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Western journalist and photographer Jeri Dobrowski's monthly column, Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews, is a regular feature of the Tri-State Livestock News. She welcomes submissions for consideration.
We're pleased to carry her monthly Cowboy Jam Session column, which is posted below.
Jeri is an award-winning writer and photographer with works appearing in publications nationwide. Among others, she has had feature and cover articles and photos in American Cowboy, Cowboy Magazine and True West.

From the official press release at the launch of the column:

A new column of interest to Western enthusiasts is coming to Tri-State Livestock News, Sturgis, S.D. "Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews," written by Jeri L. Dobrowski, debuts in January 2005.

Dobrowski explains, "When cowboy poets and entertainers get together, one of their favorite things to do is 'jam.' Simply put, they circle the chairs or lay claim to a chunk of ground, pull out the guitars and start picking. You never know what you'll hear: a timeless campfire classic, a freshly-penned composition, an occasional poem. Cowboy jammin' exposes participants and onlookers to fresh material and different voices. It broadens the horizons and excites the senses of Western heritage devotees."

Not just a book review, "Cowboy Jam" rides a slightly wider circle encompassing an expanded offering: CD recordings, cowboy gatherings and broadcasts, documentaries and films. It's a bigger herd but one whose bloodlines are familiar: historical characters and events; ranchers and ranches; cowboys, cowgirls and rodeos; poets, poetry; singers and songs. The delivery may be different but the common thread encourages readers to ponder, preserve and perpetuate the heritage of the American West.
Dobrowski welcomes submissions for consideration. Books, CDs, videos and event announcements should be sent to Jeri L. Dobrowski, Cowboy Jam Session, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621. You may reach her at 406-795-8168 or at CowboyJam@robscabinets.com.

Tri-State Livestock News is published weekly with a focus on the cattle industry. Additional coverage is devoted to the equine, sheep and bison industries, as well as pork, crops and hay. Established in 1963, the paper boasts a paid circulation of 10,700 households, rural addresses and ag-related businesses in all 50 states. The primary circulation area includes South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Colorado and Iowa.

Jeri Dobrowski is in good company at the Tri-State Livestock News, along with with Baxter Black, Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns and other columnists.

Books, CDs, videos and event announcements can be sent to:

Jeri L. Dobrowski
Cowboy Jam Session
1471 Carlyle Road
Beach, ND 58621
406-795-8168
email

Roz Brown of Lakewood, Colorado
at the 2006 Cowboy Songs & Range Ballads event, Cody, Wyoming
View Jeri Dobrowski's Western Entertainers and Personalities Gallery, designed for those creating gathering programs and other publications, includes her photos of "entertainers, storytellers, authors, artists, and gear purveyors" between.

Working as a free-lance photographer/journalist since 1981, Jeri Dobrowski’s images appear on and in cowboy poetry and music recordings, books, programs and posters.

Visit more of Jeri Dobrowski's professional photo galleries here, which include photographs of Western interest and from various gatherings and events: the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering; Cody's Cowboy Songs and Range Ballads; the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo; the Heritage of the American West show;the Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering; and others. Also view the Western Entertainers and Personalities Gallery.
The site also includes examples of her wedding photography.
View the galleries at http://jeridobrowski.smugmug.com, where you can also order photos.
Also see some of her photography here at the BAR-D.
Read more about Jeri Dobrowski below.

2009

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About Jeri Dobrowski

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

June 2009

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Last weekend, business took me on a 425-mile loop on either side of the quartzite monolith-marked boarder separating North and South Dakota. The area received record snow this past winter. Ranchers and farmers managed the best they could as roads and corrals clogged, feed-and-bedding inventories dwindled, and yet more snow fell. Livestock death losses were high, then the snow melted, causing more agony.

Effects of the bonanza-turned-bane were evident as my husband and I navigated state highways running alongside the 46^th parallel. Neither of us could remember a time when we’d seen the Dakota hills and meadows so green, the cattle so fat, horses so sleek, and stock dams universally filled to near-overflowing. No matter which direction we turned, the green rolled on before us. After a tenacious winter that only begrudgingly released its hold, we felt that surely this was the most wonderful time of the year.

The drive was as humbling as it was enjoyable. Sitting in air-conditioned comfort, I marveled at vital ranch headquarters and derelict, abandoned homesteads. It took courage, faith, stamina, and determination–and no small amount of careful planning and good fortune–to make a go of homesteading on the Plains. When all those ran low, it helped to have resiliency, ingenuity, and good neighbors.

More than a century later, we live a life of relative leisure. Much of the day-to-day toil for survival has been resolved; as a whole, we have grown soft and demanding. Let’s reconsider those who settled the West–and live here yet today–producing food and fiber for a hungry, and sometimes unappreciative, world.

Ace Canadian poet, emcee, and church pianist Doris Daley honors her great-grandmother with “Mary’s Window” from her Beneath a Western Sky CD. The introduction alone is fascinating. In it, Daley tells of the diary that pioneer and ranchwife Mary Daley kept, of her marrying an Irish-born Canadian Mountie, and settling down to ranching and raising a family 18 miles from Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada. In the diary, Mary confesses if it weren’t for the knowledge of winter coming and all the rivers she’d have to cross, she would have headed back to Ontario.

Another of Daley’s stand outs on the album is “100 Years from Now,” in which she addresses those who will come after us in the next century. Read it at www.cowboypoetry.com/dorisdaley.htm

There are two songs on the 18-track album. “Riding Home to You” and “Shades of the West” are collaborations written with, and performed by, Eli Barsi. The latter is exceptional, a fine example of Daley’s mastery of words. In it she describes green: “Green is the sweet smell of April, green runs the frost from the ground, green is the jingle and jig in your step when beef brings a dollar a pound.”

To order Beneath a Western Sky, send $18 US ($23 Canadian) to Doris Daley, Box 103, Turner Valley, AB TOL 2AO; (403) 933-4434; www.dorisdaley.com.

Ken Cook’s new CD, Cowboys Are Like That, is drawing quite a bit of attention, and rightly so. Cook and his wife, Nanc, raised their family horseback, working on ranches in southern South Dakota. Besides being a better-than-average poet, it’s obvious that this cowhand knows what he’s talking about. It comes through in the original poetry Cook writes, as well as the pieces penned by others that he selects for recitation. (Read examples of his poetry at www.cowboypoetry.com/kencook.htm. Give a listen to “Come with Me” and “The Conversation” at www.kencookcowboypoet.com/cds.htm.)

When Cook says, “A good day spent horseback feels like sittin’ in God’s hand,” you know it comes from deep within his soul. When he describes rain as “every drop’s a gift,” you know he’s needed it, prayed for it, rejoiced when it finally fell from the omnipotent sky. In his world, spurs are worn for work, “never just for show.” Here’s a man who finds joy in doctoring sick cattle with the help of his boys, sorting pairs with his daughter, and showing up at a neighbor’s place with four good hands who will make a difference in the day’s work.

Cowboys Are Like That is available for $15 from Ken Cook, 23154 Teal Lane, Martin, SD 57551-6601; (605) 685-6749; www.kencookcowboypoet.com

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2009, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Ed. Note: Ken Cook was recently named the Lariat Laureate at CowboyPoetry.com.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

May 2009

Going to the Blogs

A recent after-branding conversation touched on blogs. Not dogs, although there was a stray at the corral earlier in the day. Blogs.

“Blog,” short for weblog, was coined in 1999. Think online diary—a running account of the author’s personal life or viewpoint—written for public consumption and accessed via the computer. Beyond posting short essays, some bloggers share breaking news, opinions, gossip, recipes, and poetry. Others use the format as a marketing tool. Most allow readers to write a comment or respond to a question within a forum or chat room. Some offer contests. The more ingenious the author, the more varied the features.

Annika Nelson, a staff assistant with North Dakota Horizons and contributing member of the blogosphere, triggered the discussion as we visited after supper at the Box O. She likes to embellish her posts of seasonal North Dakota happenings with photos: horizontal-lines.typepad.com. Unfortunately, her camera battery ran low that day, so she went home with only a few images. That’s too bad. Had handing her camera to someone been an option, she could have been photographed doing duty as half of an all-important calf wrestling team.

As a blogger, Annika likes to stay on top of what’s happening in the genre. She mentioned her favorite, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, touting the author’s engaging writing and incredible photography. I wanted to know more and discovered that Annika has excellent taste in blogs.

Confessions took honors for best-designed weblog, best photography, and best weblog of the year at the 2009 Bloggies, which recognizes the best in blogging. City-girl-turned-ranchwife/blogger, Ree Drummond, married a cattle rancher. They live in rural Oklahoma, where she home schools their four children. “Black Heels to Tractor Wheels” is the continuing saga of their courtship and marriage. But wait, there’s more! Ree also dishes on topics such as home schooling, cooking, and home & garden. It’s easy to see why fans voted it tops: thepioneerwoman.com.

Here are several other ag-related blogs I hope you’ll enjoy:

Western South Dakota rancher and saddle maker Robert Dennis has been blogging from Red Owl since September 2006. His Dennis Ranch Blog, dennisranch.wordpress.com showcases a refreshingly simple snapshot of work and family life on a northern Great Plains cattle operation. It’s a horse-and-saddle outfit. No four-wheelers here. Robert’s photos add a great deal to the ongoing dialogue. His “After the Blow” is exceptional, portraying winter in the bucolic setting: dennisranch.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/after-the-blow/p3310012.

Sharon O’Toole started her weblog in 2006 as well. She and husband, Pat, ranch in the Little Snake River Valley on the Wyoming-Colorado border. Her blog traces the activities and life on their six-generation family ranch, “from the mundane to the fabulous.” Sharon is one of the most disciplined bloggers whom I follow, faithfully chronicling what’s happening with the sheep, cattle, dogs, horses, and family. As with Annika and Robert, Sharon’s photos add depth to the narrative. Be sure to check out the entry for May 23, 2009, entitled “Shearing, shearing, shearing, lambing”: westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/sharono.

College student and South Dakota cattle producer Amanda Nolz launched her BEEF Daily Blog in the fall of 2008. The subject of her first installment was Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling. On May 11, 2009, Amanda posted a photo and caption taken on the occasion of her graduation from South Dakota State University. She has since returned home to work with her parents on the family ranch. I like Amanda’s Quick BEEF Daily Fact at the end of each post: blog.beefmagazine.com/beef_daily.

Raised on a corn and bean farm in Ohio, Alex Tiller runs a national farm management company based in Denver, Colorado. As such, he visits a variety of farms in different areas of the country, and around the world, that grow all kinds of crops. He shares his experiences and news about commercial farming, family farms, organic food production, sustainable agriculture, the local food movement, alternative renewable energy, hydroponics, agribusiness, farm entrepreneurship, farm economics, and farm policy in his blog on agriculture and farming: blog.alextiller.com.

Washington State’s MaryJanesFarm includes not one but two farmgirl blogs on the website devoted to organic gardening, life skills, and community. Rural Farmgirl Blog™ is hosted by René Groom at maryjanesfarm.org/RFBlog. City Farmgirl Blog™, penned by Rebekah Teal, is at maryjanesfarm.org/MJFBlog. (Learn more about MaryJanesFarm magazine at maryjanesfarm.org.)

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2009, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

April 2009

Cowboy Poetry Week: April 19-25, 2009

Rural librarians across the West are hanging a poster featuring vibrant artwork by noted Western artist Bob Coronato and busting the shrink wrap off The BAR-D Roundup, Vol. 4. The poster and CD are made available at no cost to participating libraries by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. The Center sponsors Cowboy Poetry Week and CowboyPoetry.com.

Cowboy Poetry Week is celebrated during April–designated as National Poetry Month in the U.S. and Canada. This year marks the eighth annual celebration of Cowboy Poetry Week. It runs April 19-25, 2009. The United States Senate passed a resolution recognizing the celebration in 2003. Since then, it has been recognized by 21 states’ governors and other officials. A variety of festivities take place in communities across the West and beyond.

Through the outreach of the Rural Library Project, even the smallest communities in the rural West can experience the folklore and tradition associated with cowboy poetry. Each year, an exciting new CD is offered to libraries, along with a Cowboy Poetry Week poster. Some libraries host events and exhibits to celebrate: www.cowboypoetry.com/week2009.htm#Events

This year’s official poster (http://www.cowboypoetry.com/bobcoronato.htm) features artwork by Bob Coronato, courtesy The Greenwich Workshop, Inc. An East Coast native, Coronato now divides his time between Hulett, Wyoming (near Devils Tower), and Atascadero, California. His works are often set in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming. An astute observer of detail, Coronato gets the details right, as evidenced by the title of the painting: “The Horse Wrangler Gather’d The Morning Mounts: ‘One That Had’n Lived The Life ... Couldn’t Paint a Picture ...To Please The Eye, of One That Had!’”

This year’s 28-track, fourth-edition BAR-D Roundup combines classic and contemporary cowboy poetry from a Westerner’s viewpoint. Like Coronato, the poets and authors represented on the album “get it right.” Joel Nelson, one of the genre’s most respected contemporary poets, opens with “The Men Who Ride No More.” There’s also the epic “The Red Cow” by the late Larry McWhorter, and “Tracks that Won't Blow Out” by the late Ray Owens.

Classics by Bruce Kiskaddon and Henry Herbert Knibbs are recited by Randy Rieman and Jerry Brooks. Dick Morton offers the traditional “The Cattleman’s Prayer,” and the late JB Allen does “Roundup in the Spring.” Jesse Smith recites the melancholy “The Black Beauty.” There is a fourth annual selection from Grass, by the late Buck Ramsey, the recognized spiritual leader of cowboy poetry.

The viewpoints expressed are not just from men. On the contrary, there’s a refreshing abundance of womens’ perspectives: “The Cows Came First” by Jane Morton; “Housewife” by Georgie Sicking; “A Plain Ol’ Housewife” by Yvonne Hollenbeck; “Average Girl” by Doris Daley; “Ida’s Bread” by Jo Lynne Kirkwood, and “Half the Hand” by Diane Tribitt. Even Rodney Nelson’s crowd-pleasing favorite, “Cowboy Laundry,” gives voice to a cowboy’s wife.

The adorable lad pictured on the album cover is Gail Gardner. Reproduced from an 1890's tintype, it hints at the vintage recording of Gardner (1892-1988) reciting/singing his famous work, “The Sierry Petes (Tying Knots in the Devil's Tail).” Gardner’s grandson Gail Steiger recites another of his grandfather’s works, “The Dude Wrangler.”

Other poets serving up contemporary and classic poems on the Vol. 4 include Allen Clark, Ken Cook, Elizabeth Ebert, DW Groethe, Linda Kirkpatrick, Slim McNaught, Rod Miller, Pat Richardson, Jay Snider, and Andy Nelson. Nelson, a Wyoming poet, humorist, emcee and radio host, co-produced the project. Baxter Black sticks a fork in the project and calls it “done” with a radio public service announcement, written and delivered as only he can.

Continuing a tradition of excellence established with The Bar-D Roundup Vol. 1-2-3, this latest release is a must-have for those who savor cowboy poetry.

Look for The BAR-D Roundup, Vol. 4, at your rural Western library. To purchase your own copy, send $20 to CowboyPoetry.com, PO Box 330444, San Francisco, CA 94133. Previous years' releases are available. Purchase Vol. 3 and 4 together for $35; Vol. 2, 3, & 4 for $50. (U.S. and Canadian postage included. Add $5 for all other addresses.) Pay by a secure, on-line credit card at www.cowboypoetry.com/cd.htm. Proceeds support the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry.

