Shortly after David Corrie put his latest CD, “What a Wonderful World,” online at cdbaby.com, he got word that someone had purchased 2,000 copies. The purchase came with a strict, if mysterious, requirement, however.
“It came with the stipulation that I would deliver them to the troops,” Corrie said from his truck in his driveway in Guntersville, Ala., last Friday.
He was on the phone with me because he had contacted the newspaper looking for contact information on Kaylee Radzyminski and the Tunes 4 the Troops (tunes4thetroops.com) program she started in 2005 while a student at Cleveland High School. Corrie found the program through a Google search. Radzyminski has been operating the program at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, where she is a student.
“There were no instructions on how I get the CDs to the troops,” Corrie said. “I did a search and her thing came up, but there was no phone number.”
Earlier in the day he’d called TTU and told them of his mission. A person at the school told him to come on up and someone would meet him to help unload the 66 boxes of CDs.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m honored to do it. I’m very proud to do it. I’m just not sure how to do it. I’m sitting in my truck ready to drive up there as soon as I get off the phone,” he said.
On Tuesday, Corrie said he did in fact deliver the CDs to Radzyminski and a crew of fellow students who are helping with her project. He said the six-hour round trip was inspiring.
“Oh, man, it will invigorate your faith in this generation,” he said. “She was right there waiting for me and had some people there to help unload. What great kids. These kids were like ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘No, sir.’ “Let me get that box.’ It rejuvenated my spirit in that generation.
“And guess what else I learned: On Wednesday they shipped 100,000 CDs to the troops. One hundred thousand CDs. Wow.
“I don’t know why God gifted her this way, but he did.”
Corrie’s CD features gospel classics and was recorded in Nashville with The Jordanaires of Elvis Presley fame serving as his backing singers on about half the tracks.
Corrie, who has been recording and performing for more than five decades, called his adventure last Friday “amazing.”
“It was a beautiful day and what a beautiful drive up through Dunlap and the mountains, but Kaylee and those kids were just great. It was all totally out of the blue. I had no idea what to expect, and I kind of danced all the way home in my truck.
“I think America is going to be OK.”
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.