Confederate Railroad Dumped From Fair in Illinois Due to Name
Confederate Railroad have been dropped from the lineup of an upcoming fair in Illinois due to their name. The country rock and Southern rock group were removed from the Du Quoin State Fair, prompting some online outrage from some of their country peers.
Confederate Railroad were originally slated to perform at the Du Quoin State Fair in Du Quoin, Ill., on Aug. 27, as part of a lineup billed as "'90s Country ReLoaded Day" that also included Shenandoah and Restless Heart. According to WSIL-TV, fair manager John Gross says the Illinois Department of Agriculture decided to drop Confederate Railroad after Rich Miller, a writer for the Illinois-based political blog Capitol Fax, questioned whether it was appropriate for them to perform.
"While every artist has a right to expression, we believe this decision is in the best interest of serving all of the people in our state," Gross says.
The Pinckneyville Press reports that decision "appears to reflect racial sensitivity concerns.” Confederate Railroad declined to comment when the band was contacted via Facebook. The group have so far issued no public statement, but the fair's decision caused Charlie Daniels to turn to social media to react with indignation.
"This political correctness thing is totally out of control," Daniels tweeted. "When a fair cancels the Confederate Railroad band because of their name its giving in to facism (sic), plain and simple and our freedom disappears piece by piece. Sick of it."
Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys also weighed in.
"I have played the @DuQuoinFair many times over the decades ... however, I must say that canceling @ConfederateRR JUST because their name is CONFEDERATE RAILROAD is a crock of crap!!! These are good men singing good songs... God please help us all ..." he writes.
Confederate Railroad formed in the Atlanta area in 1987, inspired by acts including Daniels, David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more. They released their self-titled album in 1992, scoring several hits with "Jesus and Mama," "Queen of Memphis" and "Trashy Women." Their second album, Notorious, followed in 1994, scoring additional hits including "Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind," "Elvis and Andy" and others.
Though the group never again enjoyed the commercial success of those years, they have continued to record and tour, releasing their most recent album, Lucky to Be Alive, in 2016.
According to WSIL, Confederate Railroad still have the concert date listed on their official schedule, but they've been removed from the Ticketmaster listing.
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