Posters are not available for purchase. They are offered to libraries and to supporters of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. Become a supporter at www.cowboypoetry.com/donors.htm#joinus.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2009, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

March 2009

Musical albums substitute for family photo albums

’Long as I can remember, I’ve been enthralled by vintage photographs. As a child, I spent hours entertained by black-and-white images held fast to black paper stock lashed firmly within hand-tooled leather albums. Although I knew each scant description written beneath, I read them nonetheless, committing to memory the dates and information noted. I relished the occasions when Grandad Bill or Dad unfurled a fragile, shimmering projection screen on which we’d watch home movies and 35mm slides.

The best songwriters are every bit as capable and effective in capturing memories of the human experience. And, in the instance where no camera was present, can reconstruct the events with such vivid clarity that you’ll never miss the picture.

Zion Canyon Song Cycle captures the landscape, heritage, and contemporary work-a-day world of Utah’s Zion National Park. Written by composer Phillip Bimstein, the 16-tracks are based on oral histories he collected from friends and neighbors. They portray the area’s imposing rocks, river, and ubiquitous red soil, inhabited–but never completely tamed–by a cast of local characters (and maybe a ghost or two). The research, composition, and performance were funded by a grant from the nationwide Continental Harmony commissioning program of the American Composers’ Forum.

As with any family album worth its salt, Zion Canyon Song Cycle covers both the milestones and the mundane. Performed by the 6-piece ensemble, Red Rock Rondo (redrockrondo.com), it is not Western music, but rather music of the West. The vocalists and musicians employ an assortment of folk and orchestral instruments: guitars, violins, oboe, English horn, mandolin, banjo, mandocello, harmonica, button accordion, jaw harp, and upright bass. (Listen to six full-length tracks at profile.myspace.com/redrockrondo.) Members of the ensemble are Kate MacLeod, Hal Cannon, Phillip Bimstein, Harold Carr, Flavia Cerviňo-Wood, and Charlotte Bell.

Included within the above-mentioned files are two of my favorites: “Marvelous Flood,” recounting Nathan Tenney’s son’s birth amid an 1862 Virgin River flood, and “Boy Who Never Saw a Train,” about Tom Mix’s fascination with Lloyd Crawford, 14-year-old boy growing up so rural that he’d never seen a train in the early 1920s.

The Salt Lake Tribune named Zion Canyon Song Cycle among their 2008 Top Ten Albums, tapping it as the best local album of the year. It also appeared in the top ten of the International Folk DJ Charts with “When President Harding Came to Zion.”

Purchase Zion Canyon Song Cycle by mail for $18. Send a check to Red Rock Rondo, 983 Lincoln St., Salt Lake City, UT 84105. Order online from CD Baby: cdbaby.com/cd/redrockrondo.

Cowgirl balladeer Juni Fisher imprints her great-grandfather’s story in our minds in the award-winning Gone for Colorado ... to live a cowboy’s life. Fisher, known for her masterful, multi-layered storytelling, takes the listener along with John E. Overstreet as he journeys from the family farm in Missouri, to Colorado and New Mexico. She reins-up at the ranch of her own childhood, in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

In 1880, at 14 years of age, Overstreet ran away from home and headed west to be a cowboy. Processing genealogical research, family lore, and supposition, Fisher develops poignant and touching snapshots of his experiences along the way, family members lost, and family members never known. Dovetailed with her own original compositions are the traditional “Railroad Corral” and “Colorado Trail,” and tracks written by Ian Tyson and by Gary McMahan. Texas record producer extraordinaire, Rich O’Brien, one of the genre’s greats, lent his talents to the album.

Listen to Fisher’s folksy, cowgirl style and you’ll understand why Gone for Colorado was selected as the outstanding traditional Western album, as presented by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Okla. (nationalcowboymuseum.org) The awards honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. Dating back to 1982, previous traditional Western album winners include Don Edwards, Buck Ramsey, Riders in the Sky, David Wilkie, Red Steagall, Waddie Mitchell, Sons of the San Joaquin, and R.W. Hampton.

Order the 16-track Gone for Colorado (plus other titles) online from junifisher.net or by mail. Send $17 for 1; $32 for two; $46 for 3 (postage included) to Red Geetar Records, 2105 Granville Rd, Franklin, TN 37064. Her albums are also available from Amazon.com and CD Baby. While you’re at it, order a copy of Tumbleweed Letters: cdbaby.com/cd/junifisher.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2009, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

February 2009

What is it with girls and horses?

Abbie’s attraction to horses was apparent. The walls of her bedroom were tacked and taped with images of horses: pictures cut from pages of magazines, photos of her family’s beloved mounts, renderings she had drawn and colored. Stiff-legged model horses stood at attention in a sturdy handmade barn and corral that overtook a large portion of the floor. I felt right at home. The decorations and toys reminded me of my room at her age, along with the rooms of most of my friends.

What is it with girls and horses? Kids and horses? Adults and horses?

On Horses’ Wings, a lovely and insightful collection of music, spoken word, and poetry, celebrates the mystical bond between humans and horses and the life lessons learned through developing such partnerships. The album opens and closes with Buck Brannaman ("the horse whisperer") reciting “The Man in the Arena” by Theodore Roosevelt. Brannaman also recounts meeting his stepfather for the first time, drawing a parallel between his experience and that of a young horse. Joining him on the 19-track CD are country-and-cowboy musicians from Nashville and the Northwest: James Cain, Wylie & The Wild West, Mary Ann Kennedy, Templeton Thompson, Antsy McClain, and Patty Hall. Kerry Anderson’s equine artwork, worthy of display in Abbie’s room, enhances the album package. Listen to several full-length tracks at www.myspace.com/onhorseswings

Produced by Hall, On Horses’ Wings sells for $20 plus s/h. All proceeds go directly to Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center (www.littlebit.org), 19802 NE 148th St., Woodinville, WA 98077. Little Bit provides weekly therapeutic horseback riding lessons and Hippo therapy to more than 250 children and adults in the Puget Sound area. Riders experience not only physical benefits (greater strength, balance, and prevention of bone weakness and joint dislocation), but also emotional, cognitive and social benefits. (For more on Little Bit, watch the YouTube videos at www.myspace.com/onhorseswings.) Order On Horses’ Wings from The Eclectic Horseman at www.eclectic-horseman.com.

Amid rows of gear, boots, and bling displayed in the Las Vegas Convention Center during Cowboy Christmas, I came across a copy of Cowgirl Living—Lifestyle Magazine for the Western Woman. Canadian barrel racer Lindsay Sears and her horse Martha were featured on the cover. I’d not seen nor heard of the publication previously and was pleasantly surprised by it.

A glossy bimonthly, the publisher touts Cowgirl Living “for women who choose a Western way of life”—more specifically: horsewomen. The purpose of the magazine is to provide horsewomen with articles that help better their lives outside the arena. Articles focus on day-to-day challenges of “juggling family, career and horse activities,” covering Western fashion, cowgirl celebrities, tips for barn and home, and a recipe section. To get a feel for the magazine, check out the premiere issue. Elementary school teacher and National Finals Rodeo barrel racing finalist Kelly Mabin is pictured on the cover, along with her daughter, Macye. You’ll also find a feature article on planning your indoor arena: www.cowgirl-living.com/images/CLM0308_lowres.pdf

Cowgirl Living is available at Tractor Supply Stores and other western retailers. Subscriptions are $18 for one year (six issues) from PO Box 296, Lohrville, IA 41543; 866-894-1108; www.cowgirl-living.com

The popular Cowboy Songs & Range Ballads at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, is on hiatus until 2010. A statement issued by the Buffalo Bill at www.bbhc.org/events/cowboysongs.cfm says the move was made “to ensure more time for planning and fundraising. Please understand how much this disappoints us, and we know our faithful performers and attendees are disappointed as well.” Responding to numerous requests for something to take up the slack, Leslie Keltner, Runumuk Cowgirl Productions, is spearheading a one-day festival celebrating the music, poetry, and lifestyle of the cowboy.

Songs of the Cowboys is scheduled for Sat., April 4, 2009. Open-mike sessions will be held during the day at Cassie’s Supper Club, with spotlight presentations at businesses throughout the downtown area. Two different concerts—one at 3:00 p.m. and the other at 7:00 p.m.—will be held at Wynona Thompson Auditorium. Performers scheduled to appear, with more to be confirmed, include Bill Chiles, Rex Rideout, Bob Lantis, Otto Rosfeld, Gwen Petersen, Georgie Sicking, Pop Wagner, Open Range, John Shreve, Jim Garry, Larry Thompson, the Yampa Valley Boys, Glenn “Ike” Hall, and Leslie Keltner.

For more information on Songs of the Cowboys, contact Keltner at (307) 587-1558; cowpoet@vcn.com

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2009, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

January 2009

Silver State hosts silver anniversary of National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Back in 1985, Elko, Nevada, played host to a little get-together. Meant to be a one-time event, the gathering brought together practitioners of the obscure folk art of cowboy poetry. They came from cow country, got together, got acquainted. They shared poems, shared phone numbers, and headed back from whence they had come—back to raising beef cattle.

Charlie Seemann, executive director of the Western Folklife Center, which produces the gathering, says: “They all had too much fun, the press loved it, and they said, ‘Let’s do it again next year.’ Frankly, I think everybody’s a little surprised at the longevity of it and the fact that it just seems to keep getting a little bigger.”

Fifteen poets who participated in that first gathering are among more than 130 artists who are heading to Elko for the 25^th annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (NCPG). An eight-day event—January 24-31, 2009—the gathering also features cowboy and western music, prose, storytelling, films and visual arts, workshops, lectures, dancing, regional foods, and traditional cowboy crafts. The events-a-plenty, silver-anniversary edition of the NCPG offers performances on seven simultaneous stages around Elko.

In the past, I’ve noted those artists who hailed from the Tri-State Livestock News coverage area. In honor of this year’s milestone, I’m including all of the official 2009 poets, musicians and musical groups. (As an added bonus, the Western Folklife Center has added an audio clip along with the biography and photo of each performer. These full-length clips provide a next-best-thing glimpse of the gathering—without having to stop for gas every 400 miles or pass through airport security: http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php/2009-NP-Performers/):

Adrian Brannan (CA), Oscar Auker (TX), Baxter Black (AZ), Dave Bourne (CA), Jerry Brooks (UT), The Burson Family (TX), Jon Chandler and the Wichitones (CO), Bimbo Cheney (NV), Bob Christensen (WA), E.T. Collinsworth (NM), Cowboy Celtic (CAN), Rick “Sourdough Slim” Crowder (CA).

Doris Daley (CAN), Jay Dalton (NV), Duane Dickinson (MT), John Dofflemyer (CA), Carolyn Dufurrena (NV), Elizabeth Ebert (SD), Don Edwards (TX), Leon Flick (OR), Dick Gibford (CA), Janice Gilbertson (CA), The Gillette Brothers (TX), Peggy Godfrey (CO), Skip Gorman (NH) & Connie Dover (WY), DW Groethe (MT).

R.W. Hampton (NM), Linda Hasselstrom (SD), Andy Hedges (TX), Don Hedgpeth (TX), Yvonne Hollenbeck (SD), Hot Club of Cowtown (TX), Jess Howard (ND), Yula Sue Hunting (UT), Linda Hussa (CA), Chris Isaacs (AZ), Teresa Jordan (UT), Echo Klaproth (WY), Ross Knox (AZ).

Walt LaRue (CA), Ray Lashley (CO), Bill Lowman (ND), Corb Lund (CAN), Rusty McCall (NM), Betty Lynne McCarthy (MO), Wallace McRae (MT), Lyn Messersmith (NE), Waddie Mitchell (NV), Clark Morris (OR), Michael Martin Murphey (NM), Joel Nelson (TX), Rodney Nelson (ND), Kay Kelley Nowell (TX).

Glenn Ohrlin (AR), Gwen Petersen (MT), The Quebe Sisters Band (TX), Vess Quinlan (CO), Henry Real Bird (MT), Duane Reece (AZ), Pat Richardson (CA), Riders In The Sky (TN), Randy Rieman (MT), Tom Russell (TX).

Chris "Sandman" Sand (ND), Bob Schild (ID), Georgie Sicking (WY), Jesse Smith (WY), Dave Stamey (CA), Gail Steiger (AZ), Kent Stockton (WY), Milton Taylor (AUS), Ian Tyson (CAN), Jack Walther (NV), Bill Wood (SD), Wylie & The Wild West (WA), and Paul Zarzyski (MT).

By and large, the performers live in rural locations across the West; a handful make their home east of the Mississippi River. However, more than 40 percent of those who make the trek to the NCPG travel from urban areas.

“People want to hear something authentic, from the heart and rooted in the land,” explains Hal Cannon, founding director of the Western Folklife Center. “When we started in 1985, there was an energy that came out of cattle country, that took hold of talented and creative men and women from every generation, and brought a representative group together for the first time in Elko to express their art. The response was greater than anything we could have imagined; and it's stronger than ever today. People are writing and sharing poetry who might never have dared before. Had it not been for the gathering, this creative energy from ranchers and cowboys may have never found voice.”

The Western Folklife Center’s Website (http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/) is extensive. I encourage you to investigate it for yourself. Don’t miss these highlights:

2009 Schedule:
http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/images/stories/explore/ncpg/2009/schedule_1-12.pdf

Podcasts: http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php/Podcasts/

Gathering Moments on Film:
http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php/National-Poetry-Gathering-Videos/Gathering-Moments-on-Film.html

Gift Shop: http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php/vmchk/Gift-Shop/View-all-products.html

For an index of all invited performers, swing over to http://www.cowboypoetry.com/elkolist.htm.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.
© 2009, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

December 2008

Christmas Gifts Ideas: Part 2

December 25 is coming, racing as fast as yearling heifers through an open gate. Relax! Take a deep breath. Do only what really needs to be done; let the rest go. For the harried homemakers amongst you, ask each family member what one Christmas goodie they want, and make only those. You’ll reduce money spent on ingredients, hours spent in the kitchen, calories tempting you at every turn, and stress.

If you have a few gifts yet to purchase, consider the following:

Evelyn Cameron: Pictures from a Worthy Life—a documentary film about the frontier photographer who left behind 35 years of diaries and thousands of images taken in eastern Montana at the turn of the 20^th century. Born into a life of privilege in England, Cameron homesteaded on the eastern Montana prairie with her husband. An independent spirit, she started a photography business which contributed significantly to the couple’s meager ranch income. Produced by John Twiggs for KUFM/Montana PBS, UM Missoula—and airing on Public Television Stations nationwide—it is exceptional!

The documentary is available as either a DVD or VHS (be sure to specify) for $24.95. Order from The Evelyn Cameron Foundation, PO Box 497, Terry, MT 59349; (406) 635-4966; www.evelyncameron.com. Also available from the foundation is Photographing Montana, Donna M. Lucey’s book showcasing more than 150 of Cameron’s photos taken between 1890-1920. Send $44.95 for the softcover; $67.95 for the hardback.

Houlihan: the Cowboys of Montana and Wyoming—fourth in The Vaquero Series by filmmakers Susan Jensen & Paul Singer, detailing the history and regional differences among America’s cowboy cultures. Released in May 2008, and running 95 minutes, there’s scenery to please the eye and Western music for the ear. Previously released were #1 Tapadero (California vaquero), #2 The Remuda (Great Basin buckaroo), and #3 Holo Holo Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy). A fifth title, released December 5, 2008, is #5 Los Primeros (first vaqueros; filmed in Spain, Mexico, and throughout the American West).

