Jaedyn Pilon is paying homage to ‘The Man in Black.’
The award-winning tribute artist is bringing his re-creation of the Johnny Cash TV show to Okotoks later this month as part of his tour of Western Canada.
A Rock-A-Billy Entertainment production, the Okotoks show is set for Thursday, May 23 at the Foothills Centennial Centre.
Pilon said the performance re-creates Cash’s TV show, which aired from 1969 to 1971 and provided a platform for some of the biggest names in country, rock and folk.
"We try and re-create some of that with the special guests that Johnny had on his show,” he said. “He had all kinds of musical guests, everyone from Neil Young to The Monkees, but on our show, we have Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell, Dusty Springfield and Linda Ronstadt.”
Pilon, a 21-year-old from Edmonton, developed the show last summer before taking it on the road in the fall around northern Alberta and B.C.
After a winter residency in Mexico where he entertained with the music of Cash as well as Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beatles and others, Pilon has resumed his role as ‘The Man in Black’ with a tour through Saskatchewan and Manitoba before heading west for shows in Alberta.
Backed up by the six-piece Flashback Band, Pilon also has enlisted the help of fellow tribute artists to play the roles of guests to re-create the TV show, a departure from last fall when he launched the show playing all the parts.
“I was hosting it with video projection, so I recorded myself introducing all the guests and then I would come out as some of the guests, but now I get to be Johnny Cash throughout the whole show,” he said.
“We have two fantastic girls singing with us and one does June Carter as well with me.”
With sold-out venues and appreciative audiences, Pilon said the Prairie tour is going well and all the kinks will be worked out by the time the performers roll into Alberta.
“Anything that probably can go wrong will go wrong and we’ll have figured out a way to fix it by then,” he joked about the upcoming Okotoks performance.
The youngest-ever competitor at the Penticton Elvis Festival, Pilon is in the process of developing his second Elvis show. After touring Elvis: The Early Years, he’s now working on a show that focuses on Elvis’ time in Las Vegas.
Tickets for the Okotoks show are available at Okotoks Sobeys, the Heritage Inn in High River and by calling 403-612-7046. More information can be found at facebook.com/rockabillyent.
