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He was the famed country and rock singer from Tennessee who gave hope and reverence to the disenfranchised.
Fans remember him as "the man in black."
A new audience was introduced to his music with the 2005 biopic "Walk the Line."
And Johnny Cash's biggest fan, Rockabilly Hall of Famer Rusty Evans, will bring a rollicking tribute to the country music icon Sept. 22 in the Signature Showroom at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.
"I sang at parties and clubs and people responded favorably and told me that I sounded just like Johnny Cash," Evans said in a telephone interview from the San Francisco Bay area. "I've been doing the tribute show for about eight years, and I enjoy performing a complete repertoire of his work immensely."
Evans, 62, was born in Arkansas -- just like Cash.
He started performing as a teenager, doing mostly folk rock and rockabilly music, and emerged in the New York roots and folk music scene.
"It was a renaissance," Evans said. "People were really creative and were stretching ideas ... you know ... music that had never been heard before. Some of our greatest music came out of New York during the mid-'60s."
After recording a successful demo with four Cash songs, Evans was hooked and couldn't resist playing tribute shows across the country.
"Bob Dylan once told me long ago I sounded like Cash, and that was rewarding enough," Evans said.
Evans said Cash and Bob Dylan have been his two biggest musical influences.
"Cash was a great writer, very distinctive and great poet from the rural South," Evans said. "He truly wrote about his experiences and about people on the edge."
One of Evans' greatest pleasures is listening to songs like "Folsom Prison Blues," in which Cash writes about convicts and people who are down on their luck.
"He talked about identifying with everybody that was outside of the box," Evans said.
Evans said he had a marvelous sit-down conversation with Cash, and "the man in black" himself encouraged Evans "to do this crazy tribute show."
Evans recently performed at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium in a tribute to legendary country singer Kitty Wells.
T'rassa Brown, the marketing director at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino, remembers seeing a Johnny Cash and June Carter show in Orlando, Fla., when she 12.
"I saw the couple singing together, and it was a hoot," Brown said. "Seeing Rusty perform will certainly bring back old memories for many people."
Brown said Cash's concert was dynamic, yet relaxing and immensely entertaining.
"His voice just captivates you, and his wife, June, puts on a very funny act," Brown said. "You could tell that they were happy performing together."
Brown said Evans is not only similar to Cash in voice, but in appearance as well.
"It's interesting to see how the voices match up so nicely," she said. "We can't go wrong having such a stellar Johnny Cash impersonator."
Humberto J. Vergara may be reached at hvergara@elpasotimes.com; 546-6354.
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