Individual DVD titles sell for $21.95 in the US (shipping included); $22.95 in Canada; $28.95 Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Order from J&S Productions, PO Box 91560, Santa Barbara, CA 93190; (805) 695-0164; www.tapadero.com. Purchase all five (Tapadero, Remuda, Paniolo, Houlihan, Los Primeros) for $90 US, $95 in Canada, and $105 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand. Or, find a store that sells the series: www.tapadero.com./html/locations.html.

Southwestern Souvenirs—a relaxing and nostalgic collection of guitar music by Rich O’Brien. Himself a member of the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame, the CD won the prestigious Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. You’ll find “Wheels,” “Blue Skirt Waltz,” and the theme to “Gunsmoke,” with lyrics sung by Don Edwards. See the full track listing and listen to three samples at www.westernjubilee.com/SouthwesternSouvenirs.htm.

Send $15 + shipping to Western Jubilee Recording Company, PO Box 9187, Colorado Springs, CO 80932; (800) 707-2353; www.westernjubilee.com. (NOTE: Free shipping on domestic orders over $50 placed via the website!)

Pieces of the Past—a CD by South Dakota ranchwife, Yvonne Hollenbeck, featuring songs by Jean Prescott. This 15-track collection is the 2008 Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year as presented by the Western Music Association. Hollenbeck and Prescott each bring considerable talent to the project produced by Rich O’Brien. The down-home subjects range from “Grandma’s Homemade Apron” to “The Little Red Geranium.”

Send $18.50 to Yvonne Hollenbeck, 30549 291st Street, Clearfield, SD 57580; (605) 557-3559; www.YvonneHollenbeck.com. Listen to “Prairie Patchwork” from the CD at www.yvonnehollenbeck.com/books.html.

The World According to Baxter Black: Quips, Quirks & Quotes—the annual Christmas release from everyone’s favorite veterinarian-turned-cowboy entertainer. Baxter describes the delightful little “crossbred collection” of quips, quotes, quirks, truisms, exaggerations, philosophical observations, cowboy humor and perspective–with illustrations by A-10 Etcheverry–as a happy book: “It’ll make you or whoever you give it to happy ... it’ll make us happy, and happiness will spread like cheap wine on a white tuxedo!”

I like to think that it is also a handy book. You can read for a few moments and put it down without worry of marking the page. Pick it up later and continue reading. There’s no real beginning or end (even though there is a page plainly labeled “The End”).

The 156-page hardback sells for $19.95 + shipping. (Buy two for $39; get a third one free; offer expires Dec. 15, 2008). Order from Coyote Cowboy Company, PO Box 2190, Benson, AZ 85602; (800) 654-2550; www.baxterblack.com/

Also from Coyote Cowboy Company is Baxter’s double CD, Blazin' Bloats & Cows on FIRE!, with more than two hours of cowboy poetry and tall tales. It features such favorites as “Sixty Foot Rope,” “Taxidermy Heifer,” plus a personal favorite of mine, “I Know You’ll Miss This Man.” It sells for $24.95 + shipping.
Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.
© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

November 2008

Christmas Gifts Ideas: Part 1

Books have always been one of my favorite gifts to give. There’s one for every interest. There’s no worry about the format becoming outdated. They’re portable and can be shared with others. (If you haven’t already set up such a record-keeping system, keep a written record of books you have out on loan.)

Out of chute number 1 is Gwen Petersen’s humorous handbook for country living, How to Shovel Manure & Other Life Lessons for the Country Woman. My Montana-raised brother-in-law and sister-in-law, now living in Reno, Nevada, each gave it two thumbs up. He liked the progression of stories starting in the spring–proceeding through each seasons’ activities–concluding with an appropriate poem. She appreciated the accuracy, having experienced many of the same things growing up on a ranch. Her particular favorite was opening the refrigerator and having calf vaccine fall into the Jell-O.

The publisher notes, “For good measure, the book includes poems and recipes that will transport you to a country state of mind–whether you hail from the city’s busiest streets or the ranch’s quietest gravel roads.” Called the Erma Bombeck of the farmhouse and the Ann Landers of the barnyard, Gwen makes country life sound like a lot more fun that it really is.

How to Shovel Manure & Other Life Lessons for the Country Woman (Voyageur Press, 2007, 224 pages, hardback, illustrations & recipes; ISBN: 0-7603-2862-5) retails for $17.95 at bookstores and is available at Amazon.com. Contact Petersen at PO Box 1255, Big Timber, MT 59011; (406) 932-4227.

A decidedly more somber view of life in the American West is represented by the letters and diaries in Best of Covered Wagon Women, edited by Kenneth L. Holmes. Originally appearing in the 11-volume series, Covered Wagon Women, eight selected works appear in “Best,” along with an introduction by Michael L. Tate.

The firsthand accounts of women who braved the westward migration between 1848 and 1864 convey the hardship, adventure, and camaraderie that made the overland experience tolerable. They tell of rough roads, rickety bridges, quicksand, swarms of mosquitoes, downpours that soaked bedding, birth and death, children with cold feet, foul drinking water, and the stench of dead livestock littering the roadside. But, there were also joys: fresh water; plentiful grass; breathtaking vistas; wild strawberries and currants.

Look for Best of Covered Wagon Women (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008, 304 pages, paper; ISBN: 978-0-8061-3914-2) in bookstores or order from http://www.oupress.com/ where it sells for $13.97.

Another group of individuals who saw their share of hardship in the nineteenth-century American West were soldiers. Jeremy Agnew shares the challenges of an enlisted man in Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier. Bad food, substandard quarters, uncomfortable uniforms, harsh conditions, and tedious drills were hardly what young soldiers envisioned. Far from the glories they imagined, they were often bored and lonely, working seven days a week in desert heat and winter’s worst.

Mountain Press says: “In addition to describing the nitty-gritty details of a soldier’s daily life, this fascinating study explores the Indian Wars from the perspective of both the military and the Indians and examines all aspects of the post-Civil War army, including its organization, its weapons, and its personnel.”

Life of a Soldier on the Western Frontier sells for $16 from http://mountain-press.com. Buy it as a reference; buy it for the great stories. (Mountain Press Publishing, 2008, 272 pages, photos, maps & appendices, paper; ISBN: 978-0-87842-541-9)


Robb Kendrick’s suite of tintype photographs, Still: Cowboys at the Start of the Twenty-First Century, earns my vote for this year’s most unusual coffee-table book. The positive images captured on primitive metal plates (versus film’s negative process) are captivating. Tintype photography was cutting edge technology back in 1856, but hardly considered newsworthy nowadays–until Kendrick used the process to portray today’s working cowboy.

Kendrick, a sixth-generation Texan whose work is seen in National Geographic, logged 41,000 miles traveling to where cowboys ply their skills. His figures his quest took him 16 weeks (over the course of six years), while traversing 14 states, Mexico, and Canada. Despite being characterized as a dying breed, Kendrick found the cowboy culture intact and functioning. Accompanying the 144 images is an essay by Marianne Wiggins and an afterword by Jay Dusard, both Pulitzer Prize nominees.

National Geographic hosts a video on the process behind photographing and developing tintypes:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/12/vaquero/tintype-interactive

National Public Radio has a multimedia slide show narrated by Kendrick: www.npr.org/programs/day/features/photo_op/kendrick/slideshow/index.html

Purchase Still: Cowboys at the Start of the Twenty-First Century (University of Texas Press, 2008, 232 pages, 144 b&w photos, hardback; ISBN: 978-0-292-71438-0) in bookstores or from www.utexas.edu/utpress/, where it’s priced at $33.50.
Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.
© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

October 2008

Cowboy Crooners

Last month I touched on the difficulty of defining Western music. Often associated with cowboy music, fans would never lump them together with country and Western. While they share a common genesis, each has developed its own personality, much as any child might. To read what others are saying on the subject, rein on over to CowboyPoetry.com: www.cowboypoetry.com/whatiswesternmusic.htm. You’ll find submissions on the topic, along with a similar discussion on “What is cowboy poetry?”

But back to cowboy music ... thumbing through CDs submitted for consideration, I selected three artists whose work falls within my personally-defined parameters. Each brings something different to the table: a Texas cowboy’s viewpoint, a hint of Nashville, a Montana rancher’s life experiences.

Gary Prescott was born and raised in deep South Texas. Working on his family’s ranch with 1,500-head of momma cows, he also rode bulls and bareback broncs. He explains: “For the first 23 years of my life, I was either riding horseback or riding a tractor. All I knew was cowboy. Then I went to work in the oil field to save up money for my own place. In 1993, I went to my first cowboy gathering. It was like coming home again.”

Rough Country, Wild Cattle is the result. Gary wrote or co-wrote eight of the 12 tracks. He shares credit with his wife, Jean, on “Shootin’ the Gap” and “Cowboy Blues,” the latter being one of my favorites. The title is deceiving in that the collection is actually quite mellow and soothing.

Gary and Jean have several recordings between them, including a double CD entitled Cowboy Forever. To order Rough Country, Wild Cattle, send $18 to Prescott Music, PO Box 194, Ovalo, TX 79541; www.jeanprescott.com

Robert Joe Vandygriff’s The Cowboy Ain’t Dead Yet: Vol. 1, is the most stereotypical. I don’t say that in a negative way. Described by the Dallas Morning News as “one part Gene Autry, one part Will Rogers, and one part Zig Ziglar,” Vandygriff stars as Joe Texas in a historically-accurate, one-act musical comedy dispelling the rumor that the cowboy is a dying breed. The 13 tracks on Vol. 1 tell the story of the American cowboy in song and verse. You’ll find the likes of “I’d Like to be in Texas,” “Cattle Call,” “Rawhide,” “Colorado Trail,” and “Mariah,” along with lesser known titles and a handful of factual tidbits. Vandygriff presents them all in fine style. Listen to snippets at www.cowboyaintdeadyet.com

The Cowboy Ain’t Dead Yet: Vol. 2 contains 20 tracks–most of them contemporary–plus bonus Joe Texas sayin’s. Vandygriff, who played Ranger Mike in Walker, Texas Ranger, had some commercial music success in Nashville in the 1970s. Returning to the Lone Star State, he and his wife, Deb, make their home in Lipscomb County, in the state’s northeastern panhandle. It’s there that he penned two of my favorites from Vol. 2: “A Cowboy’s Promise” and “The Ballad of Charlie Kidd.”

Vol. 1 sells for $12; Vol. 2 is $15. Send check or money order payable to The Cowboy Ain't Dead Yet, PO Box 85, Lipscomb, TX 79056; www.cowboyaintdeadyet.com (806) 852-2432.

Leave Texas, head up the trail to Wibaux County, Montana, and you’ll find Bob Petermann. A rancher/poet/singer/songwriter, Petermann has lived his entire life in the rugged badlands of eastern Montana. He’s comfortable amid the short grass, cedars, cottonwoods, and plums that grow wild around the home place. He’s equally at home horseback or with a guitar in hand. His music is pure cowboy.

Following on three previous recordings, Petermann released Thanks for the Rain in 2007. A gospel album, it contains 12 tracks with standards such as “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” “Gathering Flowers for the Master’s Bouquet,” and “Consider the Lillies,” along with three originals: “Where the Grass Grows Green All Year Long,” “Don’t Look Back,” and the title track. Petermann’s humble nature and deep-seated faith shine through in every verse. (For more about Petermann: www.cowboypoetry.com/bobpetermann.htm)

Besides Thanks for the Rain, I wholeheartedly recommend Petermann’s Takin' up Slack. It is one of cowboy music’s most honest portrayals of the lifestyle. Order the pair. You won’t be sorry. Send $15 for each CD to Bob Petermann, 942 Pine Unit Road, Wibaux, Montana 59353; 406-486-5618.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.
© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

September 2008

If I Hadn’t Seen the West

Aboriginal artists were the first to honor the sweeping beauty of the American West, paying homage with voice, drum, and paint. Ever since, man has attempted to capture its essence in song, on canvas, paper, and film. As a result, Western music and art encompass a range of styles as sweeping as the geography they seek to embody.

I count among my most memorable concert moments a brief five minutes last fall when California singer/songwriter Joyce Woodson performed “If I Hadn’t Seen the West.” Seated in the audience at the Western Music Association Festival in Albuquerque, N.M., I was mesmerized by Woodson’s one song during the Barn Dance. Accompanying herself on a guitar, she sang with eloquence and heart, recounting her affinity for the West in a rich alto voice.

For whatever reason, our trails had not previously crossed. That was why I was in New Mexico, to get acquainted with artists I’d not heard or met. Far from being a newcomer to the festival circuit, Woodson has performed folk music from coast to coast–at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo.; at the Autry Western Heritage Museum in Burbank, Calif.; in Nashville, Tenn.–and as an invited guest at the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, Belfast, Ireland.

Woodson serves up pure Western melodies reminiscent of the Sons of the Pioneers (www.cmt.com/artists/az/sons_of_the_pioneers/bio.jhtml), but the words and melodies are her own. Famous for such classics as “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water,” Woodson says of the group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye, better known by his stage name of Roy Rogers: “Those harmonizing voices brought the cowboy life and landscape clearly into focus for me–so much so that I felt like I was in the saddle with them, and I never wanted the trail or the song to end.”

To that end, Woodson wrote and recorded 11 tracks for her latest CD, If I Hadn’t Seen the West. Aside from the title track, I think she did a bang-up job on “I Heard about it in a Song,” “Waddie, Get Your Boots on,” “The Question,” and “I Don’t Want to be a Cowboy Anymore.” Listen to sample tracks under “discography” at www.joycewoodson.com, where you’ll also find lyrics to “If I Hadn’t Seen the West.”

To order If I Hadn’t Seen the West, send $17 to Joyce Woodson c/o Radish Records, 32158 Camino Capistrano #366, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675; reach her at (949) 493-4791.

Aside from meeting artists at festivals and gatherings, I also meet them at my mailbox. CD shippers and padded envelopes show up every now and then, bearing addresses from across the United States and Canada.

It’s exciting to open a package and see what’s inside. I don’t take it lightly when I receive such a parcel. Whether it’s from a poet or singer, author, publisher, or film maker, I understand the time, effort, and expense that go into producing such a project. Unfortunately, space doesn’t allow me to tell you about them all.


Rich Flanders is one of those artists whom I met down at the mailbox. His album, Yondering: Songs of the American West, arrived with of all things, a New York State address. An address means little to me if the material inside is good, and Yondering is good.

Like Woodson, Flanders (www.richflanders.com) shares an enduring fondness for the Sons of the Pioneers. A former Broadway performer, he too tips his hat to the group in the acknowledgments, commenting that of the many kinds of music he’s performed, the songs on the album are the ones he most often sings to himself. A labor of love he contemplated for years, Flanders provides fresh lead and harmony vocals on the 16 tracks.

Songs were selected based upon their universal appeal. You’ll instantly recognize the majority of the songs celebrating the peaks and prairies. Five were penned by Bob Nolan, including “Chant of the Plains” and “Blue Prairie.” Other cowboy/Western classics include “Blue Shadows on the Trail,” “Ridin’ down the Canyon,” “River of No Return,” and “Song of the Trail.” For generous track samples, head over to cdbaby.com/cd/richflanders and take a listen. If you like what you hear, order directly from CDBaby. Yondering sells for $16 plus $2.25 shipping.
Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.
© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

August 2008

Oklahoma ... Where the West Remains!

