Charlie Daniels and his band are coming to Mohegan Sun Arena.
Admit it, you already have the song running through you head.
“The devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin’ for a soul to steal
He was in a bind
‘Cause he was way behind
And he was willin’ to make a deal”
The song, of course, is “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and The Charlie Daniels Band will be bringing that and the rest of their hits to Wilkes-Barre Township on April 12 when they open for country legends Alabama.
“You could go to a now English-speaking country … say Germany,” Daniels said in a telephone interview with the Times Leader. “And ask someone who Charlie Daniels is, and they wouldn’t know.
“But they’ll know ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’”
The North Carolina native believes there is a simple reason for the song’s popularity and longevity.
“It’s a timeless story and everyone likes seeing the Devil get beat,” Daniels said of the tune, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Daniels added that the popularity of the song “amazes” him and that he didn’t that it would take off in such a fashion.
“You can’t figure that stuff out,” he said.
But he admitted that he may have had a small premonition of things to come.
“I have a line in their ‘I told you once you son of a bitch,’ and I knew they wouldn’t play that on Top 40 radio, so I did a version with ‘I told you once you son of a gun.’ So I had that much of an inclination,” he said.
Of course, “The Devil Went Down to George” isn’t the bands only monster hit, and Daniels assured fans they can expect to hear a solid lineup of his classics, such as “In America,” “The South is Gonna Do It,” “Still in Saigon,” and more.
Fans can also expect to hear a couple of songs from Daniels’ latest project with a group called the Beau Weevils. The group released an album — “Songs in the Key of E” – in November.
“It’s a swampy type album,” Daniels said. “It’s more of a blues album.”
Fans can expect to hear “Mexico Again” or “How We Roll” at the Mohegan show.
“Well, there’s actually more than a little autobiographical stuff in ‘Mexico Again,’” admits Daniels. “I really did get put in jail in Juarez, Mexico, back in my wild, young, crazy days, and the U.S. border was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. So, you could say my motivation for writing the song was fact and fantasy.”
Other than a few new songs, fans will notice little else different with Daniels after 60 years in the music business.
“I can’t jump as high or dance as face as I used to,” Daniels said. “But I approach it with the same velocity.
“You leave it all on the stage. You don’t want to bring any of it off with you.”
That may sound surprising coming from an 82-year-old man, but Daniels wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love what I do,” Daniels said. “I’m enthralled with it.
“People ask me why don’t I retire, but what am I going to do if I retire? Sit in my living room and play guitar? I already do that.”
When he’s not touring – playing more than 100 shows a year – Daniels turns his attention to writing books.
He published and autobiography, “Never Look at the Empty Seats,” in 2017 and “Let’s Make the Day Count: The Everyday Wisdom of Charlie Daniels” last year.
“It’s just a God-given talent I didn’t know I had,” Daniels said.
Still it’s country music Daniels is best known for, and there is sure to be plenty of that at Mohegan Sun Arena with Daniels and Alabama on the bill.
“We’re old friends,” Daniels said of Alabama.
He then continued to heap praise on the group.
“They are the biggest country band ever,” he said. “They have every kind of accolade.
“The are absolutely great.”
But there are sure to be a decent number of fans in the arena April 12 just waiting to hear how the Devil made out in the fiddle contest.
