Daniel Thompson walks the line back to the shire with Johnny Cash: The Concert at Sutherland Entertainment Centre

From John Lennon to Elvis Presley, David Bowie to Jimi Hendrix, many have their stories about the time they could have – or should have – gone and seen a hero and didn’t.

Another worthy of that list is American country legend Johnny Cash. But if Cash is on your greatest missed list don’t despair, the next best thing is coming to the shire.

Daniel Thompson and Stuie French will bring their show, Johnny Cash: The Concert, to the Sutherland Entertainment Centre on June 9. This tour, inspired by the 2006 biopic Walk the Line, is their first in 18 months having played more than 100 shows across four national tours.

It is a homecoming for Thompson. Born at Sutherland Hospital and growing up in Kirrawee, Thompson’s homage to Cash started a decade ago at Cronulla’s Brass Monkey.

Thompson stresses it is not an impersonation of Cash but a “performing of the songs in an authentic way.” And Thompson and French, a Golden Guitar winner, have left no stone unturned in their strive for authenticity. 

The band are set up as Cash’s traditional Tennessee Three with upright bass, drums and guitars. They have sourced the original instruments as used by Cash on his hit 1970s television show. Right down to Thompson’s Fender Kingman, it’s about as close to Cash as you could get.

“You get all sorts of responses from audiences. I’ve had people throw their arms around me and say ‘I never thought I’d get to see him live’,” Thompson told the Leader.

“Stuie and I were really intent on making the music as authentic as possible. 

“We’re really lucky with Johnny Cash in that there is so much material you can watch. Obviously you can’t see him live anymore but I’ve watched hundreds of hours of footage and listened to just about everything.

“We’ve tried to approach the music in the same way he did which is important to understand the character of him. All the documentaries and books are there but the music is what tells you who he was. If he had something going on in his life he put it in a song. You can get to know him by listening to his music.”

It is that music that is the real inspiration of the show. An astounding back catalogue of songs makes it an almost impossible task for Thompson just to choose a set list every night. There are the classics that everyone knows, from I Walk the Line to Ring of Fire to Jackson. But it is the lesser-known gems that maintains the excitement.

“It’s the material, really. As a singer it’s a challenge to sing these songs,” Thompson said.

“There are a lot of Cash fans around for all different reasons. He has a different appeal for everybody.

“My mum and dad were both musos growing up and the house would be full of all sorts of music and Johnny Cash was a part of that. There were the big hits you heard of course [but] as I got older I became more of a fan of his music. Some of the different songs people might not know as well as the favourites but I love to put them in the show as well.

“Certainly one of the reasons for his popularity was when the movie [Walk the Line] came out because many people, especially younger people, became fans purely from the movie. They found there were so many songs they already knew.

“There is so much to his personality and the man he was that interested me. He was a contradiction, really. There was a lot of darkness but he was a spiritual man [as well]. I’ve got a new favourite song every night.”