I’ve spoken to thousands of artists in the past 20 years, and like Santa, I have a naughty and nice list. Charlie Daniels will forever remain in the top of the “nice” section.

Here’s what he said when asked at what point he knew he wanted to be a professional musician: “I wanted to be in music for a living since before I learned how to play. I learned early on that…if you want to make a living in the music business for 50 years, you have to learn to entertain people. Either you can be a musician, period, or you can be an entertainer. I chose early on to be an entertainer…It’s a constant learning process. If you’re worth your salt, you never quit learning.”

And the response that solidified his place on my list: When asked what he’s most proud of, multi-award-winner Daniels responded: “Keeping 25 people gainfully and steadily employed for over 30 years. We have health insurance, a 401K plan and people here for 38 years. I care about them, they take care of me. That’s pretty doggone neat.”

That’s more than neat, Charlie, that’s humanity at its best. You’re missed here, but I’m sure very, very welcome in Heaven. Play on, big guy.

—Suzanne Cadgène