18 July 2024

In the dense, tranquil woods of Oregon, John Carter Cash, son of the legendary Johnny Cash, reflects on his father’s unreleased recordings. As a seasoned producer, John has navigated the musical legacies of both his parents, earning Grammy acclaim for his work on his mother’s (June Carter Cash, in case you have been living under a rock) albums. Now, he faces a uniquely emotional and professional challenge: producing an album from Johnny Cash’s previously unheard songs.     “Producing Dad’s vocals was a straightforward task,” John reveals candidly. “He’s one of the best singers there is, in my opinion—one in ten million. When you’re dealing with that level of talent, you learn not to touch it much. His presentation was usually flawless, and the approach we took was minimalistic. We often asked ourselves, ‘What would Johnny Cash do?’ and kept things simple.”     The new album, aptly titled ‘Songwriter’, features Johnny Cash’s original compositions from 1993, capturing a pivotal period in his life. “It was a time when Dad was in recovery, turning his life around,” John reminisces. “’Hello Out There’ knocks me down every time I hear it, especially during the bridge. My daughter Grace stars in the music video, which is in black and white and the very end shows her blue eyes. It’s beautiful and a testament to Dad’s brilliance as a songwriter.”     The Art of Connection  One of the most striking aspects of Johnny Cash’s music is his ability to take vast, complex subjects and make them deeply personal. Tracks like ‘Drive On’ and ‘Hello Out There’, which address contemporary issues like the Vietnam War and the Voyager spacecraft.  “My father had a unique way of empathizing with others,” John explains. “He read stories of Vietnam veterans to understand their pain, both physical and emotional. In ‘Drive On,’ he put himself in the shoes of a truck driver dealing with PTSD. It’s that honesty and care that make his stories so compelling. He genuinely cared and loved deeply, creating an emphatic connection through his music.”     For ‘Drive On’ in particular, Johnny Cash drew from a period of intense personal pain. “My father had a broken jaw that he was dealing with in the early 1990s,” John recounts. “The bone in the jaw had been compromised through years of different dental surgeries, and it was accidentally broken during a procedure. He got home and as the numbness wore off, he realised his jaw was broken. It was wired shut and he was in constant pain every minute of his existence. To cope, a friend suggested that he read stories of people whose pain was greater than his own, both physically and emotionally. These stories, particularly those of Vietnam veterans, profoundly impacted him.”      Read the full feature in our free digital magazine here: https://bit.ly/3WUe56j Never miss a story… Follow us on: Instagram: @Maverick.mag Twitter: @Maverick_mag Facebook: Maverick Magazine Media Contact Hannah Larvin, Editor, Maverick Magazine Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920 Email: editor@maverick-country.com