Rosanne Cash is a talent onto her own

Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rosanne Cash is not her father, the famous Johnny Cash. Rosanne is very much her own person with her own ambitions and opinions.

But does she have a favorite song?

“No. Oh no, I could never pick just one.”

Rosanne then quickly rambled off Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Ray Charles, Buffalo Springfield, Eric Clapton, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac and then finally Johnny Cash.

The 56-year-old New York resident sat down to chat recently and as it turns out, she is more than a singer. For instance, she likes quantum mechanics.

She released an album called “The List” in 2009. It was the first album Rosanne made since having brain surgery in 2007, from which she has fully recovered.

Her cerebellum was too low and was crushing her brain stem. The brave poet tackled this mountain the way she embraces life — full on.

She would actually sing “If I Only Had A Brain” from “The Wizard of Oz,” while preparing herself for surgery. Rosanne said her children were not as appreciative of her “morbid” sense of humor as she was and would tell her to “stop.”

She credited her husband, John Leventhal, an accomplished guitarist and music producer, for standing tall and guiding her through this bump in the road.

When speaking of modern-day country and pop music, Rosanne is not the least bit interested in carbon-copy music. She’s guided by a “fear of having a personal quota of first-rate songs.”

Rosanne has an urgency that drives all that she wants to accomplish.

“The List” provided many of the songs for Rosanne’s stunning collaboration with the Minnesota Orchestra, led by conductor Sarah Hicks. Her work with the Minnesota Orchestra is the basis for an upcoming tour that she is planning. She intends to perform with orchestras in major cities.

The idea for “The List” came from her father. When Rosanne was 18, Johnny Cash became alarmed that his daughter appeared to lack a deep understanding of country music. Johnny gave her a list of the “100 Essential Country Songs,” said they would be educational and told her she should learn them all.

Determination and creative spirit reveal themselves in Rosanne’s books and lyrics. Happily, the daughter of Johnny Cash is making her own path and casting her own shadow.