Darry Worley is thankful for his country and the people that serve it. In a conversation with American Songwriter, the country singer praised service members and their families following the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
“We were brought up to be intense patriots,” Worley said. “We used to have to line up when we were little kids and go stand by the flag and put our hand over our heart. And we learned the Pledge of Allegiance when we were still in diapers. The family is full of military on both sides, so that was kind of where all that came from. Patriotism is huge in our family.”
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“The support of the military is just because our family has endured everything a military family can go through. We don’t take that lightly,” he continued. “I think a lot of people are misguided as far as why we have all that we have and our way of life. If you don’t feel that you owe a debt of gratitude to those people, you are out of your mind.”
It’s no surprise that, to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Worley re-recorded his 2003 hit, “Have You Forgotten?”
“Our goal was just to put the song out there,” he said. “We had a little promotion group that helped us do it. We got it to all of the major radio stations all across the nation. Most of the stations in the country played ‘Have You Forgotten’ at 9:11 a.m. on 9/11, which I thought was really, really cool.”
Darryl Worth Discusses His Performance at The Boot Bash
Now, a couple weeks later, Worley is gearing up to play an acoustic set at The Boot Bash in College Grove, Tennessee. Organizers are putting on the event, which is an officially sanctioned event partner of America250, to fund Memories of Honor.
The charity primarily drives the critical preservation and home base maintenance of the Boots of Honor Memorial. The annual physical tribute in Franklin, Tennessee, displays nearly 8,000 combat boots that represent every post-9/11 military loss of life.
Additionally, the organization provides secondary funding for The Music Remembers Project, which gifts custom guitars to Gold Star families.
“It’s obviously right down my alleyway as far as all this support for the military, and for veterans, and for Gold Star families, and the people who we’ve lost in the conflicts following 9/11,” Worley said of why he signed on for the event. “I’m all over that stuff constantly, so that’s just kind of part of my MO.”
Darryl Worley Discusses “Have You Forgotten?”
Worley, of course, plans to play “Have You Forgotten?” during his Boot Bash set.
“I won’t sit here and say this is my absolute all-time favorite song to perform. There’s an artistic thing that comes in to that. But, as far as favorite songs, it has been a huge force in my career. It has gotten us work when work was hard to come by,” Worley said. “It’s been an anthem to a lot of people… I’m just very thankful for it.”
“I’ve had so many mothers and fathers tell me… ‘Hey, my daughter or my son joined the military because of 9/11 and your song.’ That’s that’s kind of heavy to carry around,” he added. “… When you are not affiliated with the military in any way you get a little bit of a free ride. I think the families and the people who are, it’s a completely different mentality and it’s a completely different way of life… Those are my people.”
In addition to Worley’s performance, the event will feature sets by Shane Minor, Brooks Herring, Butter & Grit, Aaron Nichols, and Noah Hunton, as well as high-stakes auctions, chef-curated tapas, and an exclusive VIP ultra-premium whiskey and cigar lounge.
Boot Bash isn’t the only thing on Worley’s plate at the moment. The country singer hosts a podcast, Sounds Like Life with Darryl Worley, is working on new music, and has plans to tour in the near future.
“We’re going to be releasing a couple of things along the way in the next few months. I’m constantly creating new stuff when I can,” he said. “I don’t have as much time to write as I used to, but the touring is really good. It’s picked up considerably. We’re planning to add a few elements to our show and try to move up to the next level next year… I’m excited about that.”
Photos courtesy of Darryl Worley
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