Confederate Railroad chooses to stick with the Confederacy / This will help de-Confederating the landscape

In this previous blog post I mentioned the three bad choices the band Confederate Railroad had open to them.

In this blog post.
https://newtknight.blogspot.com/2019/07/confederate-railrord-continues-to-derail.html#.XUWZgm82qiM

I said:

At some point, maybe soon, Confederate Railroad is going to be forced to either shut down, change their name, which will greatly annoy their fans, or embrace right wing support. None of these choices are appealing.

They have chosen not to change the name. 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/01/entertainment/confederate-railroad-name-backlash-trnd/index.html

I didn't expect them to shut down. Without their name they don't really have a reason to exist. It was the "Confederate" in their name that gave their fans a thrill and differentiated them from the many  other country western bands that exist and strive to be known to country western music fans. 

Now what that thrill was exactly will now progressively surfact as time goes on. As vendors, fairs, events decide they don't want "Confederate" in their event, the venues where Confederate Railroad appears will be constrained to areas of the country where there is a lack of concern over racial justice. 

Even then there will be protests over the appearance of the band Confederate Railroad and there will be counter-efforts to the protestors by individuals which the Confederate Railroad probably would rather not show up or be seen. 

Progressively Confederate Railroad will find that by a process involving the places that still do invite them and by the actions of their supporters in public debates their image will be progressively worse.

Confederate Railroad will help deConfederate the landscape also. As their appearances generate controversy people will think about their local Confederate monument and some will think that they would like it removed and some will take action to request that it will be removed.

Confederate Railroad will constantly agitate the issue and their appearances in locals where there are Confederate monuments will give an opportunity for local activists to get the issue of Confederate monument removal before the public.  

This is a previous posting about the band showing up for a Sons of Confederate Veterans event. 

https://newtknight.blogspot.com/2019/07/confederate-railroad-performed-at-neo.html#.XUWY8W82qiM

Confederate Railroad performed at neo-Confederate event held by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and reported in the Southern Partisan

Confederate Veteran has lost two bookings over their name. This is their website. http://www.confederaterailroad.com/

This is their Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateRR/

They have been dropped from two fairs as of 7/26/2019.

There is an attitude that they are being picked on.

Charlie Daniels is really upset as reported in this article.

https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/cody-leach/charlie-daniels-blasts-decision-cancel-confederate-railroad-band-giving-fascism

In this Brietbart article Danny Shirley is all innocence saying, "I've done nothing wrong" and attributes the name to being derived from regional pride. He is quoted saying, "I love the part of the country I'm from and I will never apologize for that."

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/07/25/confederate-railroad-banned-from-second-state-fair-for-name/

He does other whining.

However, it turns out that when the band started they were quite the defenders of the Confederacy.

The 2nd Quarter 1993, Vol. 13 Southern Partisan (pp. 42-43) had an article by neo-Confederate Devereaux D. Cannon Jr. about "The Southern Heritage Jam," put on by the Sons of Confederate Veterans at their new national headquarters on May 22, 1993.

The article has a picture  of  Danny Shirley with the caption, "Danny Shirley, lead singer of Confederate Railroad, the "Best New Country Band of 1993," rallies the troops." These would be neo-Confederate 'troops.'

The article makes special mention of Confederate Railroad and thanks to Confederate Railroad as defenders of  the Confederacy. I quote:

"The first started by Alderman exploded as he introduced the final act of the evvening, the award-winning, and politically incorrect, "Best New Country Band of 1993," Confederate Railroad. The young men who make up that band are more than proud of their country and heritage, as the name implies. They are often asked in interviews whether they are criticized for having "Confederate" in their name. Each question offers them an opportunity to "witness" for Dixie, and opportunity which they never pass up."

"Southern Heritage Jame I was put together on a shoe string, with no advertising budget. Despite that, it provided to be a grand success and will grow into an annual event. (Rumor has it that Waylon Jennings has agreed to headline Southern Heritage Jam II.) ... The Jam was a success because  so many  artists were willing to donate their time and energy to benefit Southern Heritage. Confederate Railroad is to be especially commended in thsi regard. They played a concert earlier in the day at Jackson, Tennessee. From that concert they drove some 150 miles to donate their time and talent to the cause of the South, and then immediately set off, at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, to invade Ohio."

The article then urges other artists to support the Confederacy like the Confederate Railroad.

