Nelson, Bentley head Cash Music Fest line-up

"Last year's inaugural Johnny Cash Music Festival was such a successful event, officials at Arkansas State University and festival founder Bill Carter decided to do it again this year," a press release said today. The event will be held Oct. 5 at Arkansas State University's Convocation Center in Jonesboro, beginning.

Like last year's sold out concert, proceeds from this year's event will fund the restoration of the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home in Dyess, Ark. as well as support a scholarship fund established in Cash's name.

John Carter Cash, son of Johnny said,, "There is a great talent lineup for this year's event. Rosanne will be there to represent the family. Willie Nelson was a dear, dear friend of my father and is very close to our family. He will do a great job, as will Dierks Bentley and the Civil Wars.

"I'm very excited about this year's event, and I know that it will benefit a great area and a lot of great people," Cash said. "Dyess is an area that really needs help, and this project (the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home) will help. We have a lot of good friends in Dyess, and the family is proud to see the project moving along. The best thing is that it is a continuing project, and we hope it will continue for many years to come."

The goal is to establish the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home as a museum to honor the legacy of the Man in Black. Keeping the attraction in Cash's hometown of Dyess will help boost the local economy. Cash's family moved to Dyess and the 40 acres of land as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

Tickets for the Johnny Cash Music Festival are on sale now at ASU's Central Box Office and online at www.tickets.astate.edu. Tickets can also be purchased by logging onto the official website of the Johnny Cash Music Festival, www.johnnycashmusicfest.com. Call to purchase tickets toll-free at 1-888-278-3267. Ticket prices are $150, $75, and $37.50, plus applicable fees and taxes. The $150 ticket entitles the bearer to a pre-show meet-and-greet with the artists at ASU's Convocation Center.