This past winter I spent many a late night following genealogical crumbs left by my ancestors. One trail led to a branch of the family tree rooted in Oklahoma. My maternal grandmother, Lucille, was born in 1911 in Pawnee County. Her parents, Vinton and Susie (Lancaster) Wildman, married in Osage City on Christmas Day 1897. Susie’s father had acquired land in the 1889 Land Run, homesteading on the Osage and Pawnee Nation, Oklahoma Indian Territory. The Lancasters came to Oklahoma from Texas.

Vinton was not present when Grandma Lucille was born. He had gone to Montana to file on a homestead claim. Suzie and the couple’s four children joined Vinton in Custer County, Montana, making the trip by train just days after Lucille’s birth.

While ankle-deep in familial photos, faxes, and photocopies, R.W. Hampton’s Oklahoma ... Where the West Remains! Centennial Journey in Story & Song: 1907-2007 serendipitously arrived in the mail. Recorded at an official Oklahoma Centennial Commission event, the 32-track CD captures Hampton, the Enid Symphony Orchestra, Rich O’Brien, and the Chisholm Trail String Band as they chronicle the state’s history. Three years in the making, Oklahoma native Edna Mae Holden brought the project to life with the assistance of a great many folks–historians and musicians alike: www.wherethewestremains.com/about.html.

Hampton, with his rich baritone voice, narrates the show and provides vocals. The music is a mix of old standards and original compositions, including “The Run of the Cherokee Outlet,” of which my Great, Great Grandfather Lancaster was a participant. Just over an hour in length, the musical time capsule weaves together the lives of Native Americans, cowboys, settlers, Buffalo Soldiers, African Americans, immigrants, favorite sons, and outlaws.

In my family’s case, there are plenty of the latter. Included among Great Granddad Wildman’s shirt-tail cousins are Texas gunfighter John Wesley Hardin, train robber Sam Bass, and cowboy-turned-robber Thomas Edward Ketchum. Also add to the list of interesting cousins gun company owner, and manufacturer of the Winchester repeating rifle, Oliver F. Winchester. But, I digress ...

Oklahoma...Where the West Remains! received the 2008 Wrangler award for best traditional Western album as presented by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Listen to all the songs from this award-winning CD, in their entirety, at www.rwhampton.com under “Music”. Like what you hear? Order online or send $25 to Hampton Land & Lyrics, PO Box 150, Cimarron, NM 87714; 800-392-0822.

I’d been hearing about Kent Rollins for a couple of years before meeting him in Elko at the 2008 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Proprietor, cook, and bottle washer of the official Oklahoma State Chuckwagon, Rollins spins a hilarious yarn and recites an occasional poem. If his cookin’ is anywhere as grand as his stories, he must leave a mess of satisfied diners in his wagon’s wake. For more on Rollins: www.cowboypoetry.com/kentrollins.htm.

Once I got a-holt of the Oklahoma ranch cook’s CD, Kent Rollins: Live in Branson, it only took a matter of minutes listening to “The Olympics” before I realized why people appreciate his storytelling. Two other tales from the 12-track collection that I found especially entertaining are “The Exterminator” and “Ben Hur.” To order Kent Rollins Live in Branson, send $17 to Kent Rollins, Rt. 1, Box 318, Hollis, OK 73550; (580) 688-3693; www.KentRollins.com. (Regrettably, his chuckwagon cookbook is out of print.)

Rollins teaches a Chuckwagon Bootcamp for wannabe pot rustlers. The open-air classroom is near Hollis, on the banks of the Red River, northeast of Childress, Texas: www:westernmusicnetwork.com/Bootcamp.html.

Cyril, Oklahoma cowboy poet Jay Snider introduced me to his amigo Kevin Davis last fall at the Western Music Association Festival. Born and raised in southwest Oklahoma, Davis made quite a stir with his swarthy good looks and equally appealing voice. This year he’s in the running for the Crescendo Award, chosen from among the associations’ rising stars.

Davis worked as a ranch hand before becoming a fire fighter. He also rode saddle broncs and roped steers. He knows of what he writes and sings. In 2003, he was invited to perform at Elko’s National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. His music is authentically cowboy and realistically Western. His 10-track CD, Every Horse I Ever Rode, is smartly written and professionally produced. I’m betting it will become one of your favorites. To order, send $16.50 to Kevin Davis, PO Box 131, Walters, OK 73572.
Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.
© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears here at the Tri-State Livestock News.

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews
- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

July 2008

Sounds for the busy season

As summer takes the bit in its mouth and races across the horizon toward the first frost, I can only glance wistfully at the books and magazines clamoring for my attention. Colorful stacks, sorted by size and subject, are growing beside my desk; there’s another bedside. For me, outdoor demands take precedence over reading during the brief growing season here on the Northern Great Plains. While I can’t devote as much time to reading as I’d like, I can listen as I scrub radishes, dice rhubarb, and make a parts run. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve been playing lately:

Beneath a Western Sky by Texas cowgirl Linda Kirkpatrick

Gaining a reputation for her quality poetry recitations, Kirkpatrick is joined by saddle pals Frank Roberts and Joe Wells on this 2005 recording. The trio, known as Sunset Serenade, is familiar on the southern cowboy and folk festival circuit, presenting Western history in story and song. Subtle, well-chosen sound effects and background music add to the selections without overpowering. You’ll find 17 tracks on this CD, including one of my all-time favorite contemporary cowboy poems, Debra Coppinger Hill’s “Old Yellow Slicker.” Another track worthy of mention is Bruce Kiskaddon’s “Bronco Twister’s Prayer.” I never tire of hearing Kirkpatrick recite this classic. She does such a grand job.

“When Roundup Time Comes Around” and “Cupful of Mem’ries” are Kirkpatrick originals. Raised on a ranch near Leakey, Texas, she was fortunate to have known a good many cowboys, the subject of both pieces. Kirkpatrick is best known for “Cathay Williams,” the true story of a female Buffalo Soldier. (Read the poem at www.cowboypoetry.com/lk.htm)

Besides her interest in poetry, Kirkpatrick writes a monthly column that appears in Texas Escapes, an on-line magazine dedicated to Texas travel and history. Her column, Somewhere in the West, focuses on the Texas Hill Country: www.texasescapes.com/LindaKirkpatrick/Linda-Kirkpatrick.htm

To order Beneath a Western Sky, send $15.50 to Linda Kirkpatrick, PO Box 128, Leakey, Texas 78873. Contact her at lbrice@hctc.net; 830-232-5308.


Vaudeville Cowboy by singer-yodeler-accordionist Sourdough Slim

Despite his goofy demeanor and retro appearance, Sourdough Slim is a serious musician, well versed in American folk music. It’s easy to be blinded by his 1920's-era cowboy duds and Vaudeville shtick–which is exactly where he wants you. During the Depression, cowboys were popular on the big traveling tent show circuit. Vaudeville Cowboy is a 17-track tribute to the cowboy entertainers of the first half of the 20^th century: Tom Mix, Jimmie Rodgers, Col. Tim McCoy, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Will Rogers. Augmented by Sourdough’s own compositions, you’ll hear such period classics as “Jean From Abilene,” “Golden Slippers,” “Man on The Flying Trapeze,” and “In the Jailhouse Now.” The arrangements are made all the more authentic–and endearing–having been recorded with novel instrumentation of the day.


As much as I like Vaudeville Cowboy for its historical significance, it’s not been the commercial success of Sourdough’s Classics. Featuring great old-time cowboy and hobo songs, it’s little wonder. You’ll find “High Noon,” “Cool Water,” “Boots and Saddles,” “Tennessee Waltz,” “The Big Rock Candy Mountain,” “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” and “Back in the Saddle,” among others. Sourdough performs these songs mostly solo, accompanying himself on guitar, accordion, tenor banjo, baritone ukulele, and harmonica. (Give a listen Sourdough’s sound clips at www.sourdoughslim.com)

Order either Vaudeville Cowboy or Classics for $15 each (postpaid/US funds). Send cash, check or money order to Sourdough Slim, PO Box 2021, Dept. CJS, Paradise, CA 95967. Contact Sourdough at 530-872-1187.

Calling All Cowboys, hosted by Charley Engel

Charley Engel, a.k.a. Chuckaroo the Buckaroo, has been hosting Calling All Cowboys on KPOV-LP FM, Bend, Oregon, since the community station began broadcasting in June 2005. A writer for the Central Oregon Horse Journal, he enjoys trail riding and performing music. As Chuckaroo the Buckaroo (don’t let his radio moniker scare you off), Engel shares a pleasing, eclectic mix of old-time and contemporary cowboy and Western music, cowboy poetry, Western swing, old-time radio, and artist interviews with his radio audience.

The two-hour show is available on demand through the magic of the World Wide Web. Listen at your convenience: www.kpov.org/index.php?option=com_shows&task=view&id=57. Select “Most Recent” or “Previous” from “Show Archive.” It’s that simple. Take Engel up on his invitation to “Ride the dusty high-desert as we explore music, poetry and old-time radio, all with a decidedly Western bent.”
Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

June 2008

Gas Mileage and Summer Escapes

Trying to get away between haying and harvest is hard enough without stratospheric fuel prices. Near-$4/gallon gas could deflate all but the most pressing travel plans. Rabid news reporters are quizzing consumers on how they’re cutting corners, cutting back, preparing for the next torturous trip to the pump.

The answers aren’t exactly cutting edge: Families are cooking from scratch and eating at home. They’re baking bread, planting gardens, stocking up on sale items. (One desperate Lois Lane, trying to make the most of the situation, labeled buying and freezing sale-priced beef, pork and chicken as “food hoarding.”) Folks are walking, riding bikes, riding horses, sharing rides. They’re spending weekends at home, discovering the backyard, reconnecting with family, meeting their neighbors, and driving slower.

Which brings me to Baxter Black’s audio book, Hey, Cowboy, Wanna Get Lucky? Released in 2007 and touted as “the best-selling rodeo novel ever written,” Baxter presents the adventures of Lick and Cody on their quest to qualify for the finals–in its unabridged entirety. Notice I didn’t say he “reads” the book. It’s more like theater of the mind. Kudos to producers Brent Reason and Gail Steiger.

I took the seven-CD, PG-13 rated book on a recent trip. Unable to find a run time on the package, I wondered how much of the tale my husband, Rob, and I would hear. Then I saw it printed on the case: “Almost 450 miles of listenin’!” But, traveling at what speed, I wondered.

Baby calves were soaking up the sun as we headed west with Baxter. It was much like a trip in 1989 when Rob and I met Baxter at the Rapid City, S.D. airport for an in-car interview en route to Winner, S.D. As was the case then, laughter filled the car and the miles fell quickly behind us. It occurred to me that there should be a warning on the case: “Listening to this book while driving may constitute a hazard slightly less dangerous than painting your toenails, reading a book, or using a cell phone.”

We interrupted Baxter and stopped at the Basque coffee shop in Miles City, Mont. I knew he’d second the motion. Back on the road, eagles glided along the Yellowstone River, a military honor guard presided over a burial at Custer, bulls lolled in a pasture awaiting turnout. We were engrossed in Lick and Cody’s quest for the finals.

Returning home, I took my question regarding Baxter’s mathematical computations to the “arthur” himself and was told that the 450 miles of listenin’ is at 75 mph. By my calculations, that’s 420 miles at 70 mph; if you slow down to 65 mph, it’s 390 miles. Of course, your mileage may vary. Even if gas is expensive, it will hurt less while listening to Hey, Cowboy, Wanna Get Lucky? Order your copy online at www.baxterblack.com or send $29.95 to Coyote Cowboy Company, PO Box 2190, Benson, AZ 85602; 1-800-654-2550.

Despite what’s happening with fuel, I expect a full house in Cody, Wyoming, for Brian Lebel’s Cody Old West Show & Auction. The auction is Thurs., June 26; the show Fri.-Sat., June 27-28. A 144-page, full-color sale catalog arrived in my mailbox last week. Gracing the cover is a 1870s Mexican saddle made for a wealthy vintner in the Republic of Mexico (estimated selling price: $50,000-$100,000). Decorated with cactus fiber and silver, it is exquisite!

Also pictured are a Missouri River and Black Hills Stage Company ticket; Winchester 1876 Serial #4; original artwork by Will James, O.C. Seltzer, Edward Borein; 27 first-edition Will James books; 1889 Colt Navy revolver with Furstnow and Coggshall holster, once the property of Texas Ranger and first sheriff of Miles City, Montana, Bill Hawkins; Luis B. Ortega quirt; J.A. Garrett’s (Johnson County War) Colt. Saddles carry the marks of such makers as Shipley, Visalia, Meanea, Frasier, and Bohlin. There’s even one with an AM radio built into the pommel. As a kid, I dreamed of just such a thing.

I’ve attended the event on several occasions and give it two spurs up. But, if a trip to Cody doesn’t fit within your budget, order yourself a copy of the catalog. It’s a great reference that you’ll pick up again and again. Order online at www.codyoldwest.com or send $30 to Cody Old West Auction, PO Box 2038, Carefree, AZ 85377; (307) 587-9014.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

May 2008

A Father’s Day hat trick
If the dad in your life is a rancher or a horseman, here’s a Father’s Day suggestion that will be as welcome as a second cutting of alfalfa to a dryland producer—Holo Holo Paniolo. In Hawaiian, holo holo means "to get around." That’s exactly what the documentary producers do in episode three of their ongoing Vaquero Series, this time featuring island cowboys called paniolos.

By chance I caught a screening of Holo Holo Paniolo at December’s Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, Monterey, Calif. I couldn’t have been happier to see the footage, and I finally met Susan Jensen and Paul Singer.

Jensen and Singer, J&S Productions, have undertaken what can only be described as a labor of love, showcasing the history and regional differences among America’s cowboy culture. The 90-minute Paniolo follows #1 Tapadero, the California vaquero, and #2 The Remuda , the buckaroo. (For more on these previous releases see Cowboy Jam Session May 2007 below). Number 4, Houlihan (northern range), was just released May 12, 2008. But, back to Paniolo.

The story of how cattle came to the islands, and became a menace, is every bit as interesting as the traditions of those caring for them. In 1833, King Kamehameha recruited three vaqueros from California to train Hawaiians to ride, rope, and catch the wild cattle that were running rampant in his kingdom.

J&S spent six weeks filming across the five islands. Naturally, there’s footage from one the largest cattle ranches in the United States–the Parker Ranch–running 17,000 head on 175,000 acres. But, you’ll also see smaller homesteads of the native Hawaiians.

Adaptations to a rocky and wet environment can be seen in the construction of stone corrals and the Hawaiian saddle. Because of the high humidity, a traditional high Plains saddle is ill-suited to the tropics. Instead, paniolos adopted a stripped down tree that is waterproof for swimming cattle to boats and dries quickly.

As with previous episodes, there is a cowboy music component to the DVD. In the case of the Hawaiians, it’s the slack-key guitar tradition, a remnant of the vaqueros’ Spanish guitars.

Individual DVD titles from the Vaquero Series sell for $21.95. Bundled, episodes #1-3 sell for $55; episodes #1-4 sell for $77. All prices include shipping. Order from J&S Productions, PO Box 91560, Santa Barbara, CA 93190; (805) 695-0164; www.tapadero.com. To locate a store that sells the series–from Hawaii to Montana, Texas to Germany–visit www.tapadero.com/html/locations.html.

