Bastard son of johnny cash

'Sons' try to make Johnny Cash proud

By DAVE TIANEN

of the Journal Sentinel staff

Thursday, January 24, 2002

He's not really their dad, just their mentor.

When the alt-country act Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash approached the great man about permission to use his name, the Man in Black gave his OK -- against the advice of his management people.

Johnny's real son, John Carter Cash, helped man the boards for the San Diego band's debut album, "Walk Alone."

"John Carter Cash and I met in Nashville," says Sons front man Mark Stuart. "His wife was performing. She's a fiddle player, and she was in one of the bands that was on the bill that night, and John Carter was backstage, and that's how I hooked up with him.

"We ended up talking and he said, 'Hey. The next time you guys are out on tour in Tennessee, why don't you come over to the house and do some recording?' We were in Memphis on tour with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, and I said, 'I need a break from this Tim McGraw nonsense.' So I canceled my Tim McGraw concert, and I called up John Carter, and he said, 'Come on over.'" We spent three days there recording."

Stuart concedes the group's name carries the burden of high expectations.

"Many times we've pulled into a venue and we've had people say, 'You guys better be good with that name or we'll be talkin' to you afterwards.' I haven't had a single problem with anybody after we finished. So I guess we convinced them."

Amid a country scene awash in crossover acts such as McGraw and Faith Hill, the Sons carry on the tradition of '60s and '70s outlaw country. It's a tradition country radio is not particularly interested in fostering.

"We get very limited radio exposure, mainly college stations and national public radio," Stuart says. "No mainstream country radio that I know of. I think it's one of those situations where radio will be the last thing to follow in any market.

"In rock 'n' roll now, you have a lot of the same thing being played over and over, formula-wise. Radio will be the last thing to follow."

With tunes such as "Texas Sun," about being buried in your Cadillac under Lone Star skies, and trucker anthems such as "Interstate Cannonball" and "Truckstop in La Grange," the Sons blur the West Coast country rock of Dwight Yoakam with the border-line sound of guys such as Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Dave Alvin is one popular reference. Stuart also sounds similar to Hal Ketchum, although he says he's heard fewer of those comparisons.

"Actually, one producer -- Jack White -- that I work with did say, 'You remind me a lot of Hal Ketchum.' I don't think as many people know Hal, but if they did, a lot more would draw a comparison. I get a little Waylon comparison, too."

Ironically, one comparison that doesn't get made is the one to Johnny Cash.

"I don't hear it as much musically. It's more of the attitude and the spirit of Johnny Cash. It's that outlaw edge when we perform live and the fact that we're not that willing to compromise whatsoever on what we do."

IF YOU GO

What: The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash

When: 9 p.m. MondayWhere: Reed Street Station, 430 S. 2nd St.

How much: $6

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