Promises a show with ‘authenticity, dignity and history’  

AUBURN — “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”

Although that greeting is one of the most recognizable in the entire world of entertainment, it’s not quite the way “David Stone: The Johnny Cash Experience” will open when it hits the Community Little Theatre stage for two shows, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14.

“Hello, we love Johnny Cash” is what the audience will hear when Stone steps into the spotlight and up to the microphone. That’s because his aim is not to imitate the legendary entertainer, but to introduce Cash’s unforgettable persona and music to younger audiences. He said about half of his audiences are under the age of 30.

In a telephone interview Friday, Stone said his tribute show takes audiences through the entire career of the late country music legend. The biographical story-line presentation covers early Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash and June Carter, and the Folsom Prison Concert era.

Stone has presented his tribute show all over the country for several years. This CLT fundraiser by the acclaimed Cash tribute artist brings the show’s full cast including a backup band playing in the style of Cash’s original Tennessee Three musicians.

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Also appearing is Jennifer Saunders as June Carter Cash. The band members are Robert Birch on electric guitar and his brother, Richard, on bass, with Keith Lenderman on drums.

Stone said this is a Broadway-quality show that plays predominantly to a new generation of fans too young to have known the real country star at his peak. Those who see the performance will know what it must have been like to see the real Johnny Cash in concert. The show strives to present an accurate representation of the famed singer’s voice, mannerisms, and band.
Stone said his approach to the Johnny Cash persona differs from acts presented by other celebrity impersonators who often have exaggerated moves and exaggerated accents, Stone said.
“I offer authenticity, dignity and history,” he noted, emphasizing that Johnny Cash was his childhood hero.

“David Stone: The Johnny Cash Experience” is the only Johnny Cash tribute show ever to be selected by the State of California (even over Cash’s original band) to play the 40th anniversary commemorative concert at San Quentin State Prison on Feb. 24, 2009, celebrating the historic performance by Johnny Cash at the facility in 1969.

“That was the highlight of my career,” Stone said, recalling how inmates at the prison talked with him and asked for his autograph.

“It was a very intense experience,” he said. The event made him realize that Johnny Cash offered a personality that was valued by prison inmates as well as by family members of all ages.

Stone began his Johnny Cash impersonations around 2005 following a period in his life filled with challenges similar to those Cash faced. He told a reporter for a Pennsylvania magazine, “I was doing open-mic nights, and people said I really sounded like him. Now it’s my living.” Stone emphasized that the group has made an effort to have authentic costumes and instruments.

Tickets for “David Stone: The Johnny Cash Experience” are $22. For tickets call 783-0958 or go online to www.laclt.com. Group rates are available.

Performances are at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Great Falls Performing Arts Center, 30 Academy St., Auburn.

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