A day before the opening show of his Johnny Cash tribute tour, Brendan Dugan was en route from his Papamoa home to the South Island for his first full rehearsal.  Still, he wasn’t too worried about the prospect of being underdone. Having performed for more than four decades, the singer was both confident and relaxed in his ability and that of his fellow musicians.  A nine-date tour of the South Island, entitled "Dugan Sings Cash" and featuring Canadian-born singer Tami Neilson, opened in Nelson on Wednesday and takes in southern venues next week.  "I never thought I’d do a tribute show, but it’s Johnny Cash so it’s great," Dugan said via cellphone earlier this week, a few minutes before boarding a plane at Wellington airport.  Cash’s more recent American Recording series material will not be covered, Dugan instead preferring classics such as I Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Guess Things Happen That Way and the Kris Kristofferson-penned Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.  "The biggest thing with doing Cash, of course, is singing songs that New Zealand people know. He’s recorded 500 songs and even I look at those and 80 to 90% I wouldn’t know myself," Dugan said.  "We did a little bit of this on the "Legends" tour a year ago and it just killed them, so we expanded it from that ..... It’s good fun.  "Of course, we do the duets with Tami, so that’s going to be interesting. I’ve never sung with Tami before. There will be three or four duets with Tami, maybe five. I’ll tell you tonight after we’ve done the rehearsal. It’ll be fine; she has a great voice.  "We’ve done nothing yet. It’s a bit scary really, but when you’ve done 40 years in the business you just relax.  I know most of the musicians anyway; I know what they’re like and how confident they are."

It is 40 years since Brendan got his big break by winning the televised music contest, New Faces in 1968. Born in 1952, a leap year, he celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday. He "semi-retired" three years ago, but has found himself back on stage.  "You never get away from it," he enthused, adding he was looking forward to hitting the road again.   "There is something about that Cash’s music that people just seem to hook into. I’m amazed by the young people who come to me and say, "Hey, I love Johnny Cash’. And I’m talking 17 or 18-year-olds."