returned to Twin Pines Ranch, where they mostly stayed - sheltering in place - until that heartbreaking day, July 6, when everything changed for us. The CDB family lost its leader, and a good and faithful servant was called home—to his permanent home, “in the sky, Lord, in the sky.”

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. For example, nobody could have seen a pandemic taking Dad and the band off the road. It still seems like something out of The Twilight Zone sometimes.

“This is a day of new beginnings, new year, new hope, new resolve, a 365-day period of progress and accomplishment. Let’s all make the day count. “ – Charlie Daniels 2017

Happy New Year, everyone!

Dad, you would have been 88 years old today, two years away from 90, and it’s still hard to believe you’re gone.

My worst birthday ever was when I turned 15 on April 28, 1980.

Was it because I was spoiled and I didn’t get what I wanted?

No, although our plans did change at the last minute, but only  because of a tragedy.

*NOTE* In honor of the Sixteenth Anniversary of Charlie's Grand Ole Opry induction, here's a Soapbox Rewind from 2008, just before he was inducted, and he shares his feelings on his then-upcoming induction. - TeamCDB

On Friday, January 18th, I will catch a plane from Durango, Colorado, where I'm on vacation, en route to Nashville, Tennessee, which is the last fifteen hundred miles of a journey of several million which started one afternoon in Gulf, North Carolina, circa 1951 when I was visiting a friend, Russell Palmer, and he pulled out an old Stella guitar.

Goodbye 2023, hello 2024! 

It’s a fresh start on another 365 days for us to seize and – as dad would say - make count, and if he was still here, I have no doubt he would still be making his days count.

He always did. 

“Opportunity knocks but once, softly, and then moves on swiftly, attune your heart to her call, your ear to her knock, open the door and be blessed. Let’s all make the day count.” – Charlie Daniels

Sage advice from a wise man.

And he knew what he was talking about because it had happened to him on multiple occasions in his lifetime, but I’m going to focus on three pivotal individuals who opened the door for opportunities.

On April 1, 2014 – in what many probably thought was an elaborate April Fool’s Day prank - The CDB released “Off the Grid-Doin’ it Dylan,” a tribute album to Bob Dylan who was a pivotal figure in dad’s career.

It was also the first album of new material released through Blue Hat Records distribution deal with Megaforce Records, which is primarily a heavy metal label, and the original distributor of Metallica’s early recordings

*NOTE* Charlie will be back with a brand new soapbox on Monday, in the meantime, here's a rewind from way back in 2003. - TeamCDB/BW

To you who have read this column for years this piece may seem a little redundant since I have written on this subject before. But it is such a frequently asked question that I feel I should revisit it from time 
to time.

*NOTE* Charlie will be back with a brand new soapbox on Monday, in the meantime, here's a soapbox rewind from 2009. - TeamCDB/BW

I guess it may be a sign of my advancing age or a healthy case of nostalgia in fond remembrance of a simpler time in my life, but sometimes I find my thoughts wandering back to a time and place in my young life when my responsibilities consisted making sure the wood box was full and keeping my grades above the passing line.

Normally the soapboxes I write are about dad, or something political in nature in the vein of Dad’s soapboxes he regularly wrote when he was still with us.

But with Mother’s Day this weekend, I thought it was appropriate to turn my thoughts to my mom, Hazel Daniels.

As I have said before, mom had a lot to deal with when I was growing up. Not that I was a particularly bad kid, or anything, but dad was on the road most of the year, so she was almost a single mother for long periods of time.

We did everything together, and she always took care of me.

This weekend, perhaps even tonight, I will complete my annual Easter tradition, even though it is not exactly something I am looking forward to. In fact, it’s pretty embarrassing on some levels.

If things go according to plan, a box of Kleenex will be involved, as it has in the past, and I have no doubt that will be the case yet again.

As I write this, the “Tennessee Midlands,” as dad used to call them appear to be heading full speed into spring as tree frogs are singing, daffodils are starting to bloom, many of the trees are just beginning to bud.

*NOTE* We haven't done this in a while, but the time seems right to reexamine this soapbox of Charlie's from September of 2018. He was speaking of how things could have changed had the 2016 election gone differently, but it is downright prophetic compared to our nation in 2021. - TeamCDB

If this piece is going to have any impact, it cannot be viewed through partisan eyes, conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat. Preconceived political prejudice and implacable attitudes must be cast aside. 

I’ve had some criticism lately after a few political soapboxes that I have written recently, and I wanted to address that in a soapbox which is a combination of a political one, and a Charlie Daniels memories one.

This is going to be a different soapbox for a change, neither political nor really about dad. Consider this a manifesto of sorts. We take this sort of thing seriously in this organization and have for many years.

When I left off last time, I mostly covered dad’s support of the Tennessee Vols and some appearances at Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Semi-Finals games, but there was more to tell, and a few points I needed to finish.

Super Bowl LV is in the books, and it made me realize that I’ve written several things about my dad in the recent months, but very little about one of his passions, sports.

Sunday, January 31^st marked the first day that mom and I have been back to World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro since dad’s funeral on July 10^th 2020.

I’ve been writing more politically themed soapboxes recently, and as I’ve mentioned, CNSNews, which often picked up dad’s politically-themed soapboxes asked me if I wanted to take on some current events topics, instead of just memories of my dad.

After reading comments over the last several months, I have decided that I need to start my political soapboxes with a disclaimer for people that obviously didn’t follow dad’s social media until after his passing, I'll have a new one about him soon, for those sick of politics.

“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”        – ‘1984’ George Orwell                                                                                                           

Happy New Year, such as it is…

I’ve been struggling on what to write for several days now and have started over at least four times as things are changing drastically from day to day.

On Thursday, I wrote a preamble to go with dad’s “A Carolina Christmas Carol’ and I mentioned that most likely I would not be posting anything until after the first of the year unless something jumped out at me.

For those who haven’t been following dad’s soapbox, my Soapbox Jr’s or social media until this year, then you may not know the history of this story, or the tradition regarding it.

I haven’t watched a single Christmas special this year, visions of sugarplums aren’t dancing in my head, and I feel more like saying “Bah humbug” than wishing Christmas cheer.