Cash Festival Closes Out with Tribute to Dyess Singer
Grammy winners Alison Krauss and Jamey Johnson perform a duet at the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival.
DYESS, Ark. — Under blue skies and comfortable temperatures, talented performers closed out the three-day Johnny Cash Heritage Festival with a tribute concert to the singer in the former cotton field next to his boyhood home here Saturday afternoon.
After Arkansas State University Chancellor Kelly Damphousse welcomed the artists and crowd on behalf of the university, John Carter Cash, the Grammy-winning son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, served as the host of the event and got the music underway with Shawn Camp and Bill Miller. Following an hour performance by each,artists Jamey Johnson, Alison Krauss, Ana Cristina Cash, Suzanne Cox, Heather Berry Mabe and Ira Dean took the stage to begin the main event, the Johnny Cash Show 50th Anniversary Tribute.
“It is a great thrill to be here today,” John Carter Cash told a large and enthusiastic crowd. “I want to thank Arkansas State University for all they do.” Along with his emcee duties, he also played the guitar to accompany the band and sang solo as well as with other vocalists.
The concert was a “50th Anniversary Performance,” paying tribute to The Johnny Cash Show tours that began in 1968 and led the following year to a television show that brought Cash into millions of households. The musical lineup brought back songs that were Cash staples 50 years ago.
Among singing other songs, Grammy winners Johnson and Krauss joined together for a duet rendition of “Peace in the Valley” and “Daddy Sang Bass.”
The Cash family familiar signature concert closer, “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” featured members of the Cash family along with Krauss, Johnson and remaining singers and musicians. John Carter Cash invited the audience to join in. On cue, everyone sang the family finale.
