The Ballad of Johnny & June: John Carter Cash on the musical about his famous parents
Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash) and Christina Bianco in The Ballad of Johnny & June, at the Bord Gáis Theatre in Dublin. Picture: Pamela Raith
John Carter Cash has an old soul. Sitting in the bar of the Bord Gáis Theatre in Dublin, where he is doing press for the upcoming musical Ballad of Johnny and June - based on the lives of his iconic parents, Johnny Cash and June Carter - his eyes tell a story older than his 55 years. There is no doubt he inherited their deep gaze from Johnny, the legendary Man in Black, and from June, a multi-Grammy winner, who first found stardom in the 1930s with her family band, the Carter Family.
Carter Cash is a producer, artist, and musician, but perhaps his most meaningful role is custodian of his parents’ legacy. As their only son, both Johnny and June had other children from previous marriages; he carries this responsibility with pride, eager to honour their memory.
“There are so many people who appreciate them for one reason or another, so I feel responsible for presenting them in the way that my parents would appreciate and that they would feel honoured, but also in a way that touches people and is honest. Not be afraid to show the dark times, but also to make the point of showing some of the struggles; it's tiring, but it's uplifting. I'm blessed to know that so many people are still touched by them.”
Johnny and June’s love story is legendary. Johnny endured profound grief after June’s death in 2003 and that grief became the wellspring for some of the most powerful musical arrangements of his career.
As Carter Cash notes, the musical explores every facet of his parents’ lives. This means he is not only able to relive the joyful moments they shared but must also confront the painful realities, like witnessing his father’s grief after June’s passing.
“When [the actor playing me] has a conversation with my father after my mother passed away, that's hard to see, but at the same time, my father says love with everything you have right now, because it moves so fast. That was what my dad said, and I've taken that to heart since then.”
Carter Cash says there is beauty in the pain. “It's not easy, but there's so much beauty that they shared. How do you make Camelot matter? One bright, shining moment that there was Camelot, right? That’s really what it's about. It's about remembering the beauty and making that a creed that we remember the wonder and the beauty.”
The 2005 film with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, told the early love story of Johnny and June. The film perpetuated a myth that June saved Johnny from his addiction, but it is a myth that Carter Cash wishes to dispel. He says it was his father’s own fears that drove him to seek help, and he worked with the show's creators to ensure this truth was included.
“She was there to strengthen him and to support him, but fear is what brought him to my mom and got him sober in the ‘60s. I think he was afraid for his own skin. I think he was exhausted by the pain he felt alone. He felt the fear of death, crawled into a cave, and couldn't find his way out. It was dark. He thought he was going to die there.” Through the darkness came songs that connect to so many people across many generations. Carter Cash says that is something he cherishes.
“A person can have a relationship with someone because of a song, right? My father could save someone's life through a song. I gotta appreciate that. I gotta cherish that. I gotta honour that and share the music. It gives me a responsibility to help share the music more.”
Johnny died four months after June but in the time between her passing and his own death, he channeled his grief and his own health battles into music. Carter Cash says those later recordings were a lesson in resilience.
“I was with him until his last session, 10 days before he died. It was inspiring to see him persist. He was in the hospital with pneumonia, made it home, and three days later, he was back in the studio. The second-to-last song he recorded was Like the 309. It’s really powerful. It's him talking about asthma, because he had asthma, really bad. He says asthma is coming on like the 309 train. He had the ability to laugh in the face of death. That takes some guts.”
Johnny and June began touring Ireland in the 1960s, with one especially memorable five-night run in Cork. Carter Cash fondly recalls joining his parents on these journeys, gathering precious memories as they toured the country.
“They loved Ireland. I do too. It seems like home. They had friends here. [The singer] Sandy Kelly was a good friend. We stayed with her and her family at a castle over Halloween one time. We had a great time. It was magical driving all over Ireland on the little bitty, tiny roads in a tour bus. It was an unforgettable part of our lives.”
Born into music royalty, did his parents ever force their son to follow in their footsteps? He says music was always there, but they were happy for him to find his own path.
“They supported me in whatever direction I would go. I had a heavy metal band that I would rehearse at my parents’ house, and they'd be sitting watching television in one part of the house, but they could hear us playing. They just turned the television up louder so they couldn’t hear us. They were very patient. They didn't push me to practice; they were loving. It is an honour to keep their memory alive.”
- gets its Irish premiere run at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin from March 31 until April 11
June Carter came from an impressive musical background. Her mother, Maybelle Carter, is regarded as the "Mother of Country Music.” She revolutionised guitar playing and helped shape the genre's sound.
“I remember she was a gentle lady. I remember her pickles. She made pickles, and she would watch me when I was little. She was a wonderful lady and a unique person. She was a driving force in the way that she played guitar.” Carter Cash’s father entered the Country Music Hall of Fame at 48, making him the youngest musician to receive that honour. His mother was inducted only last year, an honour that was long overdue.
“I'm grateful to have witnessed it. She would have been so honoured. My father, mother, grandmother, great-uncle, and great-aunt are all in the Hall of Fame. That's more family members than almost anyone, except for my sister Carlene, whose father, Carl Smith, is also in the Country Music Hall of Fame.” Carter Cash, who has produced scores of albums at the Cash Cabin Studios in Tennessee, as well as creating his own work, has five children, and two of them are with his wife, singer Ana Cristina.
“My son Joseph is a great musician. My daughter AB plays guitar and piano. My son Jack is a very good piano player. My daughter Grace performed a song from a Disney movie for a talent contest last year, and it just blew me away. She sings on pitch because her mother is a master singer. My son James is four, and all he thinks about is albums and music. He even has his own record player.”