A recent arrival in my mailbox that I’m delighted to recommend is Ray Doyle’s The Emigrant Trail: a Journey West. The Dublin-born Doyle is familiar to fans of Wylie & The Wild West as Wylie’s longtime band leader. That alone says a lot, but Ray is a class act in his own right. This CD makes that point perfectly clear.

In liner notes, Doyle recounts his family’s journey aboard "an overcrowded ship for a turbulent nine-day voyage from Ireland." Eventually, they settled near the Hollywood Hills in California. While not biographical, the 11 tracks successfully condense the immigrant experience that is America, spanning both the continent and the centuries.

Doyle did a masterful job of selecting and choreographing the songs, which are a mixture of original compositions and traditional tunes, plus Jimmy Driftwood’s "Tennessee Stud," Gordon Lightfoot’s "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," and "The Vaquero Song" by Dave Stamey. From the gut-wretching title track to the lovely guitar instrumental "Rosalba," from Doyle’s award-winning Yellowstone National Park tribute, "The Jewel," to a mournful 7th Cavalry ballad set to a leisurely-paced "Garryowen," it’s a grand journey.

The tempo changes from track to track are smooth and effortless; the subject matter interesting and refreshing. A surprisingly educational "The Jigger Boss" is a fine example of the latter. And, yes, that’s Cowboy Celtic you hear on Doyle’s arrangement of "The Water is Wide" and several others.

Order The Emigrant Trail for $18 (postage included) from Ray Doyle, PO Box 661111, Mar Vista, CA 90066; ray@raydoyle.net. It would be wise to order two copies. It’s the type of CD you want to listen to again and again, and you won’t want to part with it once you’ve heard it.

If your dad prefers books to videos or music, consider Ray Hunter’s 135-page hardback, Dim Trails. Hunter lived the life of cowboy and rancher, with most of his years spent in South Dakota. In 1995, he started writing stories about how things used to be.

Born in 1928 near White River, S.D., Hunter was six years old when his father died. Hard pressed to make ends meet, Hunter’s mother farmed him out to earn his keep. He and a brother bounced between an aunt in California and farms and ranches in southwest South Dakota.

At 13, Ray came to live with Baxter and Lyndall Berry on their ranch south of Belvidere. The Berry family ran several thousand steers on three townships near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Baxter’s father, Tom, was an old family friend of the Hunters and South Dakota Governor from 1933-37.

Art Thode, brother to 1929 All-Around Cowboy Earl Thode, was on the Berry payroll when Hunter arrived. Thode could have taken credit for teaching the lad to ride broncs, as related in "Horse Manure in the Milk Bucket." As a 15-year-old, Hunter wrangled the horses in the morning, riding a green two-year-old colt. Thode, who milked the Berrys’ cow, would step out of the shadows, holler at the wrangler, and toss the milk bucket under the colt. Naturally, the colt would blow up and buck out the gate. Hunter writes, "This went on all spring until I got so I could set up and ride, and he never bothered me again."

Ray served two years in the Marines, from 1946-48. Back home, he again earned his living horseback. He worked as a cowhand on several outfits, was cowboss for Frank Greenough’s Antler Land & Livestock at Wyola, Mont., and managed the Berry Ranch for 10 years. He also ran a few cows of his own, ran a bar near Cottonwood, S.D., worked construction, sold real estate, and learned the auction business. He married and raised two sons and two daughters, who he describes as "all good hands with a horse."

Hunter worked for the Berrys, off and on, for 30 years. Most of the work pertained to raising cattle and breaking horses, but there was the annual hog drive, related in "Shippin’ Hogs." The Berrys ran range sows–similar to range cows. When it came time to take them the market, they’d get a wagon load of corn and feed them a little. The next day, they’d move the wagon a couple hundred yards and feed a little more. Pretty soon, the hogs would follow the wagon. It was 15 miles from the ranch into Belvidere; the trip took about a week. The Berrys raised between 600-700 hogs each year. Proceeds paid the grocery bill and the land leases.

Stories like these put a fresh face on the Old West, challenging some stereotypical notions about cowboys and ranchers. But, don’t worry, there are still plenty of entertaining, enlightening and engaging stories about horses, roundups, and rodeos.

Hunter sold the last of his cattle in 2004 and moved to town. While you might wonder how an old cowboy is taking retirement in town, don’t worry. Hunter says, "It don’t bother me a damn bit to sit and look out the window and remember the things I’ve done. I did a lot of interesting things."

To order a copy of Dim Trails, send $25 (postage included) to Ray Hunter, 1220 Cedar St., Apt #409, Sturgis, SD 57785; 605-347-0218.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

April 2008


When a cowboy’s fancy turns to poetry

It’s spring on the Northern Great Plains, the time when a rancher’s fancy turns lightly to thoughts of calving. Among cowboy poets, spring also brings Cowboy Poetry Week, observed this year from April 20-26. The inauguration of Cowboy Poetry Week came in 2002, building upon April’s designation as National Poetry Month in 1996.

Released in conjunction with Cowboy Poetry Week, The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) is an audio anthology showcasing 26 cowboy poetry recordings. The compilation was conceived and orchestrated by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. The Center sponsors CowboyPoetry.com, the world’s largest, ongoing cowboy poetry gathering.

If you’re a regular follower of this column, you are likely aware of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume One (reviewed, below, in April, 2006) and Volume Two (reviewed, below, in April, 2007). Both received critical acclaim. I expect the same will prove true of Volume Three.

This year’s collection takes listeners across the breadth of the North American West: from the days of the early Texas cowboy to the Yukon gold rush, from once-legendary cattle ranches to modest, modern-day family outfits. In large part, the collection is a reverent retrospective honoring those who toiled in the West. A sprinkling of humorous selections provides just the right amount of comic relief:
Texas horseman Joel Nelson opens with “Shadow on the Cutbank,” an intelligent salute to the “horseback man for hire.” Jay Snider recites Luther A. Lawhon’s “The Good Old Cowboy Days.” Lawhon was a founding member of the Trail Drivers’ Association in 1915. Snider hails from Oklahoma. D.J. O’Malley’s classic “The ‘D2’ Horse Wrangler” receives a playful presentation by Arizonan Ross Knox.

Canada’s poetic darling, Doris Daley, provides “Bones,” assessing the bodily damages incurred by three fence-sitting cowboys. Deadly accurate with meter and rhyme, California’s Pat Richardson—king of the spoof—spins a yarn about the time he befriended “Bigfoot.”

Aspiring cowboys could learn a lot from Wyoming cowboy and octogenarian Georgie Sicking as she recounts what it takes “To be a Top Hand.” There’s more sound “Advice” from New Mexico cowgirl and rancher Deanna Dickinson McCall.

Montana’s Wallace McRae, National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow, contributes “Urban Daughter,” a touching piece recorded live in Elko, Nev., at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. I was in the audience when the recording was made and was delighted to hear it again!

Wyoming emcee, funny man and radio host Andy Nelson gets serious and pays homage to his brother in the well-crafted rhyme “The Old Crockett Spurs.”

Henry H. Knibbs’ classic, “Where the Ponies Come to Drink,” gets the star treatment from noted Montana reciter Randy Rieman. This is as close to perfection as you’ll get when pairing a classic poem with a contemporary reciter.

DW Groethe, a Montana day hand, calls an endearing roll of horses in “My Father’s Horses.” Fond sights and smells from Paul Kern’s Utah childhood take center stage in a short but powerful, “At Codding’s Place.” South Dakotan Ken Cook comes clean about his family’s horseflesh in his spot-on-the-money “Bloodlines.”

“The Memories in Grandmother’s Trunk” by past Texas Poet Laureate Red Steagall should inspire us to leave such a treasure for future generations. South Dakota master quilter and poet Yvonne Hollenbeck showcases her dual talents in “Prairie Patchwork,” a tribute to one woman’s “life out on the plains.” “Fiddleback Headquarters” by Wyoming’s Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns is part family history and part guided tour.

Listening to Bill Siems, Spokane, Wash., recite “The Strawberry Roan” by Curley Fletcher is akin to hearing the classic for the first time. Take the music away and really listen to the words—it’s glorious! Known for making words sing, Paul Zarzyski performs “Luck of the Draw.” Zarzyski is the recipient of the Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Literature.

Utah miner Jerry Brooks recorded Badger Clark’s “The Free Wind” especially for this project. Fans who have long been asking for a full-length recording will be pleased with this offering.

“Chapter Two” is the third annual selection from the late Buck Ramsey’s master work, Grass. An NEA National Heritage Fellow, Ramsey is recognized as the modern spiritual leader of the genre.

Smoke Wade tells of his family’s Idaho ranch that was lost through changes in land management policies in “A Change of Season.”

Susan Parker recites “The Homemade Cigarette” by A.V. Hudson, a vintage piece she uncovered while doing research for her Wild Women of the West program. It brings to mind a neighboring rancher from my childhood who rolled his own smokes.

“Bill’s in Trouble,” by James Barton Adams, is skillfully and humorously recited in perfect character by Hal Swift. Following on his heels is “Jack Potter’s Courtin’” by S. Omar Barker. Recited by Mick Vernon, it is a delightful rendition of the tongue-tied puncher trying to purpose to his gal.

Linda Kirkpatrick’s eloquent recitation of Bruce Kiskaddon’s classic “The Bronco Twister’s Prayer” slows the collection, signaling the approaching end.

Gene Kern, CKWX, Vancouver, introduces the final cut—and it’s a dandy–a 1948 recording of Robert Service reciting “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” Service lavishes more than nine minutes on the tale, infused with a hearty Scottish accent and lengthy pauses. Kudos to the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry for making it available to the public!

A radio Public Service Announcement by South Dakota radio personality and Heritage of the American West producer Francie Ganje brings the collection to a wrap. Wyoming cowboy entertainer Andy Nelson engineered and co-produced Volume Three. A vintage photo of Texas cowboy Perry Preston Dickinson, circa 1912, appears on the cover. Deanna Dickinson McCall, who recites “Advice” is his granddaughter.

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) sells for $20 postpaid. Order from CowboyPoetry.com, PO Box 330444, San Francisco, CA 94133; or by credit card or Paypal from CowboyPoetry.com.

If you don’t already have the two previous compilations, I encourage you to complete your set now, while the others are still available. Volumes Two and Three are available for a special price of $35 postpaid. Volume One (quantities limited) sells for $20 postpaid.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

March 2008

Till Leap Year gives it twenty-nine

Superman and my cousin Cassie celebrated a birthday this year. Both were born on February 29. Though Cassie was born three years after I was, she’s technically only 12. I sent her a vintage Leap Year postcard early in January, wanting her to have the fullest opportunity to celebrate the big day. Things get turned a bit upside down in a Leap Year. I figured I’d get into the spirit with this month’s selections.

The Banjo Monologues by Joel Mabus is not cowboy, nor especially Western by today’s standards. But it is magical, historically significant, and completely entertaining.

Mabus plays a 5-string banjo in the clawhammer style, sharing tunes and tales from his family’s career as professional hillbilly musicians. The Mabus family barnstormed the Midwest in the 1930s with road shows for the Prairie Farmer Magazine, parent company of WLS Radio, which produced the popular National Barn Dance. It was a good gig during the Depression. Through Joel’s yarns you’ll meet, among others, Gerald Mabus and his twin brother, Jerald, interspersed with licks from “Cindy.”

Head on over to CD Baby for generous two-minute clips of the 18 tracks: www.cdbaby.com/cd/mabusjoel. Besides “Cindy,” give a listen to “Uncle Joe,” “Three Nights Drunk,” and “The Uncloudy Day/Leonard Lively.”

Purchase The Banjo Monologues as either a CD or MP3 file from CD Baby for $15 (postage extra). If you prefer to order directly from Joel Mabus ($16 postpaid), send requests to PO Box 306, Portage, MI 49081. Stop by Joel’s Web site at http://joelmabus.com/ for an assortment of other titles, including How Like The Holly, songs for the holidays with (mostly) guitar accompaniment, and Parlor Guitar, songs from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

John Reedy describes his musical style as Western-Americana. It’s a fitting assessment.

John sent me his Twisted Vignettes last fall. I took it with me on a road trip to South Dakota, among an assortment I saved specifically for the drive. Being alone in a car with several hundred miles of road allows me to focus entirely on the subject at hand.

I was stunned at what I heard. The sound was fresh, eclectic, and skillfully presented. It made me sit up and take notice. When I’d finished listening to the 12 tracks, seven written by John, I listened again. When I met up with friends in the Black Hills, I loaned them the CD, and they listened to it. One vehicle after another, John’s CD made the rounds. The response was the same from everyone: WOW!

This isn’t your grandfather’s Western music. It’s frisky, edgy and smartly written. It’s a kick in the pants.

John’s CD and book of poetry by the same name (with stunning black and white photography) are available from CD Baby: www.cdbaby.com/cd/reedyj2. Give a listen to three of my favorites: “Buckaroo Girl,” “That Buckin’ Song,” and “Combover Blues.” Buy the CD alone for $13; the CD and book for $25 (plus postage.)

Order from John’s Web site at www.twistedcowboy.com. Prices are the same, but postage is free. Send orders to Twisted Cowboy Music, 2905 N Montana Ave. #113, Helena, MT 59601; (406) 465-0468.

Properties along the U.S.-Mexico border are at ground zero in a debate over economics and national security. In an attempt to keep illegal aliens from crossing into the United States, a 700-mile fence is being built to aid border enforcement.

You know where you stand on the issue. But, do you have any concept of what it’s like to be a border patrol agent? I didn’t until I read Patrolling Chaos: the U.S. Border Patrol in Deep South Texas by Robert Lee Maril (Texas Tech University Press, 2004, 368 pages, softcover, ISBN: 978-0-89672-594-2).

A professor of sociology at East Carolina University, Maril spent two years doing field work among 300 agents at the McAllen Station, McAllen, Texas. He followed 12 agents in particular, riding with them on their ten-hour patrols along the border. Maril describes in detail the risks and frustrations faced by agents; the reactions and situations of the apprehended aliens. It provides enlightening insight into the situation.

Order Patrolling Chaos directly from Texas Tech for $24.95 (plus postage): www.ttup.ttu.edu/BookPages/0896725944.html; (800) 832-4042. It is also available from online wholesalers.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

February 2008

Western Folklife Center prepping for 25th anniversary

Snowstorms pummeled the western United States as folks headed to Elko, Nevada, for the 2008 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Some bemoaned the fact that the gathering is held in winter. As I heard the story, organizers settled on late January as the time when ranchers could most easily get away from the demands of land and livestock. It’s a formula they’ve stuck with for 24 years.

The sponsoring Western Folklife Center, a regional nonprofit based in Elko with offices in Salt Lake City, is planning for the silver anniversary event January 24-31, 2009. They hinted at things to come in this year’s program: inviting all participants back for an ongoing reunion stage; recognition for those who have attended for 20 to 25 years; honoring deceased poets and musicians.

But, hold the phone, here’s what I consider the most exciting news to date: a performance tour of cowboy poetry and music that will play five sites in the western United States. There were rumors, but the Western Folklife Center (WFC) has made it official. The tour hits the road in the spring of 2009. They are looking for host communities.

