VISALIA – James Garner’s Tribute to Johnny Cash celebrates 50-year anniversary of the Man in Black’s historic ‘At San Quentin’ album recorded and released in 1969
The signature boom-chicka-boom sound of Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three will fill the Visalia Fox Theatre when James Garner’s critically acclaimed tribute to the “Man in Black” performs on Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. This will be the show’s second engagement at the iconic Visalia venue.
Concertgoers can expect to hear familiar Cash favorites, including songs from the historic At Folsom Prison and At San Quentin albums, recorded behind prison walls 50 and 51 years ago respectively.
“We’re excited to bring our show back to Visalia” Garner said. “The city is extra special to me because that’s where I discovered Johnny Cash’s music.”
Garner, a Hanford native, bought his first Johnny Cash tape when he was 12 years old.
“We were at the Sam Goody Music store on Mooney Boulevard,” Garner recalled. “As we drove home to Hanford on Highway 198, I heard my first Cash song, ‘Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,’ and I was hooked.”
In 2007 Garner began touring with his tribute show, which now has more than 500 professional concerts to its credit. In 2008, Garner’s show made a special trip to Folsom State Prison to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Cash’s infamous live album, followed by a performance at San Quentin State Prison in 2010. Gene Beley, one of two reporters covering the historic 1968 Folsom Prison concert as part of Cash’s entourage, has also attended several of Garner’s Johnny Cash tribute shows.
“Garner and his band give concertgoers their money’s worth,” said Beley. “This act will not disappoint the people who wish to resurrect that classic Johnny Cash voice and rhythm.”
