Thinking about heading to the Miller Theater on Aug. 8 to hear the music of Johnny Cash? Jay Ernest has some dress code suggestions.
“You can come as you are, but if you want to have a little extra fun with it, audiences have dressed up like inmates. Think ‘Shawshank Redemption’, they were allotted denim pants and a denim shirt. Some people wear orange or the stripes. It’s not mandatory, but some people like to dress up,” said Ernest, who will bring the essence of Johnny Cash’s January 1968 concert to the stage with the Folsom Prison Experience – A Johnny Cash Dramatic Tribute Show.
Although there’s no video from Cash’s concert in front of prisoners at Folsom on Jan.13, 1968, Cash’s live audio plus stories from the guards, prisoners and band members have shaped Ernest’s presentation.
The 1968 concert was one of several Cash performed at the California prison, and the country singer said in interviews the inmates made the most enthusiastic audience he ever played for.
Jail attire will fit in well with the whole experience. For a few hours, the Miller Theater will become Folsom with patrons receiving their prison number upon entry and guard patrolling the aisles during the show. Ernest calls the experience immersive rather than interactive because audience members won’t be brought on stage but they can still feel like they part of the show.
Ernest’s interest in the Man in Black started as a child growing up on a farm in southern Minnesota, where his father played Cash’s songs. As a musician, Ernest has played everything from country to reggae, but homed in on Cash’s music while living in Hawaii 15 years ago.
At the time, he was part of a reggae and soul band, and when the group wasn’t touring, he found himself playing four-hour acoustic sets in an Irish bar in Chinatown in downtown Honolulu.
“I’d play a little bit of everything – country, Irish, Men at Work, stuff from the ‘80s,” he said.
But when he’d break out Johnny Cash, people took a closer listen.
“People said you sound like Johnny Cash when you sing but Dan Akroyd when you talk,” he said.
So, he started polishing up on Cash’s tunes. Ernest also plays in a tribute called Church of Cash.
He and a friend, who has a small venue in Minnesota, tossed around the idea of creating the Folsom Experience. At the time, Ernest was busy touring, and his friend was busy running a venue. When COVID hit, they found the time to research and create the show
“The whole thing is based on the real-life show. We have taken some artistic liberties to create some scenarios,” he said.
Since first putting the show together, he’s learned more about Cash and his life. He’s talked with Cash’s daughter, Cindy, extensively for another project he’s working on.
“Through the eyes of his daughter, I feel like I know the man much more fully,” he said. “I have insight of who he was. He was much more than a great songwriter. He was a knowledgeable man. He was a godly man. He had his ups and downs. But he wore his heart on his sleeve.”\
Tickets for the show are $27.40 to $64.65 and are available here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
