Whoever says that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks has not obviously listened to the latest release by Johnny Cash.

Teaching seems to be a misconception to Cash since he seems to be the one that is still defining country music even to this day.

With the many textures that seem to flow on his new CD, Unchained, “The Man In Black” still has a “burning desire and passion” to keep performing and evolving his music, even after reaching the distinguished age of 64.

“I have no illusions about who I am and how old I am,” Cash said recently in a press release. “But that has nothing to do with when I’m in the studio or on stage and that thing is coming out of me. That fire is just as bright and hot as when I was 23.”

Maybe part of what keeps Cash going with that young vigor and spirit is the influence of younger music stars that seem to pop up in his music.

Unchained is no exception to that with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers accompanying Cash throughout the album with their unique, down-home rock style.

Even some of the new songs that appear have roots not digging too deep into the music world with Cash doing his renditions of Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage” and Beck’s “Rowboat.”

But, whether it’s singing a track on the latest U2 album or letting the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Flea sit in on bass for a gospel song, Cash will not allow his age to define his music

It has been doing him well, to say the least.

Not to fret though, fans who still yearn for his trademark Memphis sound. Cash is certainly not moving from the Deep South to Seattle. He still plans on sticking to the roots he established 50 years ago from the days when he opened for Elvis.

Don Gibson’s “Sea of Heartbreak” appears on the new album along with other such classic country hits as Hank Snow’s tongue-twisting “I’ve Been Everywhere” and Dean Martin’s home-on-the-range ballad, “Memories are Made of This.”

His original true life musical format is still most prevalent with his tunes dealing from truck driving and railroads to southern gospel and just middle-of-the-road country.

For instance, Cash re-recorded two of his originals, “Country Boy” and “Mean Eyed Cat.” Both appear on Unchained and both have been dated to his first recording sessions at Sun Records back in 1955.

Comparing originals and covers, Cash seems to be most proud of the deeply moving Petty cover “Southern Accents.”

“When I first listened to that song, I thought, that’s my anthem” Cash said. “I love it — it says what I always wanted to say about the South.”

Though he has written more than 1000 songs, performing seems to be what Cash does best. He has played for audiences all over the world but his most recent live achievement was blowing the roof off the House of Blues in Los Angeles. After playing a scorching set backed by Petty and company, Cash returned to a jammed-packed audience to encore his folkified version of “Rusty Cage.”

In many ways it was a creative risk that has really paid off.

“I began to love the lyrics, they began to make sense to me in my own way, and now I feel good about performing it,” Cash said about “Rusty Cage.”

Maybe the audience will get a little taste of the “Man In Black” playing a little Soundgarden when Johnny Cash, his wife June Carter Cash and son John Carter Cash make a stop at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Some tickets are still available at $29.75 or $24.75 with the first guitar strums beginning at 8 p.m. Call 233-1888 to charge by phone.