Johnny Cash spent a night incarcerated in the Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, jail in 1965. That event inspired his song “Starkville City Jail.”
In Starkville to perform at Mississippi State University, Cash was picked up for being drunk in public, though the song claims he was only pickin’ flowers. He later performed the song for long-term inmates of a correctional facility at his famous concert at San Quentin prison in California.
Robbie Ward circulated a petition among his fellow Starkville residents, and collected 500 signatures endorsing a pardon for Cash. (If your publicity stunt-o-meter is going off, you’ll feel vindicated when you learn that Ward is the executive director of the Flower Pickin’ Festival, scheduled November 2-4 in Starkville.)
Mississippian, and occasional wearer of black Marty Stuart has agreed to headline the festival.
Read more about the festival.