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Since Darryl Worley first broke onto the national music scene just over eight years ago, one of the constants in his life has been change. The business of music has changed drastically, but what has not changed is his love of creating and delivering music to fans who expect nothing less than from-the-heart songs, soulful vocals, American pride, and killer live shows.
Darryl Worley embraces change as a part of life, and he now has more peace and perspective in his personal life and his career than he’s ever had. In the last year he experienced unspeakable agony as he watched helplessly while his mother battled a circulatory issue and ultimately lost a leg to the condition. Joy prevailed when his first child, Savannah, was born in March. Two months later, his mother walked into his fan club party with the aid of a prosthetic leg but without the crutches that were a constant companion.
Add another month, and he’s reunited with the man who discovered him performing in a West Tennessee club almost 10 years ago – the man who co-produced his albums and ran the record company that propelled Darryl Worley to a household name. James Stroud is a constant in his life who was there in the beginning, and Darryl was the first artist signed to his new label, Stroudavarious Records.
“I had looked at several deals after I left (previous label) 903,” said Darryl. “And I was close to signing one when James told me he was starting a new label. Moose (Jim Brown), Swine (Kevin Grantt) and I had almost finished this new record, Sounds Like Life, on our own, when I played it for James. He liked what we were doing and told us to go ahead and finish it.”
In a move unique to Nashville, Darryl cut a majority of the tracks with his own band, The Krew, and brought in session players only where necessary. “The guys play these songs every night, so it only made sense to go in the studio and cut the record just like we play on stage. It worked.”
While Darryl’s name and familiar co-writers such as Wynn Varble, “Moose” Brown, Steve Leslie, Phil O’Donnell, Dan Demay and Don Poythress grace a majority of the liner notes, he stepped outside to find the best songs possible for this album. The fun mid-tempo first single, “Tequila On Ice,” was penned by Rivers Rutherford and Edward Dodson and was a refreshing sound on country radio. The upbeat, infectious “Honky Tonk Life” sounds like Darryl’s musical autobiography, but it was written by Marty Dodson, Sean Patrick McGraw. “You Never Know,” written by Jimmy Yeary, Mike McGuire and Billy Ryan, tells of the uncertainty of life.
The carefree “Don’t Show Up (If You Can’t Get Down)” is an event that includes a who’s-who of music such as Mel Tillis, Bill Anderson, John Anderson, Ira Dean, Jamey Johnson and Steve Harwell of Smash Mouth, John Cowan of New Grass Revival, Chris Stapleton of the Steeldrivers and Little Feat’s Shaun Murphy.
The impression Darryl Worley has made on country music is undeniable. For all that he has accomplished, from the wistfully romantic "I Miss My Friend" to the defiant anthem "Have You Forgotten?," both of which topped the singles charts, his work up to this point offers just one perspective on who he is and what he has to offer.
For the record, there's no question over what Darryl Worley is - namely, a country music star who respects the traditions of the genre, a preacher's son and the grandson of a moonshiner from Pyburn, Tennessee, who won academic honors in high school and at the University of North Alabama even while blowing off steam singing and partying hard on the honky-tonk circuit. His songwriting skills earned him a deal with Fame Publishing in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; a number of artists, including George Jones, cut some of Worley’s early tunes. After two years, EMI Publishing signed him to their songwriting team, and in 1994 Worley moved to Nashville.
Success came quickly. The Academy of Country Music nominated Worley for Top New Male Vocalist in 2002. He also earned nominations from the Country Music Association for its Horizon Award in 2002 and '03 and Single Of The Year and Song Of The Year in 2003 for "Have You Forgotten?". The Tennessee House of Representatives cited him that same year for his contributions to country music. His fan base kept growing and his concerts regularly sold out.
Perhaps the high point of this period, though, involved Worley's visit in 2002 to meet and entertain our troops stationed in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Uzbekistan. Transformed by the experience, he wrote and recorded "Have You Forgotten?", one of the most controversial and inspirational records of our time. Worley has not wavered in his support for those who put their lives on the line for democracy; over the past few years he's repeated his trip and expanded it to include performances in Iraq. On the home front, he played a key role in organizing the annual American Freedom Festival to raise funds for our veterans.
In 2006, George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey partnered with Worley as the title sponsor of his tour. Officially named the "Darryl & Dickel Tour," George Dickel sponsored approximately 80 tour dates throughout 2006/2007 and promoted a social responsibility message by Worley. The relationship continues today, and if you see the Dickel-wrapped bus traveling down the highway, there’s a good chance Worley is on it.
This year marks the seventh for his Tennessee River Run that now spans nine days and includes fishing tournaments, a boat poker run, a motorcycle ride, a 5K run, a talent contest and three concerts covering rock, country and Gospel music and more. While the River Run has raised money for countless worthwhile causes in his native West Tennessee, his main focus now is building a cancer treatment center at the Hardin County Medical Center in Savannah.
Darryl Worley knows his life – and every life – is ever-changing and ever-evolving. On stage, he will always strive to deliver high-energy, entertaining shows he knows his hard-working fans deserve. He understands how he can use his celebrity to make the lives of his fellow man better – whether it’s in the board room of his foundation or entertaining troops on the front lines of war. And the new constant that drives him to climb on a bus and drive hundreds of miles to go out and entertain his fans and come back home again – what makes him give his absolute best on stage and off – is his loving wife and a little girl at home who watches her daddy’s every move and sees him as her hero. That’s something he never wants to change.
