Country legend's brother in visit to Bleary family

Many people are used to having guests over for lunch from time to time, but when that special guest is none other than Mr Tommy Cash, renowned Country singer in his own right and younger brother of the legendary Johnny, it might be looked upon as something slightly out of the ordinary.

However, for Colin Elliott, his wife Joy and children Sarah and Daniel, who live just outside Bleary, having famous visitors arrive at their house is something they have become accustomed to over the past few years.

Colin explained; “George Hamilton IV is a regular visitor to our home and he often stays here while he’s on tour in Northern Ireland or doing some recording. In recent months George and I have been working on an album project involving many singers from Nashville and we are often getting phone calls and correspondence to our home from many stars from Nashville.

“Tommy Cash happened to be doing a series of concerts in Dublin and he and his wife Marcy took some time out from their busy schedule to catch the train up to Portadown so Tommy could record some vocals. Once we’d finished we had a bite of lunch together and some time to sit down, relax and get to know each other a little better before it was time for them to head back to Dublin again.”

The CD Colin Elliott is producing is a duets album of Country Gospel songs for George Hamilton IV. As well as Tommy Cash, the album features duets with many other legendary artists from the world of Country and Gospel music such as Ricky Staggs, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Charlie Pride, Bill Anderson, Charlie Louvin, Pat Boone, the Whites, George Beverly Shea and many more.

Colin sings and plays bass guitar with the local Gospel group Live Issue, who last summer were the first band from Ireland and only the second group from the UK to perform on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

“It has been a very humbling and quite a daunting experience to have been put in charge of such an important and complex recording, but I can honestly say that I've enjoyed every minute of it,” continued Colin.

The CD is due to be released by Lamon Records in the United States and there will be a special launch concert at the Midnight Jamboree in Opryland on Saturday, July 3.