Black: Daniel Thompson sings the songs of Johnny Cash at GPAC next month.
By Cherie Donnellan
JOHNNY Cash’s honesty drew Daniel Thompson to the rock and roll legend’s music but sharing a similar tone sweetened the deal.
“I consider myself lucky that I can sing somewhat like Cash,” Thompson told the Independent.
“I admire him because he worked in an industry where it can be death to express your views but he didn’t have a problem standing up for the underdog.”
Thompson will show off his rich baritone in a two-hour performance at Geelong Performing Arts Centre next month.
Thompson said he emulated Cash without “playing” him.
“I think the best way to approach Cash songs is to pay tribute to his music.
“There are plenty of people playing Cash but I didn’t want to pretend to be him – that’s a hard task.”
Thompson defended Cash against critics who considered him a weak vocalist.
“He’s much better than people give him credit for,” Thompson contended.
“People seem to like what he brought to the stage but think he wasn’t a great singer.
“But as someone who sings his songs, I think they’re complicated and tough to sing.”
Thompson found Cash’s repertoire a “welcome challenge”.
Cash’s lyrics spoke “many truths” that earned him his “everyman” likeability, Thompson insisted.
Cash’s Man in Black persona “wasn’t exaggerated”.
“Even though he never spent more than a night in prison, I don’t think he’d be able to go into a prison and perform, to sit up there and speak to them, if he wasn’t genuine in the way he felt.
“They’re the guys who’d have seen straight through him.”
Thompson’s backing band is guitarist Stuie French, bassist Arty Taylor and drummer Ben Elliot.
International singer-songwriter Alanna Cherote joins the troupe to sing June Carter songs.
The musicians were of a “very high calibre”, Thompson said.
Thompson’s Johnny Cash: The Concert will be at Geelong Performing Arts Centre on October 26.
