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Still beating the devil: The Charlie Daniels Band will entertain at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The veteran musician was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in January. (Submitted photo)

So, what's Charlie Daniels been up to since the devil went down to Georgia?

Well, he's still in the midst of his 2008 Volunteer Jam tour with .38 Special and Shooter Jennings. His Blue Hat CD "Deuces" -- featuring duet standards with the likes of Gretchen Wilson, Travis Tritt, Dolly Parton, Darius Rucker, Brooks & Dunn, Marty Stuart and Brad Paisley -- is still selling.

In January, he was finally inducted into the Grand Old Opry, some 35 years after he first hit the country charts with "Uneasy Rider." It's a little understandable since the 71-year-old Daniels has dodged pigeon-holing for years, crossing and surpassing such genres as country, bluegrass, Southern rock, R&B (on "Deuces," he and Bonnie Bramlett do a smokin' version of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered") and what-have-you.

Oh, and he'll be in Indianapolis July 27 for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, playing a noon concert. It's a natural for Daniels, who's a devout NASCAR fan.

"I keep pullin' for Junior," Daniels said, referring to Dale Earnhardt Jr. "I like Kyle Busch a lot -- he's a gutsy little driver. Tony Stewart, he's one of my favorites. I follow a lot of people, but I guess there'll never be another Dale Senior."

Daniels admits he's never stayed very long in the Hoosier state, but it's one of his favorite stops. "We've been coming through for years. I can remember playing Indianapolis at the old Antlers Club back in about, my gosh, 1960. The crowds are really great."

A country gent who bans cussin' from his online chat site (ladies might be reading), Daniels will get his dander up when you ask him what gets his goat.

The onetime "Long-Haired Country Boy," who still finds a polite word for Jimmy Carter, has shifted with the times. On his semi-regular "Soapbox" blog at the Charlie Daniels Band Web site, he supports the Supreme Court's upholding of handgun rights, backs expanded oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, declared that "men and women are different because God intended them to be different" and always closes by urging readers to "Pray for Our Troops."

What's really on his mind at the moment, though, is Congress.

"This do-nothing Congress isn't doing a durn thing and it's pure-T stupidity," Daniels said. "Let me tell you, I have to get my show around on three diesel vehicles. Let me tell you, there ain't no hybrid buses or hybrid semis. Diesel fuel has gone through the roof, and everyone knows that diesel costs less to refine than regular gas. People are hurtin' in this country, and those jackasses in Washington are talkin' junk and not doin' a dang thing.

"Now it's just wonderful if we got some wind power and some solar power eventually. Shoot, everyone's in favor of it. But we need some oil. Now. But we're not drillin' for it, and everyone else in the world is. That's just hillbilly-dumb."

Politicians who dismiss Daniels as another talk-show ranter might do so at their peril, since the singer-songwriter has turned out to have his finger on the public pulse before. His 1980 hit, "In America," an in-your-face anthem in response to hostage-taking ayatollahs, helped signal the beginnings of the Reagan Revolution. His response to 9/11 was "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag."

In the end, though, Daniels would rather talk music than politics. He and the rest of the Charlie Daniels Band are already planning a bluegrass Christmas LP project.

Daniels has even turned author a few times, turning out the patriotic volume "Ain't No Flag" in 2003 and contributing to the 2007 anthology "Growing Up Country."

"I've been writing my autobiography for the longest time," he said, "but I don't have an ending. I guess I'm too busy still living it."

Allstate 400 at the Brickyard concerts

July 26

Miller Lite Rock 'N Racing Live Music with the Goo Goo Dolls, 4:45 p.m., Miller Lite Stage behind Hall of Fame Museum, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, free with $15 gate admission for the day.

July 27

Craig Morgan, 10 a.m., infield stage behind the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, free for all Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Race Day ticket holders.

The Charlie Daniels Band, noon, infield stage behind the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, free for all Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Race Day ticket holders.

- By Ben Steelman / Indy.com correspondent