Each site will host a two to three-day residency, including a concert, school program, writing workshop, and film screening. The WFC is looking for communities with small to medium-sized theaters and a community-based organization to assist on a local level. I encourage readers to find out more about this marvelous opportunity. Contact Meg Glaser or Christina Barr at (775) 738-7508 to get the ball rolling.

The WFC is open for business 12 months out of the year. It’s an oft-overlooked fact. WFC staff are busy year-round, documenting, preserving, and presenting the heritage of the American West. Resulting exhibits, films, radio programs, recordings, and public presentations are archived at www.westernfolklife.org. If you haven’t spent time digging into what’s there, allow me to highlight a few of my favorites.

A series of five-minute videos entitled The Art of Gearmaking profiles four cowboy craftsmen: Doug Groves of Nevada’s TS Ranch demonstrating rawhide work; Mark Dahl, Starr Valley, Nevada, bit making; Doug Krause, Eaton, Colorado, mecate making; and Dale Harwood, Shelley, Idaho, leather carving. The videos, along with an in-depth discussion of cowboy gear, award-winning contest entries, and resources, are part of a larger exhibit entitled Back at the Ranch: an Artful Life. Start your tour at http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/batr/tools_landing.php

I reconnected with Sharon O’Toole at this year’s gathering, discussing the delicious leg of lamb that she and husband, Patrick, grilled for the Wyoming party. The O’Tooles ranch in Little Snake River Valley on the Wyoming-Colorado border. They are among a handful of diarists who log onto the WFC Web site with candid insights on life in the American West (earning them the title “Webloggers”). Blog authors welcome readers with customary Western hospitality, minus the coffee. Sharon faithfully posts her entries, augmented with powerful, workaday photos. You’re there as they calve heifers, rake hay, shear, supply the herder’s camp, and walk their daughter down the aisle at a ranch wedding: www.westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/sharono/

Three other notable Weblogs are those of John and Robbin Dofflemyer, ranchers from the Sierra Nevada foothills near Visalia, California: www.westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/dofflemyer/; Jeremiah Watt, Coalinga, California saddlemaker: www.westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/watt/; and Linda Dufurrena, photographer from Winnemucca, Nevada: www.westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/dufurrenal/.

Trying another technological term on you for size, let me tell you about the WFC’s Podcasts—something akin to a free radio show that’s available on the internet. You can listen to the programming on your computer or download it to an iPod or digital music player. The WFC’s first Podcast was a 1990 recording of Texas poet Joel Nelson reciting Bruce Kiskaddon’s “When They Finish Shipping Cattle in the Fall.” The most recent features Don Edwards’ performance of the Jack Thorp classic, “Chopo.” To access Ranch Rhymes: Cowboy Poetry and Music from the Western Folklife Center, paste the following link into your browser: www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=24&Itemid=241.

I leave you with one last on-line jewel, the complete set of National Cowboy Poetry Gathering programs. I’m not talking a representative photo of the covers. No, the entire program from each of the past 24 years can be viewed in its entirety, along with the corresponding poster. You can also read or listen to the keynote address. Paste the following into your browser: http://www.westernfolklife.org/site1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=265

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

January 2008

Elko’s 24^th annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Vaqueros from the Sonora region of northern Mexico and the western United States will be spotlighted at the 2008 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Invited guests will share examples of their customs and traditions honoring land and livestock. The humanities lecture by folklorist Norma Elia Cantú, University of Texas at San Antonio, will address the connection between the vaquero and the American cowboy in work, traditions, poetry and literature.

Started in 1985 by a handful of folklorists, poets and musicians, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is produced annually by the Western Folklife Center. The Center describes the event as “the premiere festival celebrating the expressive arts of ranching and cowboy culture.”

My Northern Great Plains heart swells with pride when I read the names of artists from the region who have been invited to perform in Elko later this month. The doors for the first show open Saturday, January 26, with the last curtain closing on Saturday evening, February 2. In between are workshops, ranch tours, museum displays, daytime sessions, ticketed concerts, and dances.

Among those packing their bags for the trip are poets and singers, perennial favorites, and those making their first appearance. Colorado is represented on all four accounts by the Sons and Brothers Band—Frank Wolking and sons Mike, Joe, and Aaron—from Westcliffe, and Vess Quinlan, Alamosa.

Wyoming is home to four featured poets: Echo Roy Klaproth, Shoshone; Andy Nelson, Pinedale; Georgie Sicking, Kaycee; and Jesse Smith, Cora. The musical duo of Vince Crofts and Mindi Reid, better known as Tumbleweeds, hail from Firth.

Clearfield ranchwife Yvonne Hollenbeck is the lone artist invited from South Dakota. North Dakota is represented by Rodney Nelson, Sims, and Bill Lowman, Sentinel Butte. To the east, from across the Red River of the north, comes Diane Tribitt, Hillman, Minnesota.

Montana could charter a bus for the artists and family members coming from Big Sky Country: Stephanie Davis, Columbus; DW Groethe, Bainville; Mike Logan, Helena; Wallace McRae, Forsyth; New Frontier comprised of Ron Kane, Meghan Merker, and Linda Svendsen, Dillon; Bob Petermann, Wibaux; Henry Real Bird, Hardin; Randy Rieman, Dillon; Sandy Seaton, Emigrant; and Paul Zarzyski, Great Falls. Back by popular demand for the Saturday night dance is Montana native Wylie Gustafson, who fronts Wylie & The Wild West. Although he now lives in Washington state, he maintains family ties to Montana, which proudly claims him as one of their own.

Representing the Plains of Canada with her eloquent and entertaining poetry is Doris Daley, Calgary, Alberta. Also hailing from Alberta is music legend Ian Tyson.

For a complete listing of invited artists, along with photos and brief biographies, visit the Western Folklife Center’s site: www.westernfolklife.org. Contact the Western Folklife Center at 501 Railroad Street, Elko, Nevada 89801; (775) 738-7508; email: wfc@westernfolklife.org.

If you can’t make the trip to Elko to hear these artists in person, there is an alternative. Nearly all of them have recordings. Here’s a sampling of CDs released in 2007 by those mentioned above:

To Be a Top Hand, by National Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductee Georgie Sicking, contains 16 poems. Send $18 to Georgie Sicking, PO Box 11, Kaycee, WY 82639. For more information on Georgie, see her honored guest page: www.cowboypoetry.com/sicking.htm.

From clear out west comes Andy Nelson’s Full Nelson Shoeing, with 25 poems and bits of wacky wisdom. Send $18 to Andy Nelson, PO Box 1547, Pinedale, WY 82941; email: www.CowpokePoet.com.

Bob Petermann’s long-awaited gospel collection contains 12 songs. Thanks for the Rain sells for $15. Send orders to Bob Petermann, 942 Pine Unit Road, Wibaux, MT 59353; 406-486-5618; email: pet7410@midrivers.com.

Yvonne Hollenbeck teamed up with Texas singer and songwriter Jean Prescott on Pieces of the Past. The CD contains 15 tracks of poetry and music. Send $18.50 to Yvonne Hollenbeck, 30549 291st Street, Clearfield, SD 57580; 605/557-3559; www.YvonneHollenbeck.com.

Montana Legacy is the title of Sandy Seaton’s 13-track collection of poetry and vocals. Order for $17 from Sandy Seaton; PO Box 117, Emigrant, MT 59027; (406) 222-7455; email: www.blackmountainoutfitters.com.

Diane Tribitt’s latest is entitled Ranchin' Rhymes. Included are 15 poems and one song. Send $18 to Diane Tribitt, 38034 193rd Street, Hillman, MN 56338; 320-277-3389; www.dianetribitt.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2008, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

December 2007

A Bookish Christmas

From lighthearted yodeling lessons to probing cowboy poetry, from vintage quilts to sublime images of the Grand Canyon, these books have it covered. For good measure, there’s a collection of short stories guaranteed to satisfy your minimum daily dose of comic relief. Any of these will be enjoyed long after the cutout sugar cookies are gone:

Wylie Gustafson, of Wylie & the Wild West, brings us How to Yodel: Lessons to Tickle Your Tonsils. Suitable for children and adults, it offers lessons, tips, and techniques pertaining to the high art of yodeling. It includes a CD of warm-up exercises, examples of yodeling styles, and yodel-along-with-Wylie tracks. Illustrated by Robert Payne, the drawings are as much fun as the recording and Gustafson’s hilarious prose. (Gibbs Smith, 2007, 96 pages, 6"x6", illustrations & instructional CD, softcover, ISBN: 1423602137)

How to Yodel sells for $10 (plus $3 shipping). Order from www.wyliewebsite.com and your copy will be personally signed by the original Yahoo^® yodeler! Mail orders to Two Medicine Music, 24502 SR 127, LaCrosse WA 99143; fax them to (509) 549-3684. (Did I mention it’s just the right size to fit in a Christmas stocking?)

The late, contemporary cowboy poet JB Allen is remembered in JB—the Circle, edited by Duward Campbell and Chuck Milner. Sorting through files left behind following his death in 2005, the duo selected Allen’s newer and unpublished works for inclusion. A chapter entitled “The Circle” contains remembrances penned by friends and fellow poets. Campbell’s ranch-savvy drawings and paintings are sprinkled throughout. (Dry Camp Press, 2007, 90 pages, 9"x6", 65 poems, artwork, illustrations; softbound, ISBN: 0976183439)

JB the Circle sells for $25 postpaid from Duward Campbell, 2515 Second St, Lubbock, TX 79415; (806) 762-2343.

If you have a quilter on your list, or perhaps a history buff, consider Texas Quilts and Quilters: A Lone Star Legacy by Marcia Kaylakie, with Janice Whittington. The recipient need not be from Texas to enjoy this colorful collection showcasing 34 remarkable quilts. Ten years of travel and research went into this interpretation of Texas history. It’s a journey from the 1870s to the 2003. Photos by Jim Lincoln give an intimate perspective of the textiles. (Texas Tech University Press, 2007, 264 pages, 11"x11", 182 color photos & map, hardcover, ISBN: 0896726061)

Texas Quilts and Quilters sells for $39.95 plus shipping from Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, Texas. Call (800) 832-4042 to order. For more on Texas Quilts, go to www.ttup.ttu.edu.

Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography by Stephen Trimble won a Wrangler Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. More than simply pretty pictures, Trimble melds 125 years of photos, of one of the most photographed subjects on earth, with essays by experienced Canyon photographers. (Northland Publishing, 2006, 210 pages, 12"x11", 115 photos, hardcover, ISBN: 0873588940)

If you’re ever stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon and attempted to capture the color and grandeur before your eyes with a camera, you know the challenge. These photographers—working with glass-plate negatives, film, and digital images—succeed where others fail. And, they've been to the bottom of the Canyon, capturing images few of us ever see, in glorious detail.

Lasting Light lists for $40. Call Northland Publishing at (928) 774-5251 or mail them at P.O. Box 1389, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.

Montana’s Ken Overcast can brighten the darkest winter day with his storytelling. Case in point, his latest collection of knee-slappin' stories from the real West, Tradin’ Tales: Stories from a Montana Back Porch. Augmenting 48 tales are illustrations by cowboy cartoonist Ben Crane. (Bear Valley Press, 2007, 240 pages, 5.5"x8.5", illustrations, paperback, ISBN: 0971848122)

Every copy carries a “Genuine Montana Cowboy Guarantee.” If you're not completely satisfied with your purchase, you may return the unread portion of your book, and Ken will cheerfully refund the unspent portion of your money. In case this logic sounds familiar, you may already be an Overcast fan. His weekly column, Meadow Muffins, appears in numerous weekly publications. If you’re not familiar with his work, take a listen to a sample chapter at www.tradintales.com.

Tradin’ Tales sells for $16.95. (Shipping is just $3 whether you buy one or a dozen. So check out Ken’s other books as well as his CDs at www.kenovercast.com) Give a toll-free call to the Overcast outfit at (888) 753-7611 and they’ll take care of you. Guaranteed!

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

November 2007

Music and Books for the Christmas Season
In my husband’s opinion, Christmas music should be played in December. Period. He was chagrined to hear me playing it in September this year. I told him, "It’s for work." Read on for news of those CDs, as well as two books from my gift-giving suggestion list: one for the baker; one for the little buckaroo.

Montana singer/songwriter Stephanie Davis delivers a sophisticated, Western-swing feel in the 11-tracks of Home for the Holidays. Traditional favorites such as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" take you on a leisurely stroll through the season. Ray Price joins Stephanie on "All I Want for Christmas Is You." If you’re not already familiar with Stephanie’s "The Gift," you’re in for a treat. It is rapidly making inroads as a modern classic. There’s a rich array of accompaniments on the waltzes, two-steps and ballads, including piano, fiddle, steel, and guitar.

Home for the Holidays sells for $17. Send checks to Recluse Records, 838 Countryman Creek Rd., Columbus, MT 59019. Place PayPal orders at www.stephaniedavis.net/order.htm

Wylie Gustafson—of Wylie & the Wild West—is debuting his first Christmas album. The 10-track Christmas for Cowboys celebrates the birth of a Savior with a Western spin. The title track was made popular by John Denver; Wylie adds a light touch with his trademark yodel. He dug deep, beyond the standards, for "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" and "In the Bleak Midwinter." His version of "Christmas Time’s a-Comin’" will have you dancing while decorating cookies.

Christmas for Cowboys ships on or about Dec. 5, 2007. Preorder for $18 (postpaid) from Two Medicine Music, 24502 SR 127, LaCrosse WA 99143; or www.wyliewebsite.com/Product_Catalog_01.htm.

Western Jubilee Recording Company assembled a baker’s dozen of cowboy-friendly holiday standards, contemporary tunes and cowboy poetry on Christmas Trail. You’ll recognize the headliner artists: Sons of the San Joaquin, Don Edwards, Rich O’Brien, Waddie Mitchell, Cowboy Celtic, Michael Martin Murphey, and Wylie Gustafson. Songs include "Ridin’ up the Christmas Trail," "Away in a Manger," "O, Holy Night," and "Cowboy Christmas Ball."

Christmas Trail sells for $15.00 plus postage. Call 1-800-707-2353 or order online at westernjubilee.com/ChristmasTrail.htm.

Kim Ode pegged my favorite way to eat bread in Baking with the St. Paul Bread Club: Recipes, Tips & Stories, as she describes her mother’s too-hot-to handle loaves: "Too tender to cut, she would slice the end off of one and pass it to me. There is nothing like a slice of hot, fresh bread, the steam still rising through a sheen of butter. Especially the heel of a loaf."

A member of the St. Paul Bread Baking Club, Ode bakes her loaves in a wood-fired brick oven in her backyard. She’s serious about bread! But, she demystifies the art with sections on "Bread Wisdom for Beginners" and gives instructions for traditional home ovens. More than 70 recipes are included for novice and master bakers. Ode recommended four to me: Aunt Anna’s Swedish Rye, Ihla’s Oatmeal Bread, Milk Bread, and Cheddar Cheese Bread.

Baking with the St. Paul Bread Club sells for $24.95 (Minnesota Historical Society, 2006, 160 pages, 8"x9", 70 recipes, hardcover; ISBN 0-87351-567-6). Look for it in bookstores nationwide or order directly from Ode at www.kim-ode.com.

First Dog: Unleashed in the Montana Capitol is a delightful romp through the halls of the Treasure State capitol with Jag, a border collie. Written by Jessica Solberg and illustrated by Robert Rath, First Dog is the true story of a black-and-white cow dog that accompanies Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer wherever he goes. Far from just entertaining, it’s educational and interesting.

