History

Much of Johnny Cash’s business was traveling and performing shows. The road life was nearly non-stop, but when he did make it home, he wanted to relax. In the 1970’s the Cashes had over thirty employees. His office, The House of Cash, was in Hendersonville, TN, just down the road from his home, and not only was his office full of people, fast paced and busy, but his very own house on the lake could be likewise. Johnny, a great lover of nature and the outdoors, put up a nine-foot chain link and barbwire fence around forty acres of his land just across the street from his residence. He filled the enclosed “compound” with exotic animals… Buffalo, fallow deer, black buck antelope, ostrich and wild boars all roamed freely in the Cash’s own personal zoo.

Johnny had an idea. He decided to build a log cabin in the middle of this enclosure, hoping for a place where he could find solace and peace, somewhere to write his songs and poetry, take it easy and relax. The hustle-bustle of his life seemed to demand it! Construction started in late 1978 and finished January of 1979. The Cabin was meticulously designed and made of hand hewn logs, an art of the past, something seldom if ever done in modern building. June decorated and added her own personal touches to the rustic structure.

Originally, the Cash family cabin was never intended to be a studio, it was only a sanctuary. Johnny would cook meals there, make breakfast for himself and his son John Carter Cash, watch movies and work on his leather works. June would stay sometimes, but mostly it was Johnny’s private “Sugar Shack”, a quiet place in the woods to recharge. There has been a lot of life lived in the Cabin, music written on the front porch, and joy shared within its walls.

The year the Cabin was built, Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds along with members of the band Rockpile visited, being some of the first to write their names on the fireplace mantle piece. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers stopped by in the early 1980’s. In 1982 Johnny’s daughter Kathy and her husband Jimmy were wed there. Television star John Schneider of “The Dukes of Hazard” fame actually lived in the cabin for a period of time in the middle 1980’s. Early visitors included actor Robert Duvall, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Bono and Adam Clayton of U2.

In 1991, June’s sister Anita Carter moved into the cabin and made it her home. It was actually Anita who first ever recorded in the cabin. Recording gear was brought in and set up and featured some wonderful musicians including Anita’s dear, old friend and master producer/guitarist Chet Atkins. In 1992, Johnny met producer Rick Rubin. Rick was had a diverse creative palate, having made recordings for Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, a number of other groundbreaking rap and heavy metal artists likewise. Johnny signed with Rick’s record company and went to California to work with Rick. Although most of Johnny’s first album in the Grammy Award winning American Recordings series was recorded at Rick’s Los Angeles home, there were a couple tracks recorded in the Cabin, with a simple tape machine and standard microphones. The magic of the Cabin’s music took off from there.

Beginning with American Recordings III, Solitary Man, Johnny went on to record almost half of the remainder of the American Recordings series at the Cabin. June Carter Cash also recorded both of her latter life Grammy Award winning albums Press On and Wildwood Flower at the Cabin. Through this process, John Carter Cash worked intensely with his parents on their music.

In Summer of 2003, Johnny’s very last recording, mere days before his death, was in the Cabin. He recorded two songs in their entirety those two sessions that day. These were “Like the 309” early in the day, for the album “American Recordings V, A Hundred Highways”, and “Engine 143” at the end of the day, for an album being produced by John Carter, “The Unbroken Circle, The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family”.

In the years that followed after Johnny and June’s passing John Carter continued to record and produce music in the Cabin. The Cash Cabin Studio, as it is now known, has changed over the years, although the heart has remained unchanged. In 2003 a tracking room was added onto the original cabin structure, along with two booths. In 2006, a control room, storage room and natural reverb chamber were built on, along with an expansive deck. Since music was first made at the cabin hundreds of talented musicians and artists have recorded at the cabin.

In 2007 Loretta Lynn began sessions at the Cabin. At the date of this writing Loretta has recorded over 105 songs at the Cabin, with her daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash as co-producers.

Now the Cash Cabin Studio is a private recording space, owned and managed by John Carter and his wife Ana Cristina Cash. And so the music continues…

