It was 2009 when the movie hit our screens, with Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black, and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter.

“All of a sudden there were teenagers coming up to me at gigs and asking us to play Johnny Cash songs when I was expecting them to ask for Cold Chisel,” French said.

Not that he minded.

“I grew up playing Johnny Cash music. It was a big part of our music in the family,” he said.

Before the movie, though, it was mostly older punters who would request the odd Cash classic.

“But the movie suddenly made it cool to like Johnny Cash music, and I wasn’t used to that. That movie turned the rest of the world onto Johnny Cash,” he said.

Cash last toured Australia with the country supergroup, The Highwaymen, featuring Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson, in 1995.

French was there, not just as a fan, but playing with Troy Cassar-Daley as the support act for the duration of The Highwaymen’s national tour.

“Here were all of these musical legends, and we got to meet them and hang out with them,” French said.

“Johnny Cash was pretty quiet, and hard to talk to. He wasn’t well at the time, but he was still approachable – as they all were. They were great.

“They really liked the fact that we knew all about them, and knew about their histories. They were so surprised to hear these Aussie guys talking about their old records – records that most people had forgotten about.”

Fast forward to 2009, and French and Central Coast singer Daniel Thompson launched their Johnny Cash: The Concert  tribute act.

The show has toured nationally playing to full houses, year after year. And now, after an 18-month break, the show has been refreshed, to celebrate the Walk The Line movie.

All of the music from the movie is featured in the show – from Ring of Fire, I Walk the Line and Folsom Prison Blues to Cry! Cry! Cry! and Jackson – as well as some other Cash favourites and rarities.

The show comes to The Art House, Wyong, on Saturday, March 11. Tickets start at $55. Phone 4335 1485.