Jag, canine special assistant to the governor of Montana, was born on a Whitefish ranch. When his human family left to occupy the governor’s mansion in Helena, he went too. (He has his own seat in the governor’s airplane!) Written for kids ages 6 to 9, the story is supplemented with facts about Montana, the duties of a governor, and an overview of how Montana government works.

First Dog is available in softcover and hardback. The softcover sells for $11.95 plus postage (Farcounty Press, 2007, 40 pages, 8.5 x 11, glossary, illustrations and photos; ISBN 13: 978-1-56037-419-0). A portion of the proceeds is donated to Ronald McDonald charities of Montana. To order, call 1-800-821-3874; Farcountry Press, PO Box 5630, Helena, MT 59604; www.farcountrypress.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

October 2007

The Many Faces of Western Entertainment
Performance venues across the country are showcasing Western entertainers. Beneath the broad umbrella of the genre are individuals who bring diverse talents and experiences to the stage:

Utah-born singer/songwriter Brenn Hill celebrates the West with a contemporary flavor. His sixth recording, What A Man’s Got To Do, is described on www.brennhill.com as "a potent collection of songs filled with interesting characters and eagle-eyed observations on life, love and the indomitable Western spirit."

The first time I heard it, I was struck by the Chris LeDoux overtones. When I mentioned this to Hill’s manager, he seemed both surprised and pleased. Come to find out, LeDoux was a big fan of the 30-year-old Hill. The late singer’s band, Western Underground, recorded one of Hill’s songs on their new album. That’s not to say Hill is a LeDoux wannabe, but if you liked LeDoux, give him a listen. "Simple Things," with simple piano accompaniment, brings the 15 tracks to a surprisingly touching conclusion.

Billboard described Hill as "a bridge between Western music’s best traditions and the future of the genre ..." Truly in step with the times, Hill has a My Space page where visitors can listen to four full-length songs: www.myspace.com/brennhill. You can also purchase CDs and mp3 downloads. What A Man’s Got To Do sells for $18 plus $2 s/h. Direct inquires to (615) 369-0810.

A 16-track CD of Georgie Sicking's poems, To Be a Top Hand, was released this summer. The first recording devoted exclusively to Georgie’s poetry, it’s long overdue. Kudos to Andy Nelson, Pinedale, Wyo., for recording and producing the album.

Among the poems is "Housewife." Sicking takes umbrage at the term bestowed upon her by a banker, declaring, "never, was I ever, married to a house!" Don’t think for a minute these stories are fictional. Raised near Kingman, Ariz., Sicking captured wild cattle and horses, tended a ranch by herself, and wrote poetry to help pass the time alone.

Georgie performed at the first National Cowboy Poetry Gathering 22 years ago. A National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Honoree, the Nevada Cattleman’s Association recognized her for having ridden 100,000 miles horseback. (Read more about this no-nonsense octogenarian at www.cowboypoetry.com/sicking.htm. Send $18 (postpaid) to Georgie Sicking, PO Box 11, Kaycee, WY 82639.

South Dakota ranch hand Ken Cook is capturing the essence to modern ranch life, much as Sicking did during her era. The father of four, Cook is committed to sharing agriculture’s work and reward with his family. A good many of the lessons are captured on two recordings, I’m Gonna Be a Cowboy and Dad, We’ll Rope Today. Hear selected tracks at www.kencookcowboypoet.com. For additional photos of the Cook kids and the words to several of Ken’s poems, drop by his featured guest page at www.cowboypoetry.com/kencook.htm. The CDs sell for $12 each (postpaid) from Ken Cook, 23154 Teal Lane, Martin, SD 57551-6601; (605) 685-6749.

Cook recently competed in the 2007 National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo held in Hot Springs, S.D. He took home a buckle and prize money for winning the poet/serious category and placed in two other events. What that means is he knows the cowboy life, does a decent job of crafting his poems, and delivers them in a pleasing and effective fashion. (For more on the rodeo see www.cowboypoetry.com/ncpr.htm#2007)

Patty Clayton, Academy of Western Artists’ 2007 Western Music Female Vocalist of the year, salutes the West with a folk/bluegrass flair. More than half of the 13 tracks on her recently released Astraddle a Saddle are Clayton’s own works—honoring a rich family heritage. In addition to the vocals, Clayton plays guitar, clawhammer-style banjo and acoustic upright bass.

The title track has a delightful, old-time feel. Clayton proves that beauty’s in the eye of the beholder with "Wyoming Wind," painting the Cowboy State’s gusts and gales with a lovely melody. In "The Vaquero and Me," Clayton tells how Hawaii became home to the paniolo (cowboy), causing heartache for one Mexican senorita.

Listen to two-minute clips of all these, and more, at cdbaby.com/cd/pattyclayton3. Order directly from CD Baby for $15 plus postage. Write Clayton at PO Box 140772, Edgewater, CO 80214 or via www.pattyclayton.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

September 2007

Anthologies corral entertaining mix
Anthologies—collections of stories, poems or audio recordings—are an excellent way to sample a variety of artists’ works without breaking the bank. Consider these:

A generous 26 tracks are included on Cowboy Songs & Range Ballads: 25th Anniversary Album. Held each April at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, the music festival noted its silver anniversary in 2007. To celebrate, the BBHC assembled recordings from 24 years of live stage performances. That’s both the good news and the bad news. There are gems among the titles, but a handful lack technical quality. Thank goodness somebody had the foresight to make the recordings!

Skimming the list of performers, several are deceased; others, to my knowledge, never released a recording of their own. It’s an amazing time capsule featuring, among others, Jim Bob Tinsley, Lyle "Wild Horse" Cunningham, Liz Masterson and Sean Blackburn, Otto Rosfeld, Gary McMahan, Joe Bain, Duane Dickinson, Howard Parker, Stan Howe and Kelly Wells, Kyle Evans, Jean Prescott, Gene Davenport, and Buck Ramsey, Richard Dillof and Amanda Ramsey.

Described by the BBHC as "capturing the essence of cowboy music," the CD sells for $19.99 plus postage. For a complete track listing and audio clips, go to www.bbhc.org/events/cowboysongs.cfm. Write the BBHC at 720 Sheridan Ave., Cody, WY 82414; call (800) 533-3838.

I first heard A Western Jubilee: Songs and Stories of the American West on a drive-hard-till-you-get-there road trip. It was well after midnight when my traveling buddy slipped it into the CD player. The tunes and tales added considerable interest to an otherwise uninteresting stretch of blacktop. Released by Western Jubilee Recording Company in 2004, it showcases artists in the company’s catalog at the time.

Don Edwards kicks off the 20 tracks with "The Old Chisholm Trail." He’s heard several more times, solo and with special guests, including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Waddie Mitchell. A poet, Mitchell recites on two additional tracks. The velvety harmonies of the Sons of the San Joaquin are featured on four tracks: "Sierra Nevada," "He's Runnin' out of Roundups," "From Whence Came the Cowboy" and "Unclouded Day."

Red Steagall offers "My America"; David Wilkie & Cowboy Celtic deliver "The Drover Road to Amulree"; Katy Moffatt sings "The Brazos"; Wylie & the Wild West set Ogilvie’s "Hooves of the Horses" to music; Glenn Ohrlin spins the tale, "International Glenn." Instrumentals by Rich O’Brien fit nicely within the collection, as does "Velociraptor Rag" by Tom Morrell.

Selling for $15, that’s only 75 cents per track! (Shipping to U.S. addressees is free on website orders over $50). Order from Western Jubilee Recording Company, PO Box 9187, Colorado Springs, CO 80932; 1-800-707-2353; westernjubilee.com.

Perhaps not technically an anthology, The Deadwood Songbook feels like one. Hank Harris, singer, songwriter and musician, presents 15 popular songs from the early days of historic Deadwood, S.D. A project of the Adams Museum & House, the collection reproduces the music of Deadwood’s concert and dance halls at the turn of the century.

Liner notes reveal that before a disastrous fire in 1879, "Deadwood boasted more entertainment venues than any town of its size in the nation." Some venues were honorable; others more lascivious. Regardless, Deadwood was filled with music day and night. "Spirituals, patriotic and political music, minstrel songs, ethnic samplings, opera and dance hall music converged on Deadwood streets during an era unlike any other."

This is the music captured in A Deadwood Songbook. And what a grand compilation it is! A rousing "Short’nin Bread" opens the show. "On Top of Old Smokey" brings it to a close. In between are "Gary Owen," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/Wade in the Water," "Camptown Races," "Red River Valley," "Dixie," and Yankee Doodle," among others.

A second collection, The Deadwood Songbook II, further investigates early-day music of the Gulch. (Of the two, my own personal favorite is #I. But, what’s not to like about "Goober Peas" and "Oh, Susanna/Polly Wolly Doodle", appearing on #II?) Both use instruments of the era: banjos, tambourines, spoons, hambone, wooden flute and Chinese pipa.

The CDs sell for $16 each, plus postage. Shop for them on the Adams Museum web site: www.adamsmuseumandhouse.org.

Contact the museum at 605-578-1714; 54 Sherman St., Deadwood, SD 57732.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

August 2007

Sure-Fire Western Heritage Winners
Since the early 60s, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum^® in Oklahoma City, has recognized individuals whose work preserves the stories of the West. Winning entries in literature, music, film and television are awarded the museum’s prestigious Western Heritage Award—the Wrangler.

This month I’m spotlighting two of the 2007 recipients. (Look for more in my Christmas gift-giving suggestions.) A complete listing of past winners, interesting in itself, is available at www.nationalcowboymuseum.org: "Events & Exhibitions," "Western Heritage Awards." Guidelines for submitting entries are also posted. Should you prefer, call the museum at (405) 478-2250, Ext. 221.

Timothy Egan, New York Times National Enterprise Reporter, won for nonfiction book with The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (Mariner Books, 2006, 352 pages, b/w photos, softcover; ISBN-13/EAN: 9780618346974). It also received the National Book Award and was named a best book of the year by both the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. The Seattle Times called it "a flat-out masterpiece of historical reportage." And for good reason.

Egan dug deep for the story buried beneath the disaster, seeking out tenacious survivors’ firsthand accounts. Focusing on a dozen families and the communities where they lived, Egan enhanced the stories through diary entries, newspaper and magazine articles, books, and museum archives. This is not an account of those who left, rather the tale of those who persevered against all odds and stayed.

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been so totally swept up in a book. From the moment I studied the map outlining the Dust Bowl region, through the last acknowledgment, it tore at my emotions—just as the dusters themselves tore at soil laid bare by well-intentioned homesteaders and suitcase farmers looking to make a quick buck. Both succumbed to a wheat-farming frenzy, plowing under fragile grasslands where cattle once grazed—including the famous XIT.

After several prosperous and productive years, weather patterns changed. Rain ceased to fall. Temperatures vaulted well into triple digits. Crops failed. Trees died. And the wind began to blow. Animals and humans suffocated and went blind from dusters. Farmers fed thistles and yucca to their cattle; farm wives prepared the same to feed their families. Storm-generated static electricity shorted out automobile starters. People breathed through masks and sponges and tried in vain to keep the dust out of their homes. Babies, adults, and livestock succumbed to dust pneumonia.

And yet, people stayed. With the Depression gripping the country, moving was more frightening than not.

Egan deftly slips his readers’ feet into the shoes of his characters. Native Americans, cowboys, con artists, hoodwinked homesteaders, compassionate businessmen, students, and government officials tread across the pages. The reader is helpless but to follow. A fictional plot could not have been more spellbinding.

The Worst Hard Time retails for $14.95.

Don Edwards earned his sixth Wrangler for Moonlight and Skies, named best traditional western music album. The Grammy-nominated Edwards had me from the start with "My Blue Heaven." I spent hours at the piano practicing the tune for a recital when I was in grade school.

You may wonder how "My Blue Heaven" made the cut on a Western music album. Edwards explains, "It was a monster number one hit in 1927 for America’s number one pop singer Gene Austin." Austin served as a significant role model for Jimmie Rodgers—considered the father of country music.

Rodgers’ title track, and his "Land of My Boyhood Dreams," bring the album back to its Western roots. Others among the baker’s dozen that I especially like include "Boots and Saddle," "The Long Trail," "Coyotes," and "Can’t Shake the Sands of Texas from My Shoes."

A musicologist, historian and author, Edwards is well versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions. The son of a vaudeville magician, he grew up listening to classical, jazz, blues and Western-swing. He was drawn to cowboy life by the books of Will James.

Moonlight and Skies, and a fistful of other Edwards’ releases, are available from Western Jubilee Recording Company, PO Box 9187, Colorado Springs, CO 80932; 1-800-707-2353; westernjubilee.com. Single CDs sell for $15; double sets are $25. (Shipping to U.S. addressees is free on website orders over $50).

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

July 2007

The Cowboy Way

Trying to define a cowboy is something akin to deciding which came first, the chicken or the egg.

America’s folk hero has been likened to Europe’s knights and Japan’s samurai warriors: young, brave, hard working, their lives replete with danger and excitement.

Figuratively and literally, people from around the world look up to the cowboy. The image has been blurred by time, legend, and the entertainment and fashion industries. What are the truths of the American cowboy?

Paul H. Carlson, professor of history at Texas Tech University, undertook the task of answering that question. Sixteen resulting essays and an annotated bibliography are assembled in The Cowboy Way: An Exploration of History and Culture (Texas Tech University Press, 2006, 236 pages, 26 b/w photos, softcover; ISBN-13: 978-0-89672-583-6).

Carlson’s insights on "Myth and the Modern Cowboy" are presented in chapter one. From 19th-century lads tending cattle horseback to urbanites flocking to Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, he examines the historical record and the mythical notions.

Carlson is joined by other scholars who explore the music, dress, humor, films, and literature of the cowboy. Included in the examination are African American, Hispanic, Native American, French, and English cowboys. There’s a chapter about the great cowboy strike of 1883. Still others address cowboy songs, the origins of rodeo, and how today’s cowboys compare with the myth.

I found "Work Clothes of American Cowboys" especially interesting. For instance, cowboys often wore suspenders to keep their wool or denim overalls in place. Some elected to wear bib overalls to further simplify their garb. John Stetson’s first cowboy hat, patterned after a Mexican sombrero, was made from a rabbit pelt.

"Cowboys and Sheepherders" are compared in chapter nine. At an average age of 24 years, cowboys were full of energy, well suited to a life of demanding, physical labor. The more mature sheepherders were considered to be thinkers, philosophers, careful with their charges—bands of sheep numbering from 1,000 to 2,500 head.

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield oft complained of getting no respect. Sheepherders suffered the same lot. While both cowboys and sheepherders tended livestock on the range, the lowly herder’s life lacked the romance of the cowboy. The sheep industry as a whole missed out on the adoration given over to the cowboy and rancher. Truth be known, sheep paid for many a cattle ranch in the West. And, sheepherders and sheepmen were generally accepted as more financially secure than cowboys and ranchers.

Carlson’s collection provides an amazing amount of information. Additionally, the bibliography directs readers to dozens of other titles of interest. Whether reading for pleasure or research, The Cowboy Way has something for everyone. This title is worthy of gift giving. Order now for Christmas, and get a head start on your shopping.

The Cowboy Way is available directly from Texas Tech and through booksellers. The softcover retails for $18.95. Contact the publisher at 800.832.4042; Texas Tech University Press, Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79409-1037; ttup@ttu.edu. Visit their Web site at www.ttup.ttu.edu.

