Posted by UNO MavRadio – KVNO 90.7 HD2 on Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Written by: Justin Doering
When colleague Matt Haave informed me the band we were just tasked to assist hosting in the MavRadio.FM studio also said they were “some country band from San Diego”, I was a bit taken back. As the resident country music-format guy, I was a little disappointed to be one of the last to know about it.
There was some prep to do, and all the while “country” and “San Diego” on what is normally Top 100 on a college campus painted a colorful picture in my head, I rolled with it. But then, Matt added this caveat: “They’re a Johnny Cash tribute band.” …What?
When black-clad, bassist, Stephen Rey, swooped through the door with an acoustic, upright bass – suddenly, “This just got real.”
Then, in hurried Cash’d Out drummer, George Bernardo, with his simple snare, followed by lead vocalist and guitarist, Doug Benson. When lead guitarist Kevin Manuel strolled in with a flat, hard-side guitar case, I gently elbowed the boss lady and whispered, “Watch this.” Sure enough, there it was – the iconic Fender “Nashville” Telecaster. I don’t know enough about Fenders to say how old it was, but it was plain to see that it had played more than a million miles. I smiled with wonder about what was going to happen in the studio.
I hadn’t listened to Johnny Cash’s music in a while and I was quickly reminded the impact he had on music. His catalog massed hundreds – if not thousands – of songs, many of them recognized more often as old rock and roll.
Benson carried that Cash-like persona in the manner he strummed his Gretsch acoustic guitar the same way the Man in Black did, an open thumb up and down, across the strings. And unless you are an accustomed Johnny Cash listener, it is difficult to discern Benson’s voice from Cash’s.
Through “Ring of Fire” – to the boss lady of MavRadio’s , Jodeane Brownlee, delight, and into “Wreck of the Old ‘97” I whispered along, in unison. “Wreck” was a cover by the late Boxcar Willie, who taught me to sing it when I was a little boy.
Into a break, Benson told the story of when Cash’s daughter, Cindy, presented him with a locket containing a lock of her father’s hair and perhaps the welcome presence that haunts a venue each time Cash’d Out takes the stage.
They ended their visit with “Folsom Prison Blues”. The black-and-white footage of the famed, original performance, – live, before a crowd of federal prison inmates, filled my mind when they played. It even took me to a modern-day recording I have of Brad Paisley, performing the tune.
Seeing the band perform live is a reminder of how many different people are touched by the late Johnny Cash.
Cash’d Out is currently touring, nationwide. Find out more about Cash’d Out on their Facebook page or their website, cashdout.com.
