“A Johnny & June Country Christmas" at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center -- November 30.
Saturday, November 30, 7 p.m.
Ohnward Fine Arts Center, 1215 East Platt Street, Maquoketa IA
Boasting timeless Johnny Cash songs including "I Walk the Line," "Ring of Fire," and "A Boy Named Sue" alongside such June Carter Cash hits as "Jackson," "If I Were a Carpenter," and "It Ain’t Me," A Johnny & June Country Christmas enjoys an engagement at Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center on November 30, this yuletide treat also featuring your favorite Christmas songs performed by music greats Bennie Wheels and Lori Gravel.
Bennie Wheels began his entertainment career as an Elvis Presley tribute artist, and enjoyed a successful career working for Dallas, Texas' top lookalike agencies, performing countless corporate events, live concerts, and private functions, and enjoying many contest wins (including being named an "Images of The King World Competition Finalist two times). Wheels realized, however, that with more than 100,000 Elvis tribute acts out there, it was a flooded market. When the Oscar-winning 2005 hit Walk the Line was released, Wheels was drawn to the story and music of the legendary Johnny Cash. After touring Memphis, Tennessee's Sun Records in the summer of 2006, he vowed to learn how to play the guitar that had gathered dust in his office for so long, and give his best shot as a Johnny Cash tribute artist. Instantly, Wheels discovered that his vocal registry had an uncanny likeness to Cash's in every way ... even in his normal speaking voice. And from the first moment hitting the stage as Johnny Cash, it was perfectly clear how naturally the musician's tribute to The Man in Black came to him.
Lori Gravel grew up in upper Jackson County in Bernard, Iowa. She lived in Cascade Iowa from 1984 to 2014, and in the winter of 2014, she was called to be a Jackson County Girl. She now lives in beautiful area of Otter Creek. Gravel has been singing at weddings and funerals since 1982, and has also been performing with the Nutsy Turtle Band for the past 27 years. Gravel was the music director for the Ohnward Fine Arts show Honk Jr. in 2016, also participating in a vocal contest that lead to “Country on the River," and took part in the NFR National Anthem Contest. Over the years, Gravel has also been lucky enough to have sung with the Masked Carol Singers and David Brooks, and to have played June Carter Cash with Bennie Wheels at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center.
Johnny Cash is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide. His genre-spanning music embraced country, rock and roll, rockabilly, blues, folk, and gospel sounds. This crossover appeal earned him the rare honor of being inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. June Carter Cash, meanwhile, was a five-time Grammy Award winner who was a member of the Carter Family and Cash's second wife. She played guitar, banjo, harmonica, and autoharp, acted in several films and television shows, and was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
A Johnny & June Country Christmas will be performed in Maquoketa on November 30, admission to the 7 p.m. concert event is $15-28, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)652-9815 and visiting OhnwardFineAetsCenter.com.