GRAMMY NOMINATED AND OR WINNING RECORDINGS MADE AT THE CASH CABIN STUDIO AS OF JANUARY, 2017

  1. Johnny Cash. American Recordings—won Best Contemporary Folk Album 1995. 
  2. Various Artists. The Apostle—Track from the album, “In the Garden”, by Johnny Cash. Album won Grammy for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album, 1998.
  3. June Carter Cash. Press On—Won Grammy for best traditional folk album, 2000.
  4. Johnny Cash. American Recordings III: Solitary Man. Track from the album, “Solitary Man” won Best Male Country Vocal Performance, 2001.
  5. Various Artists. Timeless—Track from album, “I Dreamed About Mama Last Night”, by Johnny Cash. Won Best Country Album, 2002. 
  6. Johnny Cash, American IV: A Man Comes Around—track from the album, “Give My Love to Rose”, won Best Male Country Vocal Performance, 2003.
  7. Wildwood Flower. June Carter Cash—Won for Best Traditional Folk Album, 2004.
  8. Wildwood Flower. June Carter Cash—Won for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, 2004.
  9. American River. Jonathan Elias, Various Artists—Nominated for Best New Age Album, 2005.
  10. Unbroken Circle. The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family—Track from album, “Engine 143” by Johnny Cash nominated for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, 2005.
  11. Unbroken Circle, The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family—Track from album, “You Are My Flower” by Willie Nelson nominated for best male country vocal performance, 2005. **Mixed at the Cash Cabin Studio.
  12. Unbroken Circle, The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family—Album nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album, 2005.
  13. Everybody’s Brother. Billy Joe Shaver. Album Nominated for Best Gospel Album, 2007.
  14. God’s Gonna Cut You Down. Johnny Cash. Nominated for Best Short Form Video, 2008. **Vocal recorded at Cash Cabin Studio.
  15. Full Circle. Loretta Lynn. Nominated for Best Country Album, 2017.

ARTISTS WHO HAVE RECORDED AT THE CABIN

Johnny Cash
June Carter Cash
Ana Cristina Cash
Anita Carter
Chet Atkins
Del McCoury Band
Rob McNurlin
Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
Merle Haggard
George Jones
John Prine
Ronnie Dunn
Norman and Nancy Blake
Wylie and the Wild West
Billy Joe Shaver
Rosanne Cash
Tim O’Brien
Jerry Douglas
Randy Scruggs
Earl Scruggs
Elvis Costello
Loretta Lynn
Vince Gill
John Cowan
Tony Rice
John Randall
Jesse Alexander
Mac Wiseman
Fanny Grace
Laura Kaczor
John Schmid
The Youngers
Willie Kelley
Rick Lonow
Bob Britt
Danielle Reed
Spike Nicer
Chris Cornell
Alison Kruass and Union Station
Jamey Johnson
Daily and Vincent
Andy Reiss
Dez Fafara
Charlie McCoy
Marty Stuart
Pat McLaughlin
Old Union
Dave Roe
John Francis
The Brewer Boys
Danielle Reed
Carlene Carter
The Recording Kings
Emmylou Harris
Sam Bush
Kris Kristofferson
Kristina Bærendsen
The Paint Sisters
Amy Fox
Jessica Harp
Bela Fleck
Jerry Douglas
Todd Snider
Dale Jett
Larry Gatlin and The Galtin Brothers
Jack Clift and the Cedar Hill Refugees
John Francis
Carter Family III
The Grascals
Dirty Proper
HellBound Glory
Dierks Bently
Kellie Pickler
Shooter Jennings
Rebecca Lynn Howard
Janet Robin
Lynda Carter
Justin Johnson
T-Bone Burnett
Etta Britt
Pete Wade
Gene Chrisman
Rick Rubin
Rodney Crowell
Megan Linville 
The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash
Fisk Jubilee Singers
Mighty Clouds of Joy
Mavis Staples
Clint Miller
Laura Veirs
Gunter Gabriel
Collin Raye
Tanya Tucker
Devin Derrick
Rebecca Mooreland
Larry Perkins
John Carter Cash
The Assassinzs
Ronnie Bowman
Eddie Money
Josh Turner
Vince Mira
Jesse Money
Amy Nicole Lewis
Sammy Kershaw
Raul Malo
Lorrie Morgan
Kasey Lansdale
John Berry
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Mariah Jane
Eric Hamilton Band
Jeff Williams
Earl Poole Ball
Leon Russell
Jon Cole
Talk Like June
Kenny Vaughan
Lloyd Green
Pig Robbins
Andy Reiss
Bob Moore
John Anderson
Gailanne Admunsen
Caleb Caudle
The Wandering Hearts
Shawn Camp… And Many More!

ARTISTS WHO HAVE VISITED THE CABIN

Dolly Parton
John Paul Jones
Steve Earle
Snoop Dogg
Jessica Simpson
Joaquin Phoenix
Taylor Swift
Nick Lowe
Dave Edmunds
Robert Duvall
Bono
Adam Clayton
John Schneider
Clare Bowen
Brandon Robert Young
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Reese Witherspoon…
And many others…

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