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SPRINGFIELD — As a country musician and Freemason, Howie Damron is privy to the most coveted secret known to man: how to get work in Nashville.

Well, that, and he knows the whereabouts of the Holy Grail.

Kidding.

Maybe.

"Forget all the craziness of the secrets," Damron said. "We don't keep secrets. We have something to share."

Damron, who backed everybody from Ronnie Milsap to Confederate Railroad during his years in Nashville, has been out sharing what Freemasonry stands for with his Masonic Pride Tour.

Open to the initiated and uninitiated alike, the tour hits Springfield's Masonic Temple on Saturday, April 5, in a show to benefit the local Special Olympics.

But ask yourself this: Is a dude who played guitar behind Johnny Paycheck for six years the best guy to be talking about morals and ethics?

No worries — Paycheck had mellowed when Damron started working with him.

"I met John when he came out of prison," Damron explained. "He was a very kind and honorable man."

Paycheck, the late Ohio outlaw who gave the world "Take This Job and Shove It," might even have passed for a Mason.

At the very least, he would've made a hell of a Shriner.

But for Damron, a 48-year-old southern Ohio native who bought Paycheck's Lawrence County home, plans of an early retirement have been put on hold in the name of the brotherhood.

"I came home and the next thing I knew, I wrote a song called 'The Masonic Ring,' " he said. "The Grand Lodge of Ohio hears the song and it's just exploded."

Damron, a Mason since 1990, now can take credit for writing the international Masonic anthem.

The Masonic Pride Tour, which hit 30 states last year alone, is scheduled through 2011.

For a guy burned out by Music City and Vegas — by his count, he played with more than 100 artists — the spark is back.

"I have been on fire promoting the craft to young men," he said. "In Hawaii, we got three new Masons who came on right there.

"I'm back in it full force."

Damron has started writing all sorts of songs inspired by Freemasonry and its offshoots, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Shriners.

He credits his songwriting ability to Paycheck.

Then again, "Take This Secret Knock and Shove It" just doesn't sound right.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

Who: Country singer Howie Damron

Where: Springfield Masonic Temple, 125 W. High St.

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Admission: $10 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Springfield-area Special Olympics.

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