Today is a sad day for me. Johnny Cash was a hero to me. More than that however, he was a huge inspiration. An inspiration to my music, my creativity and my idea of cool. His music was so much a part of my life, it can be compared to how people remember where they were when JFK was assassinated. A part of my music left today, but it is really still here.

The biggest way Johnny’s passing has affected me is personal. I think, somewhere in my heart, that Johnny was like the last of the heroes that changed and molded my beliefs in life. He was an underdog, a fellow Arkansan from the sharecropper soil of the delta. Johnny was the last thing here in this world that gave me a false hope that my dad was still here. It was like this imaginary Linus blanket feeling of mine. You see, Johnny was much like my dad--big, strong, and in charge. Sure, my dad was blue collar, but there was something about those Depression Era sharecroppers. They had a different way of life. Stubborn, versatile, and their knowledge of people. They commanded respect whether it was in a room of poor or rich, black or white.

Musically, a huge inspiration left me with Johnny’s passing. His train songs, his pain songs, and everything he stood for in the working man’s life were all part of my music. So much that my songs superficially always seemed to come out in a “what would Cash say?” kind of way. Oh, I have inspirations on guitar, with Gibbons, Betts, Muddy, or whoever, and those are important. But, Johnny was like the dad looking over my music. The songs, the lyrics, the ……do it my way, stick to my guns. I still have all that to look to.

I got to work with Johnny Cash. I got to meet June. I got to hear his voice on a song of his that was very close to him, a song I had completely rearranged. I got to perform that song with Billy Bob in 12 different countries last year, paying tribute to Johnny. My dad taught me that song. That pretty much ties all this together, doesn’t it?

For now, I dedicate my website to the Man In Black. He’s a hero and, as huge of a character and as big a piece of the music puzzle as he was, it shows you what a little speck we all are in the scheme of all things. The Man Upstairs is calling the shots, and that’s very important to remember, as nothing else comes close here on earth. Johnny was hurting and is in a better place. I want to thank Johnny Cash for all he has meant to me, my music, and thousands of other people. Hold on to June and ride into the happier place, Johnny. We will miss you.

Michael R. Shipp
September 12, 2003