Jersey bands pay tribute to Johnny Cash Saturday Michael Patrick (front) and the Ring of Fire band, Mike Bisozio (l-r), Mike Rosenow and Dan Markovitch, will perform Saturday at the Starland Ballroom. SAYREVILLE - The music of the "man in black" will be celebrated Saturday during a benefit concert at the Starland Ballroom, Jernee Mill Road. The Johnny Cash tribute, an all ages, seated show, will feature the central New Jersey-based Michael Patrick's Ring of Fire band and several other acts. Just off a recent tour in Mississippi performing with Marty Stuart and Joanne Cash (Johnny's sister), Patrick and his band helped make history on Nov. 3 when they were part of a ceremony to pardon Johnny Cash for his public drunkenness crime in 1965 (Cash said he was just picking flowers at the time, which was 3 a.m.) in Starkville, Miss. It was a festival about redemption, focusing on the kind of man Johnny Cash was and his contributions to the world. The Ring of Fire band was thrilled to be called up onstage by Stuart, a popular country music singer, to join in on the finale song of "Amazing Grace," sharing the stage with Joanne Cash and Kathy Cash, Johnny's daughter. It was at this performance where Patrick met members of Johnny's family and received the greatest compliment of all from Kathy Cash, who said she heard the band from her hotel window, closed her eyes and could hear her father. Patrick's Ring of Fire band is an offspring of the successful country-rock group The Suburban Hillbillies. While the original band continues to tour locally, its members began the Johnny Cash tribute project two years ago. Patrick and the Suburban Hillbillies - Dan Markovitch, Mike Rosenow and Mike Bisozio - have long expressed a commitment to the revival of country, folk and roots music in their homeland of New Jersey. But they are now taking the show beyond the regional area. Also performing Saturday are Victory Gin, Wandering Bards, Ten Foot Tall and The Saturday Knights. Partial proceeds from the concert will benefit the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Foundation, aimed at continuing Cash's legacy of charity and helping those in need. The foundation looks to build Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the country, calling them "Johnny Cash's Boys and Girls Club: Teaching Youth to Walk the Line." Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Advance discount tickets are $18. More details are available at www.ringoffireband.com and www.starlandballroom.com.