John Carter Cash

My father was a great outdoorsman. From when I was about six we would spend countless hours together in the woods or on a lake. He taught me how to skin a rabbit and pluck a wild turkey. He showed me there is much more to nature than we can ever understand.

My parents kept me close to them. I even slept in the same room with them throughout my younger years.

I was born on March 3, 1970, as Mom and Dad's stardom was nearing its peak, while The Johnny Cash Show, was airing regularly on network TV.

Mom was very protective of me. Her hands were gentle, and her touch was soothing. She always talked quite a bit, but she was bright and affectionate.

My first memories of my mother are of a delicate lady with a kind voice.

He was just Dad. But it's hard to deny who he was when you're brought out on stage, and you're standing beside this great man singing at the end of a show, and the crowd loves him.

I love to cook, man, I'm the short-order cook of the house. It's also my creativity. The kitchen is my space. I'm always cooking, I'm always making something.

In some ways I've gone to Cash and Carter graduate school.

In some ways, Cash and Carter is a family business that's been handed to me.

I'm always writing my own music, recording my own music, even if I am 9/10 of the time recording stuff for other people. I'm still working on my own creative endeavors.

I did a lot of struggling with my identity trying to figure out who the heck I was. I had to face my demons.

I was getting up on stage and taking a bow as soon as I could stand.

My mother's death was very painful as it occurred over a period of a week. Watching her die was the hardest thing my dad ever went through.

I don't think anyone in the world could play my father, look just like him, act just like him, and make you believe he's Johnny Cash. Joaquin Phoenix gets as close as anybody I think ever could.

I listen to all types of music.

The Carter family history means a lot to me.

Some folks expect my music to sound like my dad's.

I never felt like I had to sound like my dad. I wanted my music to be creative expression with no expectations.

It was hard to say no to Johnny Cash.

My parents were on the road a lot in the 1970s. Winifred Kelly, a nurse from the hospital where I was born, was hired to care for me. Her love and discipline had a big influence on my upbringing.

My mom, dad and me were a compact group. They instilled in me a love for the outdoors. On school breaks, we'd go fishing for a week in the wilds of Alaska or Canada. The land was always in their souls.

I saw my parents go through tough times between 1979 and 1983. They almost split up.

Seeing my father's handwriting puts me in contact with the man he was at each stage of his life.

I think most of my life I have spent trying to gain normalcy, whatever that may be.

I steadfastly believe that there is no greater love than that between a mother and a child.

Dad never really got over Jack's death and was deeply inspired by his brother throughout his life to delve deeper into his own faith.

Personally (and I believe I can speak for my sisters on this), I am against any organization or individual who believes they are superior to and/or may wish harm upon another because of race, ethnic background, religion, or sexual orientation. We also believe in the potential unification of humanity as a whole.

In the end, the best music will always rise to the top.

I was 33 when my father passed away.

I like so many kinds of music, and I work with so many kinds of music as a producer. When you work in 14 different genres, I find myself writing in those genres.

I knew 'Hurt' way before Dad recorded it. In 1992, 'Downward Spiral' was one of my favorite albums.

He gave me a picture of himself when I was 14 and it said, 'To John Carter: My Best friend, Dad.' That meant so much to me. We were best friends, but we struggled.

Dad had a way of defining himself. He couldn't put his finger on whether it was rock 'n' roll or country.

My father had a way of exposing himself, of showing weakness and still retaining his dignity.

My dad was a poet. He saw the world through unique glasses, with simplicity, spirituality, and humor.

There are thousands upon thousands of new Johnny Cash fans every year, inspired by the music, talent, and - I believe hugely - by the mystery of the man.

My father was an entertainer. This is, of course, one of the most marked and enduring manifestations.

Within the first six years of my life, if asked what Dad was to me I would have emphatically responded: 'Dad is fun!' This was my simple foundation for my enduring relationship with my father.

There's something magical that happens to every three-year-old that hears 'Ring of Fire.' That's usually where it starts for most people. They immediately want to put on a black shirt, grab a guitar and sing 'Ring of Fire.'

My father was always respectful to my grandfather. I really wanted that to be known because I never saw him disrespect my grandfather, and I never saw them have a cross word.

To me, those are the greatest treasures - the personal letters between my parents.

I've found that I really don't want to go out on the road anymore. I love my home.

When my father was, you know, a very big artist in the 1970s and then later up through the '80s. And then I began playing guitar with him in the road in the late '80s until he retired in 1997. So I traveled the world with them for years, you know, and all around the world and got to meet some great people.

Voice of the Spirit' was a project I'd been talking about for a long time. It began as an Appalachian record. But it's a record of all pure Southern gospel.

Sometimes, you find peace through misery.

My father and mother were together because of their faith.

My father was a wildfire. Really. Nobody could save him from anything. His family turned away from him, and he broke up with his first wife. It just happened to be that when he was going to get back up on his feet, my mother was there.

I was introduced to the church through my parents but I had to struggle and find it on my own. In the end I learned much of my faith and found much of my strength through watching my father's and mother's journeys.

My parents were real people. They didn't put on airs or false faces. They were what they were.

Rick Rubin and my father had a great friendship and it's because of it that the work my dad did at the end of his life was created - that he felt creativity and invigorated again, even though he was being consumed by frailty.