Weather, Disappointment and Prayers Answered at Ft. Campbell

The very first Legend of Charlie Daniels show was to be a tie in with America 250, as Ft. Campbell, KY was one of a limited number of sites that were to have moments televised during the official America 250 TV specials.

As with the best of plans, it didn’t work out that way.

Weather was an issue, as sometimes happens with outdoor shows, but at the beginning of the week, we were looking at temperatures rivaling hell’s front porch, but by Thursday, and Friday, the backdrop had been blown off the stage not once, but twice. Equipment had to be wrapped up to protect it from the rain, and we didn’t get to see the hologram during Friday night rehearsals.

So, the glorious fourth finally arrived, and so did the threat of heavy storms. We kept hoping they would keep their distance, which they did…

For a while…

The 101^st Airborne Band performed as scheduled, so did Eric Lee Beddingfield, and the Frontmen consisting of Richie McDonald, Larry Stewart and Tim Rushlow got about halfway through their set when the inevitable happened.

The military brass got on the PA and told people they needed to leave the parade field and go back to their cars. There was a light show going on in the sky that wasn’t the result of gunpowder and sparks. God’s own fireworks were on display that night, but that had devastating repercussions for this inaugural edition of The Legend of Charlie Daniels show.

It meant that Aaron Tippin and the CDB sets were postponed until possibly Sunday.

You can’t imagine how disappointed we were, not to mention those that had come to see the show and had to drive back home.

And that was if there was a show on Sunday… and that was a BIG if.

The first issue, the Frontmen who were supposed to assist on vocals during the CDB set weren’t obligated to come back. They did their set, so we could only get Tim Rushlow back, so he would have to take on two songs. There was also the issue of the drummer. Jack Gavin had plans the following day to go out of state, so that appeared to be a stumbling block, but one that was quickly resolved.

That left the weather as the sole impediment to making this historic debut. And Sunday evening wasn’t looking much better than Saturday night.

The storms were in the area again, and they appeared to be unrelenting. The forecast seemed to change every five minutes, and at about 7 PM, it was looking iffy if Aaron Tippin would even take the stage.

My wife and I were sitting at Texas Roadhouse on base as our hearts sank watching the radar images on our phone, and knowing that a lot had been put into this show, and not being able to go through with it would have been devastating on multiple fronts, a lot of money had been spent to get us to this point, and it looked like it was going to be wasted.

I grabbed her hand and did the only thing I knew to do.

Pray.

I prayed that the good Lord would bless us, bless the endeavor and to part the clouds long enough for us to proceed with the show.

South African evangelist Angus Buchan prayed a prayer when a fire on his land could have spread to his neighbor’s land and destroyed both farms, and bankrupting Angus and his family.

He prayed for rain in a cloudless sky, and it came.

We prayed for a parting of clouds, and He made a way.

We were back on, and there is no doubt it was divine intervention.

Aaron took the stage, and we prepared to unveil The Legend of Charlie Daniels.

Some have mischaracterized this as an attempt at a “revival” or a hologram and “tribute band.”

This was a labor of love and authenticity was the key, which is why we wanted as many former CDB members to come back for this event.

I’ll fill you in on the set itself next time.

I know, what a tease…

Long live The Legend of Charlie Daniels!

What do you think?

Let’s all make the day count!

Pray for our troops, our police, the Peace of Jerusalem and our nation.

God Bless America!

#SonyReleaseHonkyTonkAve

#BenghaziAintGoingAway #End22

- Charlie Daniels, Jr.