“The first things I remember are frosty Carolina mornings with a cheery fire crackling in my momma’s big black wood cookstove.
I remember snowflakes as big as goose feathers and a moon the color of new-made country butter and a night sky like diamonds against black velvet reaching from horizon to horizon.” – Charlie Daniels 1980

I remember the “Hanging Chads” miniseries from 2000. It was on ALL the channels. I wasn’t a big fan, and I certainly didn’t think it warranted a sequel 20 years later.
But here we are.

I’ve given a couple of speeches recently, and in them, I’ve highlighted dad’s patriotism and I thought I would try to expand on it, and further explain what he has done to help our veterans, even after his passing.
Dad was born in Wilmington, NC in 1936, and while only a child, had vivid memories of World War II, one of his first being the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

*NOTE* A hectic and draining week, especially with dad's birthday right smack in the middle of it, means I haven't had time to write a soapbox for this weekend, so I decided to dust off a soapbox dad did back in December of 2015. I'll be back with a new soapbox or maybe two next week. - CD, Jr.

I started writing a soapbox and then shelved it when I realized what was staring at mom and I later this week; Dad’s birthday on Wednesday.

This is the first of the “Sadiversaries” that I wrote about recently, but it seemed so much further off when I wrote about them, now It’s almost here.

I’m treading into dangerous territory with this soapbox, but it’s extremely important.
The mainstream media has said virtually nothing about it, but it matters because we were told by many Democratic members of Congress that we need to know if a potential leader of the free world is beholden to a foreign government.

*NOTE* I had hoped to write something personal today, but the day got away from me, so instead, I'm sharing a speech I gave on Saturday at the Charlie Daniels Honoring Hour Heroes Day in Mt. Juliet. It was an honor to be there representing my family, and to see all the folks who showed up to pay tribute to dad, and to our veterans, law enforcement and first responders. - CD, Jr.

*NOTE* This is the second recent political soapbox I’ve done, and while some people seem to like me sharing my positions like dad frequently did, many would like to just hear memories of dad and growing up with him. So, I’m going to try to satisfy everybody by shifting to two soapboxes a week, one political and one CDB history/memories. That way you can tune out of the political one, and hold on for the non-political a few days later. – CD, Jr.

Trying something a little different this week. Our friends at Media Research Center and CNSNews who regularly ran dad's soapboxes - and my recent "Soapbox Jr.s" - on their website asked me if I wanted to try writing something about current events after largely writing about dad for the past 3 months, so here we go. I may not be my dad, and I'm not quite as eloquent as he was, but we were pretty simpatico when it came to politics. - CD, Jr.

Wednesday night while watching the vice-presidential debate, I had to turn off the TV or I was going to throw something at it when Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for VP said that at the presidential debate, Donald Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and that he told them to “stand down and stand by.”

I just about lost it.

Dad’s funeral was July 10th, and I saw many old friends of dad’s that I had not seen in many years. One of them was Doug Gray, the lead singer for The Marshall Tucker Band, and only original member. Just to clarify, there are original members still alive, but no longer with the band.

Dad’s funeral was July 10th, and I saw many old friends of dad’s that I had not seen in many years.
One of them was Doug Gray, the lead singer for The Marshall Tucker Band, and only original member. Just to clarify, there are original members still alive, but no longer with the band.

Yes, I know the title isn’t a real word, but it should be.

Sunday, September 20, 2020, would have marked mom and dad’s 56^th wedding anniversary.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom gave me a new pair of shoes, and I’ve worn them almost every day since I got them. They’re a pair of navy-blue Asics, and probably one of the nicest pairs of new sneakers I’ve ever had.
Well, they’re new-ish.

*NOTE* CDB guitar tech, Roger Campbell, penned this ode to a dear old friend, and we wanted to share it with you today. – TeamCDB/BW

No, no one has died, but yet we lost a faithful and beloved member of the CDB family today.

Earlier, I posted dad’s thoughts about the tragic events of 9/11. I thought I’d take a break from memories of dad, and post my own recollections of that tragic day 19 years ago.

*NOTE* On this 9/11 anniversary, I thought fans might want to hear from the man himself regarding the tragic events of September 11, 2001 as well as September 11, 2012 in this classic "Soapbox Rewind" from 2013. - Never forget! - TeamCDB/BW

*NOTE* This Labor Day, we thought we'd go back and get a classic "Soapbox Rewind," from Charlie. This one is from 2012.  Enjoy! - TeamCDB/BW

This has been a hectic week given the launch of our new company and a business partnership, but I wanted to still give fans some more tidbits of insider information, but it may be a little more brief than usual.

Keeping with last week’s “Growing Up with…” soapbox theme, this week I thought I’d fill folks in on some things that most people didn’t know about dad and The CDB. The “Rrrr-est of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say

Just wanted to say that as therapeutic as these soapboxes have been, it blows my mind that for many years, dad did these TWICE a week! That won’t be happening anytime soon, but I’m going to do my best to keep them weekly.

"On January 30, 2010, Charlie Daniels suffered a debilitating stroke in Colorado and was forced to end his 50 plus year touring and recording career. The once-great fiddle player’s voice and music were silenced for the rest of his life until another stroke took his life ten years and six months later on July 6, 2020."

That is how the last ten years could have played out.

So, here we go! We’re heading into uncharted territory. The first time I’ve written a soapbox not based on dad’s passing or a CDB song anniversary in about 12 years when I wrote a couple of soapboxes of a more political slant.

I’ve been dreading writing this soapbox because it’s the culmination of an awful, emotional, beautiful, powerful, touching, tearful and exhausting week which has left me with a need for comfort food that I need to move on from, and quickly.

I have to say I’m floored over the reaction to the past two soapboxes chronicling the passing of my father. It seems that Part 2 touched a lot of people as many have said they cried as they read it, which sounds about right, I cried as I wrote it. I’ll have one more soapbox chronicling the week of dad’s passing, and then I’ll see what else might be rolling around in my head that can be put into print.

Back to that terrible week of July 6th…

Once again, I want to say thank you for all the love poured out for my dad, my mom and me. It’s going to be hard to adjust to life without him, and thank you for all the prayers. We need each and every one of them.

As I sit here, it’s Saturday morning/afternoon, July 11, 2020, the day after we laid my father to rest.

I think it goes without saying, that this has been the worst week of my life, bar none. The man I’ve known for 55 years, who, along with my mom, have always been there for me is gone.

This year, as we celebrate the 244th birthday of the greatest nation the world has ever known, we are beset with many problems, some of our making and some we have no control over.

The time is swiftly coming in America when everybody who cares about having a future is going to have to pick a side.

If you listen to the media in America or went by the actions, or I should say “inaction” of weak, gutless municipal and state politicians you would probably think that there is a major move to do away with all police.