Submitted PhotoTommy Cash (right) and his brother, the late country music legend Johnny Cash, shared the stage many times during their decades in the music industry. Now, Tommy Cash performs across the country, paying tribute to his brother and his many hit songs.

Tommy Cash remembers what it was like growing up as the youngest of seven children of cotton farmers in northeast Arkansas.

“We didn’t know we were poor, but we were. We were a happy family,” he said. “I was a happy kid. I loved what I did. I loved playing basketball.”

He also loved it when his mother played piano.

“We used to sing gospel songs around our home,” he said. “Daddy wouldn’t sing privately, but he would sing in church. He had a big deep voice, just like John and I do.”

“John” was the legendary Johnny Cash, who was eight years older than his brother. Cash travels across the country with his band, called The Cash Crew, doing 50 to 60 tribute concerts to his late brother each year.

“When my brother passed away in September 2003, people in the business started calling me to ask if I would do a tribute show for him,” he said. “I said if people seem to like it, I will continue doing it.”

The concerts resulted in an album called “A Musical Tribute to My Brother Johnny Cash.” Cash has been doing the tribute concerts where he performs many of his brother’s hits – including “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues” – for about four years.

“I’m pleased with the reaction we get from the show,” he said.

Now he is bringing the show to Bowling Green. The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Capitol Arts Center. Tickets are $37, $27 and $17 in advance and $20 at the door for any remaining tickets.

Cash will also sing some of his own songs – including “Six White Horses,” a tune dedicated to John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, which was a hit in 1969 – and tell stories of growing up in the Cash home, said Stephen House, president of Powerhouse Promotions, which is producing the show.

“He takes personal interest in it,” he said. “I think people will be a little better (off) because they came.”

Johnny Cash appeals to a wide variety of people, House said.

“He’s a legend. He crosses all boundaries,” he said. “He could identify with the prisoner in San Quentin and also with the most powerful people in the world.”

Based in Hendersonville, Tommy Cash has been an entertainer for 44 years. He just missed the country Top 40 in 1968 with “The Sounds of Goodbye.” He had two Top 10 singles – “One Song Away” and “Rise and Shine” – and the Top 20 hit, “I Recall a Gypsy Woman” in 1970.

“I started in 1965,” he said. “I’ve recorded about 20 albums and several singles over the years.”

When he’s not performing, Cash is a real estate agent, which he has done for 25 years, and an avid golfer. He has a new album called “Fade to Black” and he’s working on a book that is tentatively titled “A Brother’s Story.”

“I’m not sure it will remain the title when we get through with the book,” he said. “Hopefully, it will go to the publisher by the end of the year. There’s a little bit about the whole family in the book.”

Cash believes people will enjoy the concert.

“We just hope that we bring back good memories of my brother and his music. It’s fun to do my songs, too,” he said. “I’m very proud of the show. It’s my way of showing my love and respect for him, his music and his life.”

— For ticket information, call 791-5180.