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March/April 2009

Angel from MontgomeryMickey Cashpage 12

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Quite often we go through life wondering what could have been or what should have been. When it comes to our personal

lives and careers, we hope our choices leave us happy, healthy and successful. Often times though, life throws a curve ball and we find ourselves in the middle of a storm, possibly second guessing the road we chose to travel. Nevertheless, we carry on as we’ve always done. For the lucky ones, destiny comes crawling with a master plan. This story is about one such extraordinary example. Mickey Cash was born in Richmond, VA to Dorothy and Gordon Maurice Cash. Gordon and his cousin, Johnny, were both grandsons of William David. While growing up, they spent many summer nights in Tennessee. Johnny and Gordon were separately influenced by their grandfather and earned the confidence to pur-sue livings as musicians, both earning successful country music careers. Gordon Cash’s group, The Osborne Brothers, was best known for their big hit, ‘Rocky Top.’ They sold out show after show. The demands of Gordon’s touring schedule though, took a toll on his marriage. Mickey’s mother eventually grew tired of the music life and divorced Gordon, taking Mickey and her brother Ben Cash back to Virginia. After the divorce, Mickey’s relationship with her father was put on the back burner. “Life was rough. It wasn’t easy,” said Mickey. “It wasn’t until I was 30 years old that my relationship with my dad really began to form.” By that time, Mickey was married to her high school sweet-heart. His job required the family to travel, sometimes as far away as California, but as fate would have it, one such trip would lead Mickey Cash straight to famous music manager and vocal coach Leonard Reed. Reed, best known for working with such greats as Marvin Gaye, overheard Mickey singing at a Los Angeles area hotel pool. Quite im-

by Jack Sheehan

pressed, Reed asked if he could put Mickey to work while her husband continued his temporary job in Southern California. She accepted and was soon performing with amateur singer Angela Teak, who later went on to win Star Search and manage her own playwright company in Los Angeles. Mickey enjoyed her newly found 15 minutes of fame and became enthusiastic about exciting new possibilities. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I knew what I was born to do. It was my first ignition. This man who didn’t know I was a Cash told me my sound was unique, different and good. It was real validation,” said Cash. While everything was unfolding so quickly for Mickey, real-ity set in. With a new family to raise including her two young daugh-ters, Rachel and Samantha, Mickey’s husband gave her an ultimatum. The music or me. “It wasn’t an easy time for us,” said Cash. “Although my heart was torn, I put my dreams aside in order to do what I thought was the right thing at that time.” Mickey began working as an interior decorator and even-tually started her own business, but the demands of work and per-sonal stresses eventually took its toll on Mickey’s marriage. After seven years, she and her husband decided to part ways. With singing and performing on the back burner, Mickey became a single mom. She worked as hard as she could to give her girls the best life possible. With Rachel off to college, Mickey and her youngest daughter, Samantha, spent their summers on a sailboat in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Life was good and everyone seemed happy. No one was aware of the approaching storm. “It was a huge turning point in my life when I found out I had cancer of the blood,” said Cash. “Doctors told me if I didn’t start treatment immediately I would die.”

Angel from Montgomery

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Photography (also cover image) by Tom Addison of ASFIHair & Make-Up by Lisa Harris

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While trying to understand the realm of such devastating news, Mickey began to scramble for any ounce of hope. She sold her business, sold her boat and began the abdomen injections her doctors recommended. “I lost most of my hair, weighed less than 100 lbs. and my daughter was injecting me daily. I was praying for a miracle but also pre-paring for what seemed to be the inevitable.” At last diagnosis, the shots were not working and her doctor told her it was just a matter of time before she died. A frail Mickey left North Carolina and moved back to Virginia with her mother. While researching alternative treatments, Mickey’s mother was determined to keep her alive. And that she did. “My mama researched organic foods and started incorporating healthy eating into my diet,” said Cash. “Low and behold six months later my hair and weight were back!” Feeling and looking better than ever with her new found vegan and juicing diet, Mickey was ready to conquer the world. “I was very spiritually connected. My relationship with my Maker enhanced itself significantly.” said Cash. “The big house and career weren’t so important and the question of what I was born to do became very clear.” With a new lease on life, Mickey was ready to chase her dreams, and it was a chance meeting with one Dewey Via that would change everything. “When Dewey and I first started play-ing together, people went nuts. Dewey and I sang every song together. The harmonies were naturally there. It was like a lightning bolt. We sang perfectly,” said Cash. Via and Cash met through a mutual friend and immediately clicked. It was the birth of Lick N Gravey. “It was a great time for both Dewey and I. We had more gigs than we could keep up with,” said Cash.” It was surreal both personally and professionally.” Cash and Via soon fell in love and got engaged. The romance blossomed and Mickey felt strong on and off stage.

