Long Haired Country Girl, Part II

Did I tell ya my sister has connections? Well, hold on to your Charlie Daniels-lovin' hats, folks! I got to meet him! I can't divulge all the logistical details, but my sister totally hooked me up with a fairly exclusive concert / meet & greet! It was magical! That's why all these sentences end with exclamation points!

I was so excited at the time that some of the experience is a wonderful blur. I may have taken a few creative liberties to fill in the gaps, but here is the account of my meeting with Charlie Daniels...

Before we met, I got to watch him play all up-close and personal like. He did an all-request concert and played such hits as Uneasy Rider, A Few More Rednecks, Long Haired Country Boy, The Legend of Wooley Swamp, and South's Gonna Do It Again, among others. I would say my seat was probably 15 feet or so away from the legendary CDB. They played Devil Went Down to Georgia as the final number, and I dern near lost my mind. I went up to the stage and watched him perform from a distance of about 5 feet! It was AWESOME!

After the show, he did an autograph signing with the fans. When it was finally my turn to meet him, I approached him nervously.

“Hello, Charlie Daniels,” I whispered.

“Well, hello there, little lady. How ya doin'?”

“I'm just fine, Charlie Daniels. I really enjoyed the show tonight. I think you're the greatest fiddler there ever was.”

“Why, thank ye kindly. I understand you play a pretty mean fiddle yourself.”

Astonished, I asked him, “How did you know I fiddle?”

“I'm a real big fan of that blog of yours,” he replied.

Embarrassed and taken aback, I looked down and kicked at the ground a bit with my red cowgirl boots. “I'm really not that good. I'm just learning,” I told him.

“Ah, I bet you're better'n ya think.” He handed me his fiddle and motioned for me to play.

I paused for a moment and took the fiddle slowly from his hand. I looked it over, placed it under my chin, and started to play. I sawed on that sucker faster and meaner than I ever have before. I played Fire on the Mountain; run, boys, run. Hairs split from the bow and flew off in every direction. I looked at him when I finished playing, still unsure of exactly what had just happened. “I knew you had it in ya,” he said, “I can just tell these things.”

Sweaty and breathless after my solo, I told him, “You're my inspiration.”

“You know something?,” he said. “You've inspired me, too.” He pulled a hula hoop out from under his table and grinned. “Crank us out another tune there, Amber.” As I began to draw the bow across the fiddle, he tossed the hula hoop around me. There I was, in the zone, fiddling and hula hooping at the same time with Charlie Daniels! He rounded up a second fiddle, and we played together. A tear came to my eye as we concluded our duet.

I handed him back his hula hoop. “Thank you,” I managed to utter, nearly choked up. “You are my hero, Mr. Daniels.”

“Ah, call me Charlie,” he said with a smile.

I reached out to shake his hand, and he pulled me in for a big hug. We laughed for a moment, about what, I'm not even sure. I nodded at him, and as I headed for the door, he called out to me. “Amber?”

“Yeah, Charlie?”

“Amber, you did some real fancy fiddlin' here tonight. Don't you be scared now to rosin up that bow and play your fiddle hard.”

“I won't, Charlie. I won't.”