With a career spanning 50 years – the rockabilly pioneer, country legend and American poet Johnny Cash left his mark upon many millions of fans.

Among them are four western Canadian musicians who are driven to replicate his sounds, songs and recordings in a magnificent tribute entitled Big River – A tribute to the Man in Black.

And this Nanaimo quartet will be town next weekend sharing their passion – some might say near obsession – with Cash and his music – with like-minded Langleyites.

Fronted by Dave Pittet, Big River goes all the way in its shows, not content to just imitate, but rather bring the audience past the cover songs and into the world of The Man in Black, Pittet explained.

Johnny Cash once said, “You know, performance is communicating. You’ve got to communicate. You’ve got a song you’re singing from your gut; you want that audience to feel it in their gut.”

Well, Big River continues to entertain with that principle in mind.

“It’s not only about the voice” said 43-year-old Pittet.

“It’s about living and breathing the man. His posture, his mannerisms, his moves, and his quirks. I want our audiences to go home feeling like they just observed the man himself.

“When our audiences come out to hear us perform, we want them to have the thrill of an authentic Man in Black show,” Pittet said. “Not just the words, but the full experience.”

Pittet and the band are doggedly dedicated to replicating the most authentic Johnny Cash tribute the world has ever seen. But how did it all begin?

“I am confident in saying I am the closest sounding Johnny Cash tribute out there, and my band is the best I’ve heard at recreating that train-beat sound Cash and company made famous,” Pittet told the Langley Advance.

“I say this without arrogance. I think Johnny likes me and gives me a hand up on stage. Some folk remark that I channel Johnny, lol.”

Born on a small farm in Alberta, Pittet was exposed to country and western music at the beginning of and throughout his childhood.

His father, Gabe, made it his mission to introduce young Pittet to artists he referred to as “the real deal”. The king of them all was, of course, Johnny Cash.

Pittet’s baptism in music was performing cover song in bars and clubs throughout Western Canada and beyond.

Until one fateful night only a few years back. A night that changed his life, and the lives of his band, forever.

“I discovered Cash at age 40, a bad time in my life as I left my wife and kids and was quitting my bad lifestyle, drugs, etc. J. Cash quit at the same age by the way and left his wife and kids, too.”

After a show, Pittet picked up his guitar at the bar and sang to a small after-hours gathering. After playing the last chord of Ring of Fire, he looked up from his guitar and everyone there sat with mouths open, speechless and stunned at what they had just witnessed.

“What?” he asked his audience. Concerned that he had lost his touch, he said the silence was broken by a guy at the bar.

“Are you Johnny’s twin?” he asked “because dude, this is what you should be doing.”

Unanimously, everyone agreed that Pitett sounded more like Cash than Cash himself.

“So there you have it. Some things are just meant to be,” Pittet said.

“I then started doing a medley of his biggest songs in a rock band I played second lead singer in. The feedback I got made me form American Hero, then Big River grew from the ashes of that band.”

Armed with a “God-given” rich, deep voice, naturally gifted with the ability to impersonate, and married to his acoustic guitar, Pittet said he found his destiny.

“Sometimes in life, if you turn left you fall off a cliff. If you turn right, you win the lotto.”

Fortunately for Pittet, that night, he turned right.

Big River is playing on the Cascades Casino’s Summit Theatre stage on Friday, Aug. 20.

They’re also bringing along a special guest star, Chantel Richards of Nanaimo, who does what Dave calls a mean June Carter (Cash’s wife) impersonation.

“She is one talented lady.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30, and available at the casino guest services, or from Ticketweb.ca.

“We are at the Starlight lounge in New West Casino the night before,” Pittet said. “And the weekend after at a small festival in Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island. After that date, we have a tour lining up to cross Canada, and possibly down into the States.”