TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

I opened the record store this morning and the first phone call came from Ross, who lives up in the mountains above Glennville. A couple of weeks ago he bought six tickets to the upcoming John McCutcheon show and was calling to get one more.

"Hey, John McCutcheon came last year and I didn't hear about the show until it had passed," he said. "Luckily a friend told me about this year's show in time. I haven't seen anything in the paper. Don't you advertise?"

In a perfect world, everyone would know about the John McCutcheon show, and everyone would know who John McCutcheon is. But, flip this newspaper to somewhere around page 40 and you'll quickly become reacquainted with the fact that this is NOT a perfect world.

You know John McCutcheon is coming to town Friday night. And if you don't know who John McCutcheon is, you still have time to find out and get your tickets.

Johnny Cash, who worked with a multitude of musicians during his many decades of recording and touring the world over, knew who John McCutcheon is. How many great musicians did Johnny Cash see in his lifetime? Hundreds? Thousands? Here's what Johnny Cash said about John McCutcheon:

"The most impressive instrumentalist I've ever heard."

That statement should make you say something under your breath that you shouldn't repeat in public.

John McCutcheon will take the stage Friday surrounded by the instruments he has mastered, including acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, piano, accordion, mandolin and hammer dulcimer. But John McCutcheon isn't merely an incredible musician; he's also a lyricist and storyteller in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Like Guthrie, many of McCutcheon's songs are about regular people living quiet, little noticed, heroic lives. Songs that are meant to be learned and loved around campfires and in classrooms and everywhere people use song as a way to express what they hold in common.

Take "One More Day," a song McCutcheon released just five months after the West Virginia mine explosion that claimed the lives of 29 coal miners in 2010. Just a few of the poignant lines:

"Digging coal for Massey at the Upper Big Branch Mine, where for years we'd all complained about the air. But a good job's hard to find. Will we shut up one more time? We could smell it and knew it was there.

And we all went down in the dark of the morning. And we all came out when the sun had slipped away. Long as we are able, we'll put food upon the table. And pray that we can make it one more day.

"It was cheaper for the company to lie and fight the fine than to spend the money fixing up this hole. We had mouths to feed and the nation had the need. Everybody shut their eyes and dug for coal."

McCutcheon also writes songs of joy and love and whimsy. And his show is fun and funny. Seeing McCutcheon will make you glad you did something good for yourself. Last year's show was the most I have laughed in the last five years. I cannot wait to do it again. In fact, as long as World Records exists, John McCutcheon will come to Bakersfield every January.

Johnny Cash would approve.

Pat Evans, owner of World Records in downtown Bakersfield, is founder of the No Stinkin' Service Charge Singer-Songwriter Showcase.