When Bob Wootton went to a Johnny Cash concert in 1968, little did he know he would go on to be the great man's right hand man, confidante and lead guitar player.

For more than three decades he toured with Cash as part of The Tennessee Three, the only band the I Walk the Line singer chose to work with throughout his career.

It could all have been so much different though if that night 42 years ago hadn't panned out as it did.

"I was a big fan of Johnny and heard he was going to be a doing a concert a couple of hundred miles away," says Wootton.

"I decided to go and when I got there we heard only Johnny and the drummer were there and that the guitarist was stuck in Memphis and unlikely to get there.

"I was in the front row and said I knew the songs and could play guitar and so I played with them.

"We swapped numbers and Johnny said he would call me if they needed me again and did so two days later.

"Less than a month later I was on tour with them.

"It was right place, right time and I am so glad it was so.

"It was remarkable really, I never would have thought I would get that.

"Johnny was a great man and like everyone else.

"He had things he liked and things he didn't like, he was just like me and you."

When Cash passed away in 2003, Wootton took six years off before bringing The Tennessee Three, which now includes his wife and two daughters, back.

"I didn't know if people would accept us," says Wootton.

"But it has been great really and people know we are having a good time and they are having a good time.

"We do all their favourite Johnny Cash songs plus a few others too.

"My oldest daughter Scarlett plays guitar and sings and does Hurt and my youngest, who is 12, has taught herself to play guitar and the fiddle and writes her own songs.

"My wife Vicky plays guitar and sings too and keeps everybody in line."

The Tennessee Three, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, May 30, 7.30pm, £18.50. Call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk.