The Man Who Dressed in Black

85 years ago today J.R. Cash, The Man Who Dressed in Black, was born in Kingsland Arkansas.

Johnny Cash February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003 

Homegrown Stringband™ - Man Who Dressed in Black

J. R. Cash Born February 26, 1932
Kingsland, Arkansas

Died September 12, 2003
Nashville, Tennessee

Remembering Johnny Cash 1932 - 2003

Johnny Cash was born 82 years ago today in Kingsland, Arkansas. He passed away in September of 2003 leaving behind an incredible body of work that influenced a generation. This is a video of The Man Who Dressed in Black, a song I wrote about six months before he died. The video was made in March of 2010 at the Vanilla Bean Cafe in Pomfret, CT.

Honorary Members of the Carter Family!

Almost Famous!

The big rain closed out a busy week for the Homegrown String Band. The previous weekend we made our fourth appearance at The Appalachian Fiddle & Bluegrass Association's Annual Bluegrass Festival in Wind Gap, PA. We had a great time despite the mud and rain, but lucked out with great weather for both our sets though it did rain on our flatfoot dance workshop. We always enjoy going back to Wind Gap, reconnecting with old friends and making new friends. This year we were happy to see our old friends Joe and Jamie Booher, whom we had met when we were all performing in Branson, Missouri in 2005. At that time they were performing with their family band, The Boohers. The two brothers are now part of a killer bluegrass band called New Found Road. Check them out! Our Thursday night set went off pretty well, and ace soundman Harry Grant handled our new three mic set up without a hitch. We stayed up till the wee hours of the morning listening to Harry tell some great stories about his bluegrass adventures. No sooner did we finally go to sleep then the rain started, which put a damper on our dance workshop later on in the afternoon, but it cleared out before our Friday night set, which I think was one of our all time best performances.

This past Friday night The Homegrown String Band rocked Argyle Park in Babylon, NY. We did a two hour high energy set for a great audience, as once again everything was clicking for the band. Then Saturday night was a show we had been looking forward to all year: A performance at the Huntington Arts Council's Summer Festival. We had the privilege of opening for country music legend Carlene Carter who is the daughter of June Carter, stepdaughter of Johnny Cash, and granddaughter of Mother Maybelle Carter of the original Carter Family. We were a bit nervous going on before a Grammy winning artist at a world class venue, and also felt a bit rushed squeezing a dance number into a short set, but I think we made a pretty good showing. Our set, which consisted of four original numbers including a tribute to Johnny Cash ("The Man Who Dressed in Black") as well as three trad numbers and the flatfoot demo, was very well received. At the end of the evening Carlene invited us back up to join her in a rendition of the Carter Family classic "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" after which we were pronounced honorary members of The Carter Family! - Life is hard..... but it's GOOD!!!!

Concert Photo by Chris McKay