Darryl Worley is one of the many, many artists who are part of this year’s Country Music Cruise. For Worley, he not only relishes the opportunity to spend time with his fans, but also to become a fan when watching artists like Billy Dean, Clint Black, Shenandoah, Tracy Lawrence, Neal McCoy and others perform.

“It gives you a really cool opportunity to just hang out with the fans, the people that still love what we do,” Worley tells Everything Nash. “And then the other thing is the fact that a lot of our peers are out here, and we get to go see their shows. I’d give anything if my wife was here because she absolutely loves that too. And man, we don’t sit still. We’re out there seeing all the shows, and visiting with all the people. So that’s the part that I love.”

Worley has spent almost 25 years as part of the country music industry, but he still vividly remembers what it was like before he had any hits, and he was trying to emulate some of the artists that he is performing alongside this week.

“We were laughing the other night. Wade Hayes is considerably younger than I am, but I got a late start in the business, so we listened to his early songs and we were all playing them in the honky tonks,” Worley shares. “And Shenandoah, I love those guys. I wound up going through that school of hard knocks down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. So I just got a lot in common with all these folk, and this gives us a chance to get out here together and really enjoy what we do.”

Worley embarked on the Country Music Cruise only a few days after his barn burned down in a devastating fire on his property, which is why his wife, Kimberly, was unable to enjoy the week with him. Although devastating, the 59-year-old says he has no doubt that he and his family will emerge stronger from the catastrophe.

“We’re tough people,’ Worley says. “We’ve been through a lot and there’s no quitting us, and God’s been good to us. It is the whole thing of, watching something that you love and cherish just burn up in front of you is a little traumatizing. But once you get past that part of it,  we’re committed to building it back as quick as we can …It’s just stuff, and we’ll be fine.”

Worley released “Have We Forgotten” last year, in honor of the 20th anniversary of his big hit, “Have You Forgotten.” He is in the studio working on new music. Keep track of updates at DarrylWorley.com.