Dan Caperna, Back in Black, performing Pufferbilly Days, September 17, 2026

50th Puffer Billy Day is coming up the weekend of September 18th through the 10th Boone and on the night of Saturday the 19th, the main stage will include a performance by the AC DC tribute band Back in Black and today we are pleased to be joined by the lead singer for Back in Black, Darren Copernick How are you today Darren? Doing good, how's everything going out there? Everything is fantastic, now where are you based at? Where are we talking to you from today? I am in Dallas, Texas Dallas, Texas and now back in Black, AC DC tribute band, you perform nationally from what I understand Are there any corners of the country where you haven't been and have you been to Iowa before? I believe we have been to Iowa before, I couldn't tell you the exact date or place because they all run together after a while My wife actually woke me up one Saturday and she said are you going to be on time for your flight? I said what flight? Where am I going? Yeah, so it's happened, but yeah we travel all over the country We've been everywhere from Puerto Rico to Hawaii to every place in between all the way up to Alaska Fantastic and now you're the lead singer for Back in Black so that kind of makes you Bon Scott or Brian Johnson folks that are familiar with those two really iconic lead singers for AC DC What's it like for you to be up there on stage and really channeling a couple of legends from AC DC? You know when I was a kid, I used to, I was that kid that had that hairbrush and sang into the mirror and watched myself So I always loved doing that, imitating people, so it is such a fun job to have as my favorite band So now I get to do what I did at home, but I could pay for it now on stage in front of a bunch of people So it's awesome There you go, that is fantastic and as I was reading up a little bit to prepare for our conversation there and I was very intrigued to read that you actually had an opportunity to audition for AC DC now, we're going back maybe a decade or so when that happened, but what's the backstory on that and what was that experience like for you? Ah, it was surreal, we had heard that Brian Johnson wasn't able to perform, he was having some hearing issues So I told my lead guitar player, Mike Moraz As soon as I heard it, I got in contact with him and I said Give me an audition, because we heard they were auditioning people They were out in Atlanta at the time when it happened, so they figured we'll just stay in Atlanta and do the auditions here So we didn't think anything of it, Mike shot them an email and

And maybe within a few days or so we got this call And Mike wasn't answering his phone because he didn't recognize the number or whatever reason it was So they started calling or trying to contact all the people in the band So they were messaging people And they only had Mike's numbers, but we're all saying answer the phone was screaming out of answer the phone So he heard the message and it was from their agency They're a music agency And it's uh, yes, I we're looking up for Darren Capernaum Uh, we're going to have auditions and we'd like him to come out to Atlanta. We want to fill your availability And it was just surreal and At first, you know, Mike thought it was a joke So he looked it up online and sure enough that was ACBC's music agency and we were like, oh my god So we contacted them and they set us up and man We flew down to Atlanta. They treated us so good They picked us up in a nice fancy car. We had the Shover standing at the airport with my name on the placard And it was just like holy crap. Big time. Big time, right? Oh, dude, it was it was it was totally amazing And just knowing That I was going to meet the band I just it was hard to sleep. It was hard to do anything because we got there a day before So it was no sleeping that night No doubt. No doubt Now you mentioned uh, Mike miraz and and he plays sort of the the angus young role I think in in back in black your acdc tribute band and as a lead guitar player Now if I understand correctly back in black was uh, Was the brainchild of you and mike. What's what's the history? Take us back to when back in black was formed Oh, well me and mike have known each other for many years We were actually in an original band when we were much younger out in california back in 1990 1991 And uh, california, I don't know how it is now with the original bands. But back then it was very cut You played you know, you had to buy the tickets and then sell the tickets yourself And other bands that you played with would actually Tell their fans do not applaud or clap or show any type of recognition of any band but us because they wanted the owners That they were the band that was there. So we we would play we had Few people came to our shows yet a few friends that came to our shows all original music And of sure enough, you know, the other people that were there Waiting for their band so they didn't pay attention to us But then at the end of the night our last song we would throw in an acdc song And I would and I would do the voice and do acdc And every time we did that Even the people that weren't paying attention the whole time all of a sudden started paying attention And they started rocking out they started coming to the front So I was like, oh man, you know, we were all in the original music then because we were young and We're like we're going to be rock stars with the original music. So we didn't pick anything of it And I always wanted to do like a cover band a tribute band because I saw they were making money So, you know, nothing ever happened with the original band. We got close We had a few interests in it some great songs, by the way, the original band's name is doc tonic. By the way, okay nice weird nice weird nineties name and yeah, and um Well, there was that big earthquake in north rich And it freaked out Some of the band members especially my drummer at the time And you know, his house got hit hard And he couldn't get to his kid. He was locked. He's locked into his room because there was a lot of things collapsing and stuff So he quit the band another guy bass player, I believe he got a job Somewhere else out of the state and you know the band just separated after that and we all went our separate ways And then in 2020 Mike tracks me down in new york. I'm original originally from new york So he tracks me down in new york and he said hey, it's mike Uh, what are you doing? You know, I'm Thinking about it and want to get back in getting the itch, you know, and you know, I do the acdc voices so he was like Are you available to come out to texas, you know and we'll fly out and we'll get a band together and start doing this You know me being a professional musician I was unemployed and had no money. So I was like, yeah, I can make it sounds good, right? Yeah, it sounds like a plan. So he flew me out and you know, we got a band together. We started rehearsing and

25 years later here we are Fantastic fantastic. We're visiting with darin kaperna. He's the lead singer for back in black Fantastic acdc tribute band that will perform on the main stage at puffer billy days This will be the saturday night show seven o'clock on september the 19th So darin folks are going to come out. They're going to see you in downtown boon at puffer billy days The back in black show. What should fans expect from your show on saturday night the 19th? It's a high energy Rock concert. We are constantly moving. We try to emulate acdc from the 80s into the early 90s and It is non-stop movement on the stage. We are constantly engaging the crowd and Just making it a big party for everybody and if they like acdc music They can just Rock out and they'll they'll know every song. They'll love every song And they will not be disappointed Well, you're certainly coming to acdc country darin now because they remain relevant and popular here as much today As 40 45 years ago as you were talking about in fact our two major Football programs here in the state our college football programs both enter the field on saturdays To acdc music. So people here love acdc. I think you're going to get a a fantastic reception from the crowd in boon One last if you had one last thing to tell people you're going to invite them to the show on saturday the 19th They're on the fence. They're not quite sure yet. Whether they're going to be able to make it What do we tell them about back in black? Oh, I would tell them that if if they like rock music if they like acdc and they want to Get the next best thing from seeing acdc live They can come and see our band because we try our best We did our homework and we do our best to give them the full acdc experience and We we've never disappointed. So I really hope we got a great crowd out there I hope That everybody shows up with all their rock gear on and they're ready to go back in time and relive their youth Darren thanks so much for spending some time with us Darren Caperna is the lead singer For back in black the acdc tribute band that'll be playing at Puffer Billy days on saturday the 19th Darren Safe travels and we can't wait to see you in boon coming up here at puffer Billy days And we can't wait to come out there looking forward to it