Tonight’s concert by the Charlie Daniels Band at the Cumming Country Fair & Festival has been canceled in the wake of a band member’s death.
Joel “Taz” DiGregorio, longtime keyboard player and vocalist for the group, died Wednesday night from injuries after a single-vehicle wreck in Tennessee. He was 67.
According to a news release on the band’s Web site, DiGregorio was traveling on Interstate 40 west of Nashville, Tenn., en route to meet the band’s tour bus.
The Charlie Daniels Band was scheduled to depart for Cumming, where they were set to perform at the 17th annual festival.
Dave Horton, fairgrounds director, described the loss of DeGregorio as “tragic.”
“Charlie, Taz and Jimmy and the whole band, they’re just like adopted family here,” Horton said. “Our end is a much smaller picture than what they’re going through.”
This would have been the ninth time the band, known by fans simply as the CDB, had performed at the fair.
Horton said all other fair activities will continue as planned tonight. Due to rain earlier in the week, the festival will feature a $15 unlimited ride special.