by Stephen Dafoe
stephen@morinvillenews.com
The Rotary Club of Morinville is hosting an evening of entertainment dedicated to Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, an American icon who organizers say “personified the perseverance of the human spirit.”
The event takes place at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre April 23 with a dinner at 7 p.m. and the show at 9 p.m.
The show will feature Morinville’s own Gene Gebo. Not only is Gebo an accomplished musician and entertainer, but he is also an avid fan of Cash and met him on several occasions.
Gebo’s tribute to Cash is not an impersonation show. Rather, it is a tribute show that will feature many of Johnny Cash’s number one hits about good times and bad times, as well as stories on Cash’s life.
For Gebo, it is the simple music and complex story of Cash that is appealing.
It’s his music and the words – how the songs were written,” Gebo said. “He was a very prolific writer. He writes about life, the meaning of life. He relates to people. The common denominator there is people experience some of the songs that he has written about, and he has experienced those same songs. His music is very simple. People can understand his music. It’s not like a lot of music today on the radio where you hear a lot of noise in the background. His music is very simple and right to the point.”
The entertainer has been performing tributes to Johnny Cash for the past 12 years and has toured Arizona and California with his show. More recently, Gebo been selling out theatres in Alberta. “We leave here in the beginning of October, and we tour in Southern California – Palm Springs and into Arizona,” he said.
Gebo said people can expect an evening of Cash’s original songs, songs that made him famous from his first recordings with Sun Records in 1955 until his passing in 2003.
The Man in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash takes place at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre Apr. 23. Tickets are $59 and available at Morinville Home Hardware or Bumper to Bumper or by contacting info@infiniteeventservices.com. The event is presented by 840CFCW and hosted by CTV’s Graham Neil.
