Hello. I'm almost Johnny Cash.
David James is as close to the Man In Black as the original outlaw himself. James has made a career out of the smoky timbre in his voice and steel in his eye that hit the Johnny Cash target every time he hits the stage like a train comin' round the bend.
On Wednesday night, David James and his band Big River will do an encore performance at Vanier Hall. They've been to P.G. twice before in smaller venues, one of which was in support of filmmaker Jonathan Holiff's documentary My Father and the Man in Black.
"I'm the guy they got to talk like Johnny Cash in the film," said James. "Entertainment is what I love best so I do all kinds of ridiculous voices but for commercial entertainment I only do Johnny Cash."
His Cash tribute shows are built to closely resemble the kind of show country superstars of that era would provide their audiences, with one exception James insists on. He features his backing musicians "probably more than Johnny Cash ever did" and he interacts with his fellow bandmates more the feature star typically would back in the golden age of country.
James also adds little touches to mark the history of the Man In Black as much as the playlist.
"We take the best in what he was and push it over the cliff a little bit more," he said. "A lot of people don't know Johnny Cash had a steel guitar in his early garage band days, but when they were in the studio for the first time with [legendary producer] Sam Phillips they went without one in the recording mix. It clicked so they stuck with that for years on end, but we like to remind people about that early stuff."
The fans like to remind James about a few things, too. Many Cash fans spot a kindred spirit and living archive in James, so they tell him their personal stories of encounters and trivia of the golden throated balladeer. He knows Cash performed in Prince George back in the days of records and AM radio, so he assumes there may be stories to be heard here, too.
"We'll perform anywhere. We're doing pretty much the same thing he did back then. We do little towns, big casinos, clubs and festivals, we're not scared of nothing," James said.
The one benefit they have is a massive playlist. Johnny Cash had more hits than most music legends have songs, plus Cash had all the material that wasn't a radio favourite, but he loved his repertoire and so do his closest fans so the downside for James and the band is to know as much of it as they can.
"We used to run a certain version of our sets almost carbon. Now I don't have a list at all, I just do what feels right to come next," he said. "We've got about 30 songs that everybody knows, and a couple of more obscure ones ready to go. It's interesting to do them live. You do a great song one night and you hear crickets out there, then the next town you do the same song and there's a roar. It's unpredictable, you do your best to feel your audience's vibe, but that's what makes performing live so interesting."
The Johnny Cash tribute concert by David James and Big River is a fundraiser to make some operations cash for the B.C. Northern Exhibition. Attending the show will bring better success to this year's fall exhibition, one of the cultural highlights on Prince George's annual calendar.
