The second annual Pardon Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival, honoring the late American outlaw icon, preoccupied the music scene in Starkville over the weekend.
The three-day musical event featured meet and greets with Cash’s family, a 5k run, lectures from close friends of the Man in Black and a downtown concert with headliner Rosanne Cash. Plenty of sunshine and cool weather greeted many out-of-town visitors who converged with locals in Starkville to pay tribute to the iconic singer.
Event organizers hailed it a success with this year’s attendance being higher than last year’s inaugural festival. Event volunteer Natalie Long said the small-town atmosphere of Starkville gave the event a unique feel.
“We’ve had a good turnout for all the events,” Long said. “It had been very family-friendly, family-oriented and pet-oriented; we’re happy with everything that has taken place.”
Throughout the event, several performers started their sets with a cover song by Cash. His daughter Rosanne was no different. As she took the stage dressed in all black, she delved right into her father’s 1959 hit “I Got Stripes” and acknowledged her numerous relatives in attendance.
“It is a pleasure and an honor for all of us to be here tonight,” Cash said after her opening song. “Tonight is kind of a family reunion for me; I have my sister, daughter, husband and brother-in-law all in attendance.”
The festival began in 2007 to commemorate Cash’s 1965 Starkville arrest for public drunkenness and illegal flower picking. The arrest led Cash to write the song “Starkville City Jail.” Just five years later, the music legend returned to perform on campus and gave free tickets to the officers involved in his detainment.
The festival kicked off Friday night at Rick’s Cafe with a meet and greet for VIPs with Cash’s daughter Kathy and her husband Jimmy Tittle, bassist for the Johnny Cash Show Band.
Saturday’s downtown concert featured various artists, including Cash tribute band Ring of Fire. The concert included vendors from all over the Southeast that sold food, arts and crafts and Johnny Cash merchandise.
Senior animal and dairy science major Michael Newman attended Saturday’s downtown festivities and gave the event a mixed review.
“I thought the sidewalk chalk art contest during the day was pretty cool,” Newman said. “I think organizers should get more vendors and more stages with performers to help improve attendance with college students.”
Saturday’s schedule was closed by a symbolic pardoning of Cash for his arrest. The pardon was presented to both Rosanne Cash and close family friend and Tennessee Two bassist Marshall Grant. In a released statement, Cash said her father would appreciate the sentiment of the festival, albeit in a joking fashion.
“Certainly the theme of redemption as an undercurrent [for the festival] is sweet and satisfying, but … I have to think my dad would bring a bit of defiance and humor to this,” Cash said. “Maybe he wouldn’t repeat the public drunkenness, but the illegal flower picking is not out of the realm of possibility.”
The festival concluded on Sunday with a look back at Cash’s ventures into gospel music. Local Starkville band Nash Street performed religious classics, and the documentary “The Gospel Music of Johnny Cash: A Story of Faith and Redemption” was shown.
Nash Street violinist Hannah Melby said it was a great honor to play in an event showing Cash’s turn to spirituality.
“To be able to help his family lead a church service for the community for Johnny Cash is really meaningful,” Melby said.
Melby said Cash’s influence on musicians worldwide is still felt today, and festivals such as this showcase the timelessness of his music.
“I think that Johnny Cash has been an influence to musicians and singers in every genre … he has touched people all over the four corners of the world,” she said.