DARRYL WORLEY PLAYS THE HUCKABEE SHOW

Friday September 8, 2023 (Taping Date)

@ Huckabee Theater in Hendersonville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Having been blessed with the opportunity to be part of the live studio audience for several tapings for The Huckabee Show, I’ve experienced first-hand the family atmosphere that’s woven into the overall fabrication between those on stage and those in the audience.

A Huckabee taping is so much more than just being at a television show and potentially catching a glimpse of yourself on TV.

There’s plenty of laughs within the gathered groups of regulars who seem to meet up every week at these lively tapings.

There are strangers, the first timers, quickly coming to understand that the spirit of the old saying “a stranger is just someone you haven’t yet met” is alive and well as they’re welcomed into the fold.

And of course, there’s witty humor within the back-and-forth banter between the always personable Governor Mike Huckabee, Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame announcer Keith Bilbrey, and the Music City Connection band leader Tré Corley, backdropping against a range of guests who offer thought-provoking insights, belly laughs through their comedy stylings, and incredible music performances.

While all these characteristics were certainly present on the night of this taping, a heartbreaking silence overwhelmed you as you walked up to the audience check-in and briefly paused next to the vehicle parked on the plaza that represented ‘9/11 Remembered – The Travelling Memorial.’

There was a noticeable hush as several gathered around the dog tag covered American Flag in the holding area prior to entering the studio, reading the names of loved ones - both veterans and current military - scrolled across each paper tag that families had left tacked up in their hero’s honor.

There were lines from songs gifted to us by that night’s anticipated musical guest, Darryl Worley, dancing through your head before even stepping into the television studio that asked two questions, “Have You Forgotten?” and “Have We Forgotten?”

With this particular show airing on TBN on Saturday September 9th and Sunday September 10, 2023, as much as this taping featured your normal exchanges that any Huckabee Show provides, it was also a time to come together as one body in reflective silence while respectively remembering those we lost on 9/11. 

The first half of the show unapologetically didn’t shy away passionate pro-life discussions that uncovered the destructive truths about what’s currently happening in Washington DC right now surrounding this hot-button issue.

US Congressman Chris Smith (New Jersey) sat with Governor Huckabee for a two-segment feature, speaking urgently on the current administration’s hijacking of the PEPFAR program. Smith stated that PEPFAR, a direct response created 20 years ago to the AIDS epidemic, has controversially been turned into an unrestrictive, pro-abortion organization to match this administration’s okaying of their late-term pushed agenda, swerving so far away from the intent of the program and placing it on a very slippery slope that will see the government gaining total control of our own healthcare decisions in the future if not stopped.

Dr. Omar Hamada, likewise, raised truths to the underhanded narrative of the pro-choice movement by the current administration as they’re challenging the family dynamic by pushing their faulty definitions of when a heartbeat is actually a heartbeat, stating that abortion is not a “surgery” but merely a simple and natural procedure, and sweeping under the rug the potential risks for the mother that comes with having this surgery performed.  

Sandwiched between both these eye-opening segments, author Ken Abraham and George Jones’ widow Nancy Jones talked about working together on the brand-new book Playin’ Possum: My Memories of George Jones, touching briefly on the well-known stories that everyone can recite about the iconic, best voice in country music, but more so, they offered insight into the human side of who he was – the flaws, the missteps, the good, the bad, and the ugly – which only Nancy was privy to witnessing behind closed doors when the cameras and bright lights weren’t shining on her husband of thirty years.

However, as strong a first half as these three guests offered this week’s show, it was the second half that gripped tightly to the heaviness that had been weighing down the air all night long. 

Erick Robertson, a first responder volunteer alongside his dog Porkchop at Ground Zero in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, spoke with the utmost respect to the heroic efforts of all those who braved the tough task of digging through the rubble in search and rescue missions, while then encouraging that we never forget what happened that day when speaking of his ‘9/11 Remembered- The Travelling Memorial,’ an incredible pay-it-forward tribute that brings a re-creation of the museum erected at World Trade Center in NYC to those across America; giving the many of whom can’t make the pilgrimage to New York the chance to pay their respects.

As is the case with any written commentary by Today’s Country Magazine, the cornerstone of anything we write about is strong country music and it doesn’t get much stronger than Darryl Worley when it concerns patriotism and bringing hard truths to the forefront of his topical branded songs.

During his on the couch segment with Governor Huckabee, the two touched on the upcoming ‘Darryl Worley & Friends: Home For The Holiday’s’ dinner show this Christmas season at Nashville’s Opryland Hotel, while placing majority focus on the newly recreated version of his 7-week #1 song “Have You Forgotten?” updated now for today’s turmoil, aptly titled “Have We Forgotten?”

Closing the on-air portion of the show with said song, the audience sat in hushed silence while drawn into every word that Worley sang as he resonated his poignant thoughts with what most American’s are feeling, pondering if we’re going to let everything that we fought so hard for now go wrong for the sake of being right and wondering how much more of this fighting we can go through, while providing a call-to-action when he declared, “We need to come together, y'all, and we better do it now!”

That’s the show as you the viewing audience witnessed this past weekend during the hour-long TBN broadcast. However, there are memorable aspects that only being there in-person as part of the studio audience will provide.

One such thing was a performance of a second song from Darryl Worley which featured his #1 hit “Awful Beautiful Life,” igniting a rousing clap-a-long as toes tapped in perfect rhythm across the entire audience as everyone mouthed along with the familiar lyric while Darryl boldly reminded us to appreciate every little thing about each of the days we’re given.

And in what is always a very special, show-stopping moment that happens between segments during commercial break, especially heightened on a night when 9/11 was being remembered, when the in-house military veterans and first responders were asked to stand, they were honored with a tremendous ovation as they humbly tipped their caps to the showering of appreciative hoots and hollers from the entire studio audience!

Do you love watching The Huckabee Show on TBN? Be part of the excitement live and in person next time you’re in the Nashville area! Get your free tickets today at: https://www.huckabee.tv/

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