“When I get an idea for a song it would gel in my mind for weeks or months, and then one day just like that, I’ll write it” said Johnny Cash , arguably one of the most famous country music songwriters of all time. Once again, his songwriting is taking centre stage with the release of ‘Songwriter’ which is a collection of previously unreleased songs that Johnny recorded in 1993, ten years prior to his death in September 2003. These songwriting demos were recorded in a rare quiet period during Cash’s career at LSI Studios in Nashville and were a prelude to Johnny’s career renaissance in the nineties which saw him collaborate with Rick Rubin on a series of critically-acclaimed recordings that re-cemented his standing as one of the best American songwriters of his generation.
Thirty years on, his son John Carter Cash rediscovered the songs and stripped them back just Johnny’s vocals and guitar to highlight the power and passion of Johnny’s vocals as well to celebrate one of the world’s greatest songwriters and storytellers. John (along with a carefully-curated band) built ‘Songwriter’ based on these recordings which helped shape an incredible sounding record that sonically feels like it should if Johnny Cash was recording today. His distinctive vocals are as warm and rich as ever and have been further elevated by some impressive guitar playing from Marty Stuart and bassist Dave Roe, who sadly passed away not long after completing his contribution to ‘Son.
