Attendees will be able to “live the legend again or for the first time,” Ray said of the two-day tribute show. On Saturday, July 7, the “The Man, the Music & Memories,” set to music and multi-media presentations, will illustrate important periods in Cash’s turbulent life, from his days growing up in Arkansas to his meeting and collaboration with June to cementing his status as one of the greatest icons of 20th century popular music. The Saturday show starts with a musical prelude at 5:30 p.m., then onto a full-course, Southern-style barbecue buffet dinner at 6 p.m. before the 7 p.m. concert.
On 2 p.m. Sunday, the duo will perform Cash’s biggest hits and a gospel concert. The repertoire will include the most requested songs by the audience and unique selections by the band. Ray said the biggest crowd-pleaser is “One Piece at a Time,” a comedic song describing an auto factory worker who assembles a “psychobilly Cadillac” from parts he stole from different vehicles. The second concert will also include a barbecue at 1 p.m., a musical prelude and Cash’s best-known gospel hits.
Formed in December 2006, the Johnny and June Show took off after the success of the 2005 film Walk the Line, a biopic about Cash’s early music career and his relationship with June. Ray said the idea for the show came shortly after Cash died nearly a decade ago, when he and Cantrell were touring with his bluegrass band “Jimmie Ray and the Outbound.” Ray and Cantrell would play tunes from Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline – but they got the most applause when they cued up a Cash number. It didn’t hurt that Ray shared a similarity with Cash in stature and voice. “There was a Cash revival, and for a long time, I’d open my shows with, ‘Hello. I’m Jimmie Trash,’” Ray said with a laugh.
Ray’s admiration of Cash also kindled an interest in making a full-time gig out of a tribute band. Ray, 57, never met his father and looked to Johnny as a father-figure. He, like Cash, grew up in the South and was raised on country and gospel music. Cantrell, who just turned 50, said she was raised on gospel, country, and Cash – the only music her father permitted her to listen to.
The duo has played to hundreds of sold-out audiences across seven states. They’ve performed at NASCAR and other sporting events, performing arts centers and fairs, Carpinteria’s Avocado Festival, Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days Fiesta and 50 concerts at the Freemont Experience in downtown Las Vegas. Their shows appeal to all audiences and ages, from older fans who came of age when Cash’s music emerged into the public’s consciousness to a new, younger legion of fans who saw the film and a music video for a Nine Inch Nails song Cash covered called “Hurt,” which sounds like a final testament.
Ray attributes Cash’s broad appeal to his changing image – from the rebel singing to inmates at Folsom State Prison to the strong but gentle patriot who sang spiritual songs.
“We did shows at a venue where the average age was 70, and it was nostalgic for them. They related to the simple music of Cash,” Ray said. “Later at same place, it was like a Johnny Cash mosh pit. These young kids liked Johnny’s later songs, like ‘Hurt’ and ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down.’ But we were doing some of the old stuff, like ‘Give My Love to Rose,’ and there they were – tattoos, nose rings and all, with tears in their eyes. We were floored.”
In the early years of performing, Ray and Cantrell found their entry into the tribute-band world uncomfortable, mainly because they had no desire to become impersonators. At the early shows, Ray wore cowboy hats and jean vests and sported a short beard that prompted more comparisons to Merle Haggard than the clean-shaven Cash. After some hesitation and at the behest of managers, he eventually assumed the dark clothes. “Though imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we were first and foremost honoring Johnny and June,” said Ray.
They once attended a Las Vegas convention and were among hundreds of celebrity look-alikes. “I was sitting there, and I thought ‘I don’t belong here,’” Cantrell recalled. “Someone would come up and say, ‘You don’t look anything like June.’” Ray got similar comments, but he went on to win two awards. “It helped that there were 32 Elvis guys up on stage, but there was only one Johnny Cash,” he said, pointing to himself.
“It’s all about respect for the individual you’re paying tribute to,” Cantrell added. “Some tribute artists have the reputation of being a bunch of clowns, circus freaks. We didn’t start this to be Johnny and June, much less to dirty their names.”
Ray tried to mimic Cash’s mannerisms, including his signature habit of picking his strings high up on the neck and slinging the guitar over his shoulder when not playing. “Joaquin (Phoenix) did a great job in Walk The Line, but what I do is not as exaggerated,” Ray said. “That film was focused on Johnny’s struggle with addiction to barbiturates.”
Earlier on, Ray’s rugged tenor sounded more like Elvis, but Cantrell helped him sharpen his vocals so they sound more like the gravely bass-baritone that defined Cash’s sound.
“(Ray’s) singing voice at first sounded like a car that wasn’t turning over,” Cantrell said. “I had to yell at him offstage and tell him to throw a little gravel into his throat and go for it. ‘Start the car,’ I’d tell him.”
Cantrell, a Burbank native who inherited a slight Southern twang from her father, watched but never studied footage of June performing, but the similarities were always there. “I’m often in the background when we’re not doing duets, getting some laughs. June was the same way,” Cantrell noted. “We’d be watching footage, and I’d say, ‘Why is she just standing there smiling up at Johnny, not doing anything?’ and my bass player looked at me and said, ‘Guess what you do?’”
Cantrell enjoys exhorting the crowd to respond by rattling her fellow musicians out of their comfort zones, and they soak up the spontaneous cheers with smiles. But for the most part, she’s content to skirt the spotlight.
“One of the biggest problems we have is her clowning around,” Ray teased. “Her goal in life is to throw me off. She’ll pull out a Minnie Pearl puppet that mimics me. She’ll pull out props. She once kicked off her shoes on stage and the audience wouldn’t hush down. But we’re not just a concert; we’re an experience, so we’ve figured out how to work her antics in.”
For both performers, it’s a singular partnership in which they bring out each other’s best. Ray said their performance is emotionally receptive because they harmonize the light and dark mesh that characterizes Cash’s music. Like Cash, whose older brother died at a young age after a workshop accident, Ray and Cantrell have suffered through personal tragedies that became forces behind their musical efforts.
When the two met in 1993, Cantrell was on the verge of a bitter divorce, and Ray had just lost his 20-year-old son in a motorcycle accident. “At the time, he tucked me under his wing, and yet he always had this sad-eyed, puppy-dog face,” she recalled. “That’s the way June looked at Johnny.”
Cantrell lost her 20-year-old son in 2004, who was murdered for a few dollars.
“When people look at us up on stage, they say it’s the real thing,” Cantrell said. “Part of it is that we’re trying to emulate them, but behind it is real, raw emotion. We don’t get off stage and take off the suits and call it a night. It follows us off stage. We’re a team.”
Cantrell says she draws inspiration from Cash, who managed to channel the pain from personal hardships into his songs. “Johnny revved people up with songs like ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ and ‘Ring of Fire,’ but he evokes some different with ‘Rusty Cage’ or ‘Like the 309.’ They’re tough songs but at the same time, they’re sweet. You’re looking at this big man that’s been broken but picked himself back up.”
At the July 7 and 8 shows in Solvang, the audience can expect a Cash tribute band like no other. But beyond their regular set, they expect the rest of the performance to be off the cuff.
“We’ll literally wait until the curtain opens with an opening song in mind, and then someone will whisper, ‘Strike it!’” Cantrell said. “It’s an honor to perform, and we want to take care of the audience.”
Tickets for either show are $35 per person and are available at Manny’s restaurant at 1693 Mission Drive, Solvang, or by calling (805) 691-9137. For more information about the Terrace Theater, visit theterracetheater.com. For more information about the band, visit johnnycashcountry.com. jfoster@syvjournal.com