Johnny Cash Music Festival

Johnny Cash is the king of punk rock.  Not musically but attitude wise.  Really there aren’t many legendary hooligans who made it so far.  The folk of Jonesboro Arkansas agree and have served up the first ever “Johnny Cash Music Festival”

The diversity of the event is as diverse as Cash’s fans.  Dierks Bentley, Cash's fellow Highwayman member Willie Nelson, hip duo the Civil Wars, and Rosanne Cash, his daughter and host for the evening, came together to salute the music and artistic vision of the man in black.

 The show was originally a fundraiser to help renovate the childhood home of the singer, which is now owned by Arkansas State University who wanted it opened to the public.   Extra funding is to go to scholarships in Cash’s name.  Rosanne Cash said that the show will go on long after the house project is complete. "It's not just about restoring the house, but also about establishing a heritage site in Arkansas and providing scholarships for kids to go to Arkansas State University," she said. "This part of the country needs the attention, frankly. I think the musical importance of this area is not understood by a lot of Americans. It's time to shine a light on it."

Said Dierks Bentley “A lot of people think the Johnny Cash name stands for being bad ass, and it does in a lot of ways," he said, "but there's a lot more to it than just that."

The event now will be an annual one in celebration of Johnny’s contributions to music and his community.  Bet a million buck Eddie Vedder jumps on board next year.