As best as I can recall, the outdoor concert at Louisville Motor Speedway in Kentucky took place about 25 years ago. Those things were a big deal, and usually attracted a large crowd.

As the managing editor for The Daily Tribune in New Albany, Indiana, I was able to assign the preview story and coverage of the event to someone in my newsroom.

From among the 11 people, I chose … myself.

That actually says a lot more than you may think. Less than 10 years earlier, I couldn’t stand country music. Having “come of age” during the 1970s when the likes of Elton John and Neil Diamond and the Bee Gees and Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson reigned — and the Disco Era wiggled in — country music, to me, was for the older folks.

But in the mid-1980s, I moved to Texas and George Strait caught my attention. I was hooked with what was being seen as “the new country.”

So when that concert across the Ohio River was announced, I was all in.

The opening act, I think, was a youngster by the name of Bryan White, but the headliner was Joe Diffie. I knew Diffie’s music — and even had a couple of his CDs like “Third Rock From the Sun” and “Regular Joe.”

In putting together a preview story, it was necessary for me to try and speak with Diffie. Not an easy thing when dealing with celebrities. Some didn’t have the time and some didn’t WANT to have the time.

Still, I tried.

There was no email or Facebook or Twitter or SnapChat back then. Luckily, contact information for Diffie’s publicist was listed on the CDs, so I called — and had to leave a message. Not on voicemail, but on the technology miracle of the time … an answering machine.

Surprisingly, I got a return call later in the day, and I was assured that Diffie would call me soon.

“Soon,” to me, meant it could come anytime in the following week. It came within an hour.

Diffie quickly became the easiest person I have ever interviewed. He was open, funny and … well, like the guy next door.

I know that, over the years, we’ve had all kinds of Joes — there has been G.I. Joe, Trader Joe’s, Happy Joe, Joe the Plumber and others. But Diffie’s 1992 album titled “Regular Joe” could not have captured his personality better. The fact that he didn’t ooze stardom in the way he spoke is, in fact, what gave him star quality to me.

So we wrapped up our chat and I wrote the story, then awaited the concert scheduled for about a week later.

My media credentials got me really close, sitting on the speedway track about 20 feet from the stage. I hardly even remember White’s opening act — I couldn’t wait for Diffie to perform. And when he did, he didn’t disappoint, singing such No. 1 hits like “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Pickup Man” and “Bigger Than the Beatles.” Probably the crowd-pleaser was “John Deere Green.”

Far too soon, the concert ended and I went to the spot where I could talk with Diffie off-stage. I was introduced by his manager, and I think Diffie’s face actually lit up when he saw me. He spent 5 minutes with me before having to get whisked away, but it all started with him saying, “Nice story you did,” and I said, “Nice concert you did.” From there we traded a chuckle, words about our families, his tour and where he was going next.

“Have you ever been to Little Nashville Opry?” he asked about his next stop.

I hadn’t, but I knew it was in Nashville, Indiana, not far from Bloomington. One summer later, I finally went and saw Toby Keith perform there, but couldn’t help think about Diffie.

I never did speak with Diffie again, though I did manage to see him perform at the Grand Ol’ Opry in the Big Nashville of Tennessee a few years later.

On Sunday, the country music world and others mourned the news that Diffie had died of complications from the coronavirus. He was only 61.

Since then, I’ve replayed my telephone interview and short chat with him after the concert many times. Words hardly can cover this loss, but that “Regular Joe” was a real gem of a man.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or [email protected].

W. Curt Vincent Editor
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