Cash Unchained

SHOWTIME

Fri (4/25) 7:30
Doors opening at 7:00

TICKETS

• $30 Advance
• $35 At Door

Johnny Cash may have passed away back in 2003, but the original country outlaw is still with us today in many ways. Of course, the classic Cash tunes that have become country standards are a part of history, and they’ll be ingrained in our cultural consciousness forevermore. But there’s another way in which Cash’s music continues to make itself heard, in a more immediate and physical way, and that’s Cash Unchained: The Ultimate Johnny Cash Tribute.

Led by 20-year-old Virginia native James Tamelcoff, the band is dedicated to creating a Johnny Cash experience that’s as authentic as it is exciting, presenting a generous dose of Cash’s most beloved tunes in a manner that’s unerringly respectful of the country legend’s unmistakable sound. Incredibly, Tamelcoff was only in his teens when Cash Unchained first started performing. But the precocious singer/guitarist already had a vocal gravitas way beyond his years, giving him the uncanny ability to emulate Cash’s distinctive, larger-than-life baritone.

But it’s not only Tamelcoff’s startling voice that makes Cash Unchained such a spot-on tribute. A guitarist, standup bass player, and drummer carefully re-create the original arrangements of Cash’s legendary tunes as played by his Tennessee Three. Whether they’re banging out their version of “Ring of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” or “A Boy Named Sue,” the band manages to craft an almost eerily accurate approximation of the signature boom-chicka-boom of Cash’s original band. And of course, there’s an appropriately sassy female singer on hand to inhabit the role of June Carter Cash. Whether Cash Unchained is playing The Man in Black’s 1950s and ’60s hits or delving into Cash’s comeback period of the ’90s and ‘00s with haunting versions of his tunes like “Delia’s Gone” and “Hurt,” Tamelcoff and company offer up an unforgettable encounter with the music of an American icon.