by Dennis Dalman
“Church of Cash,” an award-winning tribute band that recreates the songs of music legend Johnny Cash, will perform from 7-10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12 at Milk & Honey Ciders in St. Joseph.
In 2021, Church of Cash was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.
The band is led by Jay Ernest, who sounds eerily like Johnny Cash with his deep, resonant baritone voice. The four-member band performs a wide range of Cash songs, including some of the greatest classics of country music: “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire,” “Hurt,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “A Boy Named Sue.”
The Arkansas-born Cash died from complications of diabetes in 2002 at the age of 71. He is widely regarded among the two or three greatest country-western singers of all time.
Church of Cash’s lead singer Jay Ernest was raised on a farm in southern Minnesota. He lived for a time in Honolulu, performing a variety of music in bands there, including quite a few Johnny Cash songs. He began to notice that when he sang Cash songs, the noise in the bars would quiet down some and many bar patrons would stop what they were doing to stare with wonderment at Ernest as he sang Cash. In 2010, still in Honolulu, he and his bandmates decided to form a tribute band of Johnny Cash songs and called it Church of Cash. They then moved back to Minnesota – to Minneapolis. The award-winning band performs throughout the United States, as well as in many other countries.
Milk & Honey Ciders is located at 11738 CR 51, St. Joseph. Tickets can be purchased at the door the evening of the concert. Children under the age of 10 are admitted free.
