Ernest, who performs under that name and was born Jay Ernest Kalk, told the audience he grew up in the New Ulm area. He said he spent his first year of life in a mobile home at Traulich Estates and recalled visiting the Randalls grocery store as a child.

Ernest introduced “Green, Green Grass of Home” by describing it as an “absolutely perfect song” and an “old school number.” He framed the performance as a sing-along, asking the audience if they were ready to sing “just a little bit” and playfully teasing only a tenth of them seemed ready to participate.

Ernest interacted with the crowd throughout the set. He asked for sing-along participation and recognized audience members. At one point, he conducted a brief activity with children involving cards and a small cash prize.

The set featured multiple Johnny Cash songs. Ernest introduced “Ballad of a Teenage Queen” as one from an old television show. The band also played “Sixteen Tons,” “Jackson” and “Folsom Prison Blues,” with audience participation on the choruses.

New Ulm native Jay Ernest shares stories from his life while performing with his band Church of Cash during the closing of Bavarian Blast 2026. Photo by Amy Zents

Before “Ring of Fire,” Ernest complimented the crowd on its singing and jokingly suggested the audience might be well-prepared because it had been listening to the Bockfest Boys perform the song three times a day.

Jay used a “three words” prompt, “one bell, two alarm, three ring of fire,” to cue the audience to sing “Ring of Fire.” The audience enthusiastically joined in.

Ernest described his stage name as a combination of his own name and his father’s. He said he uses it to carry his father with him while touring.

“My name is Jay Cole. That’s my new old name, but I got a stage name. I go by Jay Ernest, and Ernest is my dad’s name. So it’s my name and my dad’s name put together. And I’d like to carry my dad with me in my name.”

The performance included original material, such as his song “Too Smart to Know Too Dumb to Care.”

“The story of my childhood is a song I wrote. It’s called ‘Too Smart to Know Too Dumb to Care,'” he said.

He also performed “Cool,” an original song that includes family references.

Between songs, Ernest shared stories from his youth. He recalled working at Godfather’s Pizza in 1992 and pranking friends by placing raw dough under car seats. He mentioned contests with friends to drink Mr. Misty slushes from Dairy Queen quickly.

Ernest said that he and the band tour nationally and in Europe. He said being from New Ulm, he likes to spread the word about the city of New Ulm. 

In 2022, he was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in New Ulm.

The audience demanded an encore so Ernest performed “We’ll Meet Again,” a song by Vera Lynn from the 1940s.

The band received a standing ovation at the end of the show.

Ernest has led Church of Cash, a Johnny Cash tribute band, since forming it in Honolulu in 2010. The band later relocated to Minnesota. Ernest has performed more than 4,000 shows across various musical styles, according to biographical information.

After the performance, Joleen Wendinger, whose family has deep roots in the New Ulm and Morgan communities, said that she and Ernest’s dad attended the same church in Morgan and the same high school. She said Ernest graduated with one of her children.

The performance took place as the final part of the weekend’s entertainment lineup.