JOHNNY Cash does Khe Sanh.
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It's real. It's happening.
And it's not as crazy as it sounds.
Central Coast singer Daniel Thompson and friends are on the road again, this time touring for a series of Johnny Cash concerts billed as Golden Greats of the Man In Black.
Punters can expect to hear Cash's solo hits - including Ring of Fire, I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, and A Boy Named Sue - but Thompson has given this concert series a twist.
"We're going to explore what Australian songs the crowd thinks they'd like to have heard Johnny Cash record," Thompson said.
"And Khe Sanh is right up there on that list of songs people might like to hear in the Cash style.
"The content of that song is right up his alley, too, with the Vietnam theme - although in this song it's from an Australian point of view, rather than an American one."
Thompson said Cash recorded some Australian songs during his prolific career.
"He not only recorded a couple of Australian songs, but he wrote a song about Ned Kelly which we do in the show," Thompson said.
The American version of the song I've Been Everywhere, written by Australian Geoff Mack, is on the set list.
"Cash also did a version of the Nick Cave song Mercy Chair, which is about going to the electric chair. It's a great song to sing and it's another one in the Cash catalogue that's pretty dark."
The concert also features songs from Cash's collaborations with other artists, including his stint with The Highwaymen in the 1980s.
Thompson is again touring with musical collaborator and Golden Guitar winner Stuie French, and the band The Tennessee Studs.
Singer Tamara Stewart is also in the show.
Thompson in considered one of the world's premier performers of the Johnny Cash style.
His current tour takes in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania.
■ Golden Greats of the Man In Black will be performed at Laycock Street Theatre, North Gosford, on Friday, August 29. Tickets cost $65. Book on 4323 3233.