The country music world was rocked in 2020 with the death of legend Charlie Daniels, but his band has announced they are carrying on Daniel’s legacy with Columbia County native Eric Lee Beddingfield as frontman.
The Charlie Daniels Band is most well known for the hit song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
Beddingfield, a Lakeside High School alumni, intended to become a football star, but an injury while he was playing for Georgia Southern University sidelined those career prospects and so he turned his hobby of playing music into a full time gig.
Blending southern rock with traditional “outlaw” country, Beddingfield, or ELB as he is known to fans, became a Nashville sensation. In 2012, Beddingfield was named MusicRow Magazine’s Independent Artist of the Year, and that same year, Billboard Magazine named him one of the top artists to watch.
Beddingfield’s music career exploded after he met country legend George Jones and the two collaborated on the hit song, “The Gospel According to Jones.” The pair developed a deep friendship that lasted until Jones’ death in 2013.
“He was a true legend in every sense of the word and he became like a father figure to me,” Beddingfield said.
A veteran member of the Grand Ole Opry, Beddingfield also collaborated with Dolly Parton on his hit “Train Train” and says that the country music icon and now Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rockstar is as down to Earth as one would expect.
“She is definitely one of the kindest and sweetest people I have ever met,” Beddingfield said.
Despite his success, Beddingfield says he is still a Columbia County boy and, like his colleagues in Lady A, he has returned consistently to play his hometown.
Beddingfield crossed paths with the Charlie Daniels Band when he opened for the group on a national tour and says that they all hit it off immediately and when he was asked to step into the country legend’s shoes, he was happy to oblige.
However, Beddingfield won’t be playing the fiddle.
“Charlie and the guys wrote those songs together and touring is all they know, so when they asked me to step in, it just seemed natural. I know that Charlie would want the band to carry on. The music is just so timeless,” Beddingfield said.
According to Beddingfield, he hopes his collaboration with the group is like that of Queen + Adam Lambert, the latter of which joined the British act long after the death of frontman Freddie Mercury. Lambert has been lauded for not merely aping Mercury, but for bringing his own interpretation to the group’s catalog of hits.
“There is no replacing Charlie Daniels, that just can’t happen. Charlie probably said it best, ‘I’m the best that’s ever been,’” Beddingfield said.
The Charlie Daniels Band will headline the Recteq Festival in Augusta on Oct. 7.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