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It was January of 2007 that Mickey and Dewey packed up, crossed their fingers and headed to the Nation’s Oldest City. With guitar in hand and the shirts on their backs, Lick N Gravey took St. Augustine by storm. I too, was impressed and wrote an article for the duo in The St. Augustine Record. “The article really changed everything for Lick N Gravey,” said Cash. “It was great ex-posure. We had no idea what was in store.” Soon thereafter, Lick N Gravey was booked solid. They were even invited to sing back-up vocals for a Gator Records album. But their biggest break came from locals Jim and Maureen Gorman who invited them to perform at their 50th wedding anniversary in Maine. It was there Lick N Gravey received the offer of a lifetime. The Gorman’s wanted to support the recording of their first original album for Eclipse Records. The duo was thrilled, to say the least. Lick N Gravey worked in the studio for more than a year. They wrote several original hits including ‘Slipping a Mickey,’ a reflection of Cash and Via’s first meeting. ‘Fallen Slow’ and ‘Sleeping on the Floor,’ two other originals were inspired by the break-up of Via’s 22 year marriage. ‘If Mommy Only Loved Me,’ a 1967 hit originally written and recorded by Mickey’s father was also re-recorded for the album.

But by the time the record was com-plete, there was trouble within Lick N Gravey. Power struggles prevented the release of the album and once again, Mickey found herself at a crossroads. “We were both under a great deal of pressure from many different sources. The work of that album took every ounce of our artistic integrity and the project really taxed our per-sonal love affair,” said Cash. “We were trying to resolve social and domestic differences and in the end, couldn’t come together. It was the end of an era for both Dewey and I. It was sad and hurt me deeply.” Lick N Gravey’s fan base was higher than ever at their peak. They chose when and where to play and a full house was a sure bet if they were on stage. You can imagine the disap-pointment of fans across St. Augustine when Lick N Gravey was no more. Feeling exhausted and defeated, Mick-ey decided it was time to return to her roots for some much needed inspiration and guidance. She was about to experience a relationship with Gordon Cash she never imagined. “It was the first time I lived with my father since I was five years old. We really bonded,” said Cash. “He fathered me through this broken hearted period and put me in touch with people that made me realize I was more than capable of a solo career.” Gordon Cash really came through for his daughter this time. After pulling a few strings, Mickey was introduced to John Stacey and Mar-gie Kate of the famous Fiddling Kate Sisters. The couple produced two songs for Mickey in famous Ricky Skaggs Tennessee studio. “I’ve never done anything for you Mickey. I really want to do this,” Gordon told his daughter. It was a huge honor. One of the songs produced, ‘If Mommy Only Loved Me’ was turned into a compelling duet for Mickey and Gordon. The song is about a child estranged from their parent. That mix and ‘What A Wom-an Goes Through’ are currently being shopped at various recording labels in Nashville.

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Although Mickey at-tributes a lot of her most recent success to her father, it’s her voice and voice alone that keeps the masses wanting more. Not ev-eryone is able to land a coveted guest appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. That’s where Mickey will be performing in March. And now that she’s learned to play rhythm guitar, another seemingly natural trait, the house is sure to rock. I asked Mickey why she returned to St. Augustine this past October. “St. Augustine is the community in which I established musical integrity. I love this town and have met the most phenomenal people and made the best friends here. It seemed to make more sense to give birth to the Mickey Cash Band right here at home.” Although the Mickey Cash Band is still in the process of finding its wings, it is often made up of three to seven highly talented local musicians including Stefan Kozlowski, the famous fiddler and former member of Poland’s Symphony Orchestra. Mickey also plays with two incredibly talented musicians out of Ocala, Mike Johnson and Jim Douglas. Douglas’ most recent credit is performing pedal steel and fiddle on a major motion picture album soon to be released by Universal Pictures. Inspired by some of the greatest and now working with some of the best, Mickey Cash is a name certain to go down in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Although Mickey admits her last name sometimes offers a shoo-in, she’ll also tell you the buck doesn’t stop there. “You have to produce the goods,” she says. “Performing to my fans is the most incredible and amazing feeling. It’s as if you are standing in front of hundreds of hungry people who are there to feed. There is not a better feeling in the world... to know you brought within them... some emotion they needed.” Mickey Cash in her own right IS the angel from Mont-gomery. “To believe in this livin’ is just a hard way to go.” Having dealt with family addiction problems, sky high egos, marital infi-delty, families falling apart, and even battling for her life, Mickey Cash is a proven survivor. For booking and more information call 901.267.7088 or visit www.myspace.com/themickeycashband. n

Jack Sheehan was born and raised in Southern California. He is a 2000 graduate of the University of the Pacific in California earning a degree in media broadcast. Jack pursued a career as a television news producer after interning for The Evening News with Dan Rather and Sunday Morning news broadcasts in New York City. He then worked for ABC News for four years and was honored with an Emmy award in 2002 for Best Live News Coverage (Medium Market). Jack has lived in St. Augustine for two years and enjoys his newfound passion of writing on local musicians.