It's been years since Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three took the stage but people still long to hear that original sound.
The Tennessee Three will bring that sound to the Queen's Hotel June 17. This is first time the band has played Nanaimo and the only Island stop on the tour. The Tennessee Three consists of two of the original members who played with Cash -- drummer WS Holland and guitarist/vocalist Bob Wootton, along with family members Vicky and Scarlett Wotton. Lisa Horngren assists with vocals and upright bass.
Bob Wootton has taken over lead vocals. Speaking from the tour somewhere between Kansas City and Missouri in a Southern drawl, Wootton said people love to hear the familiar songs. The band is touring in support of their latest CD The Sound Must Go On, featuring old and new songs.
"It's a family orientated show, we have our family with us, which is great. You don't have to wish you were home, you have home with you," he said. "We do mostly Johnny Cash stuff, and we are the band who played for John, so you're hearing the real music."
Holland played with Cash from 1960 and is heard on most of Cash's most famous songs including Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues and Ring of Fire.
Wootton started in 1968 when two band members missed their flights and Cash was left without a guitarist. He was part of the band from then on. The band has been touring for three months in Cash's tour bus and Bob said they've been having a great time.
"The fans are great everywhere we go. People go on the website and ask when we're coming to their part of the world, they want to hear that sound again," he said. "We're just having a ball."
Wootton said one of the most requested songs is Folsom Prison Blues.
The band plans to return to San Quentin Prison-- where Cash performed four times and recorded Johnny Cash at San Quentin-- in August or September.
"Most of them (songs) bring back memories of sorts. One of my favourite, but sometimes it's very hard to do is I Still Miss Someone. When you start doing it, you start thinking back, you know, it's very hard to do," he said.
The tour will take the band throughout Western Canada with stops throughout Manitoba, Alberta and B.C.
Tickets for the show are available at Music Maxx at the Queen's and at Cranky Dog in Parksville.