Worley navigating career ups, downs with tough hide
Darryl Worley’s biggest country hit — the 2003 tribute to 9/11 called “Have You Forgotten?” — was also fodder for conversation across the country, which still amazes the singer five years later.
“It gave us staying power. It gave us a time there when we were doing shows for more money than I could ever dream,” Worley said in a phone interview from his home in Nashville. “It was exactly what my heart wanted to say and what other peoples’ hearts wanted to say. It represented the feelings of most Americans.
“You can’t orchestrate or pay for that kind of hit. It happens because it’s meant to be.”
But there were also detractors of the song, where Worley never imagined there would be.
“We had a few people that really didn’t understand the song at all, who tried to read things into it that weren’t there at all,” he said. “They said the song was about the war in Iraq when there wasn’t even a war in Iraq when I wrote it, so that was pretty silly.”
The experience, including TV interviews, has taught the singer that he has a tough hide, he said.
“I am one to say what I think and what I believe in,” he said. “Nowadays, TV’s very liberal for the most part. But we won’t have any shortage of coverage on Fox (News Channel).”
The song is one of three No. 1 hits — along with “I Miss My Friend” and “Awful, Beautiful Life” — that Worley will perform Saturday night in the grandstand at the Mississippi Valley Fair.
He’ll also perform songs from his upcoming album, due in September, as the first act on Stroudavarious, a new label started by Nashville producer James Stroud.
The new single, “Tequila on Ice,” is slowly being released to radio stations, he said.
The album will be Worley’s sixth, released on three different labels. DreamWorks, then run by Stroud, signed him in 1999 until 2005, when it closed operations. He then moved to country singer Neal McCoy’s 905 Records, which declared bankruptcy last May.
The new CD, as yet untitled, has a rarity in Nashville circles — Worley’s own backup band plays the songs rather than studio musicians. Worley said it reflects what’s gone on in his life in the past few years, including a divorce and new marriage, which included the birth of his child.
“It’s different from the last go-round, which was a little more rowdier and (had) a little more edge to it. I went back and listened to that project and I told somebody yesterday that album seemed a little bit angry,” said Worley, 43. “You have to deal with bitterness but you just get past it. I’m just glad to be out there doing what I’m doing.”
Worley said he thinks he’s dealt with the ups and downs of the music business pretty successfully.
“You just have to realize who you are and where you are,” he said. “I tell people all the time this business can be tough, but no matter how bad it gets it still beats the heck out of roofing.”
David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.