Darryl Worley stated it best in his 2004 Number 1 mega-hit “Awful, Beautiful Life”: The ups and downs and crazy turns along the way, it’ll throw you off if you don’t hold on tight. And sitting down at the 2016 Country Radio Seminar, Worley was none-to-shy to discuss the crazy turns within his own career.
The steadfast patriot, whom has contributed in abundance to our armed forces, finds himself at a crossroads; anticipating the release of a greatest hits album later this year, Worley is bracing to venture into the unknown – a Christian album.
TCN: What’s been going on?
DW: Been really busy. Even through the holidays I’ve had different sessions because we got a lot of music coming this year – new stuff. The Greatest Hits, you know that’s the big deal as far as the country genre is concerned, that we’re really working on right now. That’ll probably be the first thing out for this year. It will be like “Volume One” and it will have a lot of new music on it. So we’re excited about that. I think there will be a “Volume Two“ – we’re looking at how we’re going to divide all that stuff up right now. But we want to put 15 tracks on this first one because of the 15th anniversary of 9/11 and “Have You Forgotten” and all that. We’re pretty excited about all of the music things that are happening. I’ve got my first Christian album on the way. I’ve never done one before. I have felt the pull, the calling, to do it in the past but I wasn’t always sure I was ready to do that.
TCN: To take that leap?
DW: Yeah. So I’m in a pretty good place and excited. The music started coming to me this past year. Kind of like – I can’t really explain where this is coming from but I think it’s a good thing. My wife says “Man it’s so different and it doesn’t even sound like you!” and so I said “Great! Maybe it’s coming from a different place.” So we’re really getting a lot of inquiry about that and what we’re getting ready to do this year. And then this morning on the way out here I remembered that we finished up a project this past year and we were starting the process of getting it out there through a couple of different outlets. And Dawn, our publicist, said “what don’t you slow down on that and let’s use it as part of our push next year because it would be great for the 15th anniversary also.” It’s a CD/DVD combo pack which has a CD inside called “God & Country” – sort of country songs that have a sort of a faith based message and then real strong patriotic songs that would be uplifting for our troops. And the DVD portion of that is like a documentary of all my travels to the war zone to entertain the troops.
TCN: You’ve been huge with the USO. How many times have you been over?
DW: Maybe 14 times to the war zone in Afghanistan, and at least that many to Iraq probably too, and then all over the world – Japan, Korea, the Philippines…..
TCN: There are troops everywhere.
DW: Actually that’s funny you should say that. We’re going to Honduras in April to see those guys. I had no idea that they were even down there, so that will be a first for me. So that project is called “Unsung Heroes” and it’s really, really, really special. My wife and I sat down and watched the whole documentary after we finished with the editing. I don’t like watching my mug on TV, it’s weird, but I have to say it was compelling. It really, really is – I just think if people get a chance to see it, it will make a difference. And the thing that we wanted to accomplish the most was just really shine a positive light on what our troops are doing and it does that.
TCN: And you’ve done a lot for our troops over the years, so thank you for your service to those who serve.
DW: Hey thank you. That’s exactly the way to say it right there. That’s how we feel.
TCN: Creatively speaking, you were saying that the songs came to you for the Christian album. Do you feel that there’s a huge difference when you were doing just the country – is there a difference between the two genres?
DW: I think the difference is that by the time I got started making records in country music, I knew a whole lot about that side of things. So I felt like I had parameters on me. And the Christian genre I knew nothing at all.
TCN: Walking in blind?
DW: I think what happens is if you’re not worried about doing something wrong, you might do something right. I just said that earlier in an interview and I thought “woah, that sounded profound somehow.” But I’m telling you that’s what really going on with this Christian music. We don’t have – Somebody said “ok well is it mainstream Christian?” I don’t know? “Or is it like Southern Gospel?” I don’t know what that is either. I don’t know where this would land. Inside the record it will be very diverse because I have so many influences. But I think overall it does have a hint of more bluesy kind of vibe that probably comes from what church sounded like for me growing up with a lot of organs and choirs in the background. But my wife is like “Oh it’s funky too!” It’s just what I remember when the music was like I liked it. It’s what I remember from church. And it has a deep Mississippi Delta hint.
TCN: Oh I love that. That kind of fire…
DW: It’s got a blues edge about it but I don’t know how to – see a lot of that music, even from the old hymn type stuff, is where it found its origin in those places where people were really dealing with hard times. And it’s sort of that kind of music and its really taken shape that I’m realizing now that this is kind of my story. This is where I’ve been, and this is where I’m going. It’s strong. I can tell you it’s strong. Some of the songs I still have trouble getting through because they’re so personal to me. Knowing how I got through some of the hardest times, and the low times, and times when I was letting outside things affect my life in ways that it really shouldn’t. I think it’s going to be help for people in therapy. I’m just excited. I don’t have any expectations at all. I’ve got some good people that are fired up about the fact that I’m doing this with their label, which I didn’t know if I would ever have the chance again. I turned down so many opportunities to do a Christian album simply because I didn’t want to jump into that one. You don’t need to do that when you’re not ready.
TCN: People hear “Darryl Worley” and they know who that is. A couple of your songs are popping up in their head automatically. For those who are starting off in the genre now, all these new artists and people making the move to Nashville, what would be the biggest piece of advice you could give them looking back on your career and starting into a new venture?
DW: I think for young people if they have any knack for writing songs and creating their own music – I really believe that that’s important. It’s certainly not to say that you can’t be an artist and have huge success recording other people’s songs. There are guys that can do it and there’s guys that cannot. George Strait is a great example of someone who can just have hit after hit. That’s just me saying I know that one of the things I’ve learned in this business is nothing is stronger than the song. And so that’s why I would say that but the other thing is figure out somehow who you are musically, and don’t ever let anybody change that. I did that. I stuck with it all the way – I wound up in some situations where I might have compromised a little more than I wanted to. It will be a daily grind. As long as there’s a record label and somebody’s signing somebody and they got the money then they got the control. And it’s a constant tug of war and a constant battle. You might as well just get ready for it, it never ends. But you pick your battles and you stay passionate about your music and don’t let ‘em change who you want to be as an artist because at the end of the day that’s the only thing you’re going to have the control over.
Man if you go out there and record a bunch of songs that you’re not really, really into, inevitably those will be your biggest hits and you’ll be singing of them the rest of your life. You can talk to a million artists and that’ll tell you that. And I just didn’t do it. And I mean I almost lost a couple record deals over it. The people say “well you’re just too stubborn and you’re combative, or you just don’t ever want to go along” and I’m like no that’s not it all. I just don’t want to cut a song that I hate and then have to sing it every night. We went recorded a song one time, and when I went to put a vocal on it, it was like me trying to pull a sabre tooth tiger’s tooth. There was no part of me that had any connection to the song, and in that moment I had several people say to me – Darryl, it shouldn’t be because it’s a terrible song but that will wind up being a huge hit and you’ll be stuck singing that song every night for the rest of your life. And I just couldn’t do it. And it was the smartest thing I ever did because they turned around and got the song cut, and it was a huge hit. And the guy who made it a hit hates it. He told me that. He said I would rather have lost my record deal than have recorded this song. So that’s probably pretty good advice.
For more information on Darryl, go to his official website or find him on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.