Danny Shirley sought to get the support of neo-Confederates by supporting a neo-Confederate event. According to the article are proud of the Confederacy. Devereaux Cannon mentioned as the "Chairman" of the Confederate Heritage Committee of the SCV.

Confederate Railrord continues to derail.

The cancelling of Confederate Railroad appearances is now getting attention in the political press.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/454768-country-band-loses-second-gig-over-use-of-confederate-flag-imagery

This is my previous posting.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2019/07/confederate-railroad-becoming-train.html#.XTs9Weg2qiM

This is the next post on the Confederate Railroad at a neo-Confederate event supporting "Southern Heritage."

https://newtknight.blogspot.com/2019/07/confederate-railroad-performed-at-neo.html#.XTucu-g2qiM

Breitbart has covered the second lost booking.

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/07/25/confederate-railroad-banned-from-second-state-fair-for-name/

It has made Fox News.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/country-rock-band-confederate-railroad-booted-second-state-fair

It turns out that the members of the band Confederate Railroad don't see anything that  they have done wrong. It doesn't occur to them that naming themselves after an insurrection to preserve slavery and white supremacy is wrong.

The significance of this type of coverage such as The Hill is that the political class is now aware. Every politician will realize that the appearance of Confederate Railroad in their area is going to be a political issue.

The coverage in the right wing press is going to mean that a lot of sensationalistic right wing groups will want to get involved to support Confederate Railroad in ways which in the end will not be helpful to the band Confederate Railroad, but will infact damage their image.

I think as cancellations occur over time, the occurance of a Confederate Railroad concert at your  event is going to give your event and your locality an unfavorable identity. A put down of a place might be that the place is the type of place that would have a Confederate Railroad concert.

Local chamber of commerces will not want Confederate Railroad at a fair event where their appearance could give the locality an unfavorable image.

At some point, maybe soon, Confederate Railroad is going to be forced to either shut down, change their name, which will greatly annoy their fans, or embrace right wing support. None of these choices are appealing.

These are Facebook postings that I am sure Confederate Railroad doesn't want. The old saying "With friends like these you don't need enemies."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/901544073513517/permalink/904864759848115/

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-land-of-lincoln-bans-confederate-railroad/

Confederate Railroad becoming a train wreck. They need to book Lil Nas X instead. UPDATE links added at end of blog post.

It was just a matter of time that other state and local fairs would start considering whether having the band Confederate Railroad as a performing group is such a good idea.

For those who are unaware of what is happening, the band Confederate Railroad was dropped from the Illinois State Fair.

https://nypost.com/2019/07/09/rock-band-called-confederate-railroad-booted-from-illinois-state-fair/

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/07/09/confederate-railroad-says-name-got-it-ousted-from-state-fair/

Now it turns out that Confederate Railroad has gotten kicked out of another summer fair.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/07/25/confederate-flag-costs-country-band-confederate-railroad-two-gigs-month/1828242001/

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/7/25/8930392/confederate-railroad-band-dropped-from-another-fair-confederate-flag

Suddenly people are thinking, hey being named after an insurrection to preserve slavery and white supremacy is not a good thing.  Suddenly booking Confederate Railroad would be like booking a band named "Third Reich Rock and Rollers." 

For jobs for which the band has already been booked, I think some will have them perform and some will drop them. Each fair that decides to keep them will be realizing that it will be bad publicity locally and questions will be asked, especially as the third and fourth cancellations start coming in. Also a fair manager has to realize that the Confederate Railrod band will be leaving the county, but the people angered by their performance will be remaining in the county to condemn them all year.

Also, with a second fair now having cancelled Confederate railroad, people scheduling fairs in 2021, 2022 etc. are not going to have to drop Confederate Railroad, since they are not going to be signing them up in the first place. Regardless of how fair managers regard the Confederacy or care about the name of the band, they will decide it is a headache they don't want.  For rural fairs wanting to attract some urban business the Confederate railroad will definitely be something they don't want.

Also, white nationalists will be campaigning for Confederate Railrods and they truly will be the case of "With friends like these, you don't need enemies."

In the future no band will want any name which makes a direct or oblique reference to the Confederacy. 

Neo-Confederates look at the future  of Country  Music.

New link added.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/454768-country-band-loses-second-gig-over-use-of-confederate-flag-imagery

UPDATE Southern Partisan had article about Confederate Railroad at neo-Confederate event.

https://newtknight.blogspot.com/2019/07/confederate-railroad-performed-at-neo.html#.XTucu-g2qiM