Heartland -- UPI Arts & Entertainment

NASHVILLE, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Johnny Cash needs no tribute albums to cement his place as a cultural icon.

Nevertheless, two tribute projects will be released within a week of each other, each striving to capture the music of Johnny Cash and, perhaps, introduce the superstar to a new generation of fans.

The independent Dualtone Records released "Dressed In Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash" on Sept. 17. A second project, "Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash," will be released Sept. 24 by Columbia/Lucky Dog Records.

The producers of "Dressed In Black" assembled an unlikely cast of 18 singers ranging from Hank Williams III and Rosie Flores to Dale Watson and Chris Knight.

"Those are the people I know and those are the people I like," said Dave Roe, who co-produced "Dressed In Black" with Chuck Mead.

Roe and Mead, Nashville-based musicians for more than two decades, brought this project to Dualtone simply because they loved Cash's music.

"I walked in off the street," Roe said about presenting the project to the record label.

"Everybody knows they're the coolest guys in town," he said of the label executives.

Mead is a Cash music fan, but Roe, a bass player, has actually been an employee of Cash's since 1992.

When the job came open in Cash's band for a stand-up bass player in the early 1990s, Roe's friend recommended him for the job, although Roe could not play stand-up bass or some of the other instruments Cash needed. After the gig, Cash confronted Roe about his obvious inexperience with the required instruments.

"You don't really play stand-up bass, do you?" Roe said Cash asked him.

When Roe admitted that he did not, Cash asked him why he would take a job that he could not do.

"Now I can say I played with you," Roe said, answering him.

Although Roe said he expected to be fired on the spot, Cash started laughing and told him he had six months to master the instruments.

"I'm still playing with him," Roe said. "He's absolutely a phenomenal cat."

Roe's admiration as he talked about "Dressed In Black" is evident.

"It sounds trite, but (the record) really was a labor of love," he said. "Johnny Cash is the coolest guy I've ever worked for."

The songs selected for "Dressed In Black" are just as eclectic as the artists who sing them. Songs from the 1950s through the late 1970s are included. Of course, there are the obvious ones: "Ring of Fire," "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" and "Folsom Prison Blues." The project also features some lesser-known hits, such as "Get Rhythm" and "Wreck of the Old '97."

Rather than a slickly produced, expensive production, "Dressed In Black" is "stripped down, raw," Roe said. "We recorded only on eight tracks. From inception to finish, the album took three months."

With the project complete, Roe said the record has received the Cash seal of approval.

"He called me and told me he loved it," Roe said.