Multi-talented Pop Wagner has a recording that cowboys of any era will enjoy. Ranging from classic to contemporary, Cinchin’ Saddles and Pullin’ Bridle Reins is the type of music, poetry and ballads that old-time cowboys might have recited or sung. It’s also the type of music that Wagner, a singer, picker, fiddler, trick rope artist and storyteller, performed on a George Peabody Award winning episode of A Prairie Home Companion.

Wagner opens the 15-track CD with Bruce Kiskaddon’s "Hittin’ the Trail Tonight." Hal Cannon set the classic poem to music. You’ll also find Curly Fletcher’s "Strawberry Roan," Jack Thorp’s "Choppo," and the traditional "Old Paint." There’s "Roving Cowboy," Ken Maynard’s adaptation of an old trail song; "Platonia" by Powder River Jack Lee; and Jimmy Driftwood’s "Tennessee Stud." (The last time I heard the latter performed in public was at the funeral of a dear neighbor who passed away in her 90s.) For good measure, Pop threw in "Buddies in the Saddle" by the Carter Family and two of his own compositions.

Hear track samples and order at https://www.cdbaby.com/all/popwagner. CDs are $14 plus $2.25 shipping. Contact Wagner at (612) 817-5898; popwagner@mac.com. Visit his Web site at www.popwagner.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

June 2007

Summer Fare
Summer is fast approaching. Time to grease the baler, fill the tank on the barbecue grill, and spiff up the parade rig.

Nothing says "summer" quite like a road trip. And there’s nobody I’d rather travel with than Andy Nelson (unless, of course, his big brother, Jim, is along for the ride). I’ve twice made the drive with the duo from Andy’s home in Pinedale, Wyoming, to Kanab, Utah, and back again—and lived to tell about it!

If you can’t travel with the Nelsons, listening to Full Nelson Shoeing will get you pretty close to the experience. The 25-track CD substitutes nicely for the banter and shenanigans. You’ll still need to swing by the convenience store for a dozen fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a couple 12" Subway sandwiches, bag of potato chips, pack of Snickers bars and a 32-ounce Mountain Dew before you can consider it an official Nelson road adventure.

Second-generation farriers, Andy and Jim co-host the weekly, syndicated "Clear Out West (C.O.W.) Radio" show: www.clearoutwest.com. They were named DJs of the year by the Western Music Association (WMA) and Academy of Western Artists. Andy is the WMA’s reigning outstanding male poet. He is also an ace emcee, able to handle whatever organizers might throw at him and make it look effortless.

Andy’s rib-tickling material is appropriate for ranch-savvy kids and grannies. Listen to full-track samples from Full Nelson Shoeing and others at www.cowpokepoet.com. Don’t be caught unprepared for summer travel, order now! Send $18 to Nelson at PO Box 1547, Pinedale, WY 82941; 307-367-2842; andy@cowpokepoet.com.

I never leave home without a book or magazine. Call it travel insurance. If I’m delayed, I have something to read. With road construction season in full swing, here’s a sure winner to have along: Diane Tribitt’s Trail Mix: Cowboy Language, Lingo, Poetry & Recipes (Beaver’s Pond Press, 2007, 303 pages, softcover, ISBN: 1-59298-171-2).

Part recipe book, part dictionary—augmented by cowboy sayings, poetry and photos—Trail Mix can be read anytime, anywhere. A couple gems nestled between the covers include "Never cry over spilt milk—it could have been whiskey" and "Speak your mind, but ride a fast horse."

Diane, who bills herself as Minnesota’s cowgirl poet, ranches near Hillman. A former rodeo events secretary, she also runs a construction crew that erects grain bins. Deep spirituality and faith have helped her overcome devastating losses in her life. That comes through in the introduction and the meaty text of several pieces. But, you’ll also find a lighthearted flare to the offering. The collection is an enjoyable, authentic ride. And, you’ll find tips, techniques and recipes for Dutch-oven and cast-iron cookery to boot!

Send $20.95 to Tribitt, 38034 193rd Street, Hillman, MN 56338. You may also order online from www.dianetribitt.com or at Amazon.com. Contact her at 320-277-3389; tribitt@brainerd.net.

A Cowboy’s Prayer, by Canadian singer-songwriter Barry Hertz, features 11 Badger Clark classics set to music. Among the tracks are "Jeff Hart," "The Song of the Leather," "A Cowboy's Prayer," "The Bunkhouse Orchestra," "To Her," and "Ridin'."

In the liner notes, Hertz tells of having heard a 1951 recording of Clark reciting "Ridin." Hertz said: "His poem sounded so lyrical that I wanted to set it to music." In 2001, he came across a copy of Clark’s Sun and Saddle Leather. After reading the introduction, Hertz came to the realization that you don’t have to be a cowboy to enjoy Clark’s poems, saying, "I too have the wind and the open skies of the West in my blood."

While this isn’t the first time Clark’s words have been set to music, I believe it’s the first audio project comprised entirely of his work. The tracks are sung pretty much as Clark wrote them—without a chorus. It’s a contemplative recording, not a toe tapper. Allow yourself time to truly listen to the words. Put your feet up and watch the sun set from the deck.

Order A Cowboy’s Prayer directly from Hertz, 132 Bracebridge Cres. SW, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2W 0Y7; b.hertz@telus.net (U.S. order, $17.50; in Canada, $20). CD Baby at www.cdbaby.com/cd/barryhertz2 carries the title and offers sample tracks of Barry’s folksy style with acoustic musical arrangements.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road S, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

May 2007

Vaqueros, Buckaroos and Cowboys
On the West Coast in centuries past, they were vaqueros. Today, in the Great Basin region, they’re buckaroos. On the Plains and in popular culture, they’re cowboys.

Confused?

A series of documentaries by Susan Jensen and Paul Singer, J&S Productions, explain the evolution—and distinction—of America’s horseman. Tapadero and The Remuda trace the origins of the continent’s earliest cowboys through film footage, photos and illustrations.

It’s a story that began in Mexico in 1775 when an expedition of 240 people and 1,000 head of cattle headed north toward what is today California. Franciscan friars and three vaqueros accompanied 20 families on the 1,200 mile trek. Funded by the Spanish government, the company was instructed to populate the land, convert the Natives to Catholicism and advance the Spanish Empire. To that end, they built a series of missions along the coast.

Vaqueros are considered among the world's greatest horsemen. Tapadero examines their role in establishing the missions and America’s cattle ranching sector. Ironically, beef wasn’t the focus of these pioneering ranchos. The cattle industry was driven by the hide and tallow trade. The bulk of a carcass was left to rot—which spawned a prolific bear population.

Filmed in California, Tapadero runs 82-minute in length. Besides providing a view of coastal ranching, there’s a detailed look at the vaquero way: the use of the hackamore, the spade bit and reata roping; his dress and gear.

Picking up where Tapadero leaves off, The Remuda was filmed in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona and California. Running a generous 92-minutes, it chronicles how the Great Basin buckaroo evolved from the vaquero. Figuring prominently in the transformation were large cattle operations like Miller & Lux, who moved cattle up the Great Basin of Nevada and Oregon when California’s open range was fenced following the Gold Rush. California vaqueros moved with these operations and became known as buckaroos.

Included in The Remuda are scenes from historic and modern ranches. For added entertainment, there’s footage from Jordan Valley, Oregon’s Big Loop Rodeo—known for its wild horse roping competition where competitors use 20-ft. loops. It also touches on riata braiding and educating children who reside on remote ranches.

The film makers wanted to put the history of buckaroo traditions in perspective. Such a discussion would not be complete without a demonstration of the hackamore, two-rein and straight-up-in-the-bridle process of horse training—a process that can take from eight to nine years. Isolated as they were from the rest of the world, early vaqueros had an abundance of time to devote to such training. To test their horses, they would attach a string from a Bull Durham tobacco bag between the reins and head stall. If they could ride all day without breaking the string, the horse was considered a well-trained bridle horse.

My favorite segment in The Remuda shows how horses are roped out of a Nevada cavvy. The mounts are trained to stand around the perimeter of the corral, facing outward. I had heard about this but had never seen it. It’s an everyday occurrence for these cowboys.
That’s what I like about the series. The films tell the stories of historic working ranches, families, long-time employees, day hands, and skilled gear artisans within each region. It’s good stuff.

And, they’re filled with good music too—cowboy music. You’ll hear Mike Beck, Christina Ortega, Dave Stamey and Ian Tyson on Tapadero. Beck, Stamey and Tyson are joined by Pedro Marquez on The Remuda. If you're not already familiar with these folks' music, you're in for a treat.

Two other films in the series are in production: Paniolos and Roughstring Rider.

Paniolos are Hawaiian cowboys, which is native for Espanol. Vaqueros from Alta, California, taught the Hawaiians how to handle cattle. They also introduced the guitar to the islanders. These cowboys ride and rope across a landscape of volcanic lava beds, tropical rain forests, deserts and wide-open grasslands.

Roughstring Rider portrays the cowboys of Montana and Wyoming. Adding to the challenges of their work are the hazards and difficulties associated with Northern Plains’ winters. J&S describes this horseman as a cross between the Texas-style cowboy who came north with the cattle drives and the Vaquero-style, Great Basin buckaroo, whose cattle populated the ranges of Wyoming and Montana.

You’ll have to wait until late September 2007 for Paniolo; November for Roughtstring Rider. However, Tapadero and The Remuda are available today. They sell for $20.95 each (postage paid. Canadian orders, please add $1.) Contact Susan Jensen, J&S Productions Dept. CJS, PO Box 91560, Santa Barbara, CA 93190; susanjensen@verizon.net; 805-695-0164; www.tapadero.com. Retailers nationwide also carry the series: www.tapadero.com./html/locations.html.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

April 2007

Celebrating Cowboy Poetry Week: April 15-21
It’s not everyday you hear Badger Clark—named South Dakota's first Poet Laureate in 1937—recite his first published poem. Acknowledged as one of cowboy poetry’s masters, Clark died a half century ago. To hear the classic "Ridin" as delivered by him in a vintage recording sure got my attention! It’s the first track on The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two.

An annual project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, the CD is the second released in conjunction with Cowboy Poetry Week. The Center’s popular website— CowboyPoetry.com, home of the BAR-D Ranch—inaugurated Cowboy Poetry Week in 2002. The U.S. Senate recognized it by unanimous resolution in 2003. This year it runs April 15-21.

A central resource for Western and cowboy poetry and associated arts, CowboyPoetry.com posts thousands of contemporary and classic poems, classic cowboy songs, and works by current Western songwriters. A vibrant community of readers contribute poetry, news, gathering reports, stories and photos. The CDs archive an audio sampling of what’s posted therein. Not just a retail effort, CDs are distributed to rural libraries across the West, honoring the Center’s mission to promote and preserve Western heritage and serve rural populations.

This year’s selection brings a freshness to the genre, from the seldom-heard "Ridin" to South Dakota radio personality Jim Thompson’s recitation of Arthur Chapman’s classic, "Out Where the West Begins." The 27 tracks cover a lot of country.

Geographically, contributors live throughout the West. There are a few southern drawls and one who has the opposite issue—eh? Most appear on stage at regional and national gatherings: Doris Daley, Elizabeth Ebert, Paul Zarzyski (reciting S. Omar Barker’s "Horses vs. Hosses"), Jay Snider, Smoke Wade, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Peggy Godfrey, Ken Cook, Darrell Arnold, Pat Richardson, DW Groethe, Don Kennington, Kent Rollins, Virginia Bennett, Janice Gilbertson, Rod Nichols, Diane Tribitt, and Yvonne Hollenbeck.

Along with Clark's, voices of some other respected poets who have passed on are preserved on the CD, including those of Sunny Hancock; J.B. Allen, reciting Gail I. Gardner’s famous "The Sierry Petes"; and Buck Ramsey, known as the "spiritual leader of cowboy poetry."

Noted reciter Randy Rieman delivers Bruce Kiskaddon’s classic, "When They’ve Finished Shipping Cattle in the Fall"; Jerry "Brooksie" Brooks performs Katherine Fall Pettey’s "Morning on the Desert"; and Arizona rancher Gail Steiger recites "Hail and Farewell," by his grandmother, Delia Gist Gardner, wife of Gail Gardner.

Prepare for a trip through time. There are classics and pieces written about times long gone. Also included are glimpses into the lives of modern cow hands, ranchers, ranch wives, farriers, and poets.

Close your eyes and be carried along with an ebb and flow of emotions and imagery. Wrapped within the subject matter and interpretations there’s sincerity, intimacy, good-natured joshing, wisdom, respect, hogwash, poignancy, and spirituality.

Should you have a homebound or ranch-sick cowboy in your life, The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two is worth the price just to hear a horse’s nostrils rattle on Joel Nelson’s "Breaker in the Pen." It will put a smile on your face if you’ve ever worked around horses.

For rural readers, check your library for a Cowboy Poetry Week poster featuring Tim Cox’ artwork, "At His Own Pace." That will tell you they’ve received the CD through the Center's Rural Library Project. A 1920-era Texas cowboy, Orville Bennett, is pictured on the CD, father-in-law of one of the poets. Inside, there's a modern-day picture of South Dakota rancher and poet Ken Cook and his sons. Test drive it at the library; see what you think. I’m betting you’ll want to order a copy of your own.

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two will be officially released April 15, 2007. It sells for $20, postpaid. (Those making new or renewal donations to the Center at the $100 or higher level will receive The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two and the 2007 Cowboy Poetry Week poster featuring the Cox painting. The poster is not for sale, but donors at the $40 level can obtain it.)

Volume 1, released in 2006, is also available for $20, postpaid. Order both from CowboyPoetry.com, PO Box 330444, San Francisco, CA 94133 or online at http://www.CowboyPoetry.com/cd.htm. You can pay by a secure, on-line credit card payment (Paypal not required).

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

March 2007

Classic and Contemporary Women of the Plains

Raised in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Willa Cather (1873-1947) was eight years old when her father moved the family to a homestead near Red Cloud, Webster County, Nebraska. The prairie was just as flat in the 1880s as it is today, but it had a cultural richness lost through subsequent generations.

Cather’s 1913 novel, O Pioneers!, reverses more than 100 years of ethnic homogenization. Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Bohemians and a few English-speaking characters toil throughout the narrative that brought her acclaim as one of America’s foremost novelists.

The Willa Cather Foundation at www.willacather.org hosts an impressive collection of all-things-Willa. "Cather Links" connect to more than 50 information sources including Nebraska National Register Sites, teaching guides and interviews.

An interview that appeared in the Philadelphia Record shortly after the publication of O Pioneers!—and 10 years before she won the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours—is insightful and inspiring. The writer, identified only as F.H., allowed Cather to talk about her work in lengthy, quoted passages. Lamenting the loss of her lush Virginia hills, Cather described how her ethically-diverse neighbors lessened the homesickness:

"I liked them from the first and they made up for what I missed in the country. I particularly liked the old women, they understood my homesickness and were kind to me. I had met "traveled" people in Virginia and in Washington, but these old women on the farms were the first people who ever gave me the real feeling of an older world across the sea. Even when they spoke very little English, the old women somehow managed to tell me a great many stories about the old country. They talk more freely to a child than to grown people, and I always felt as if every word they said to me counted for twenty.

"I have never found any intellectual excitement any more intense than I used to feel when I spent a morning with one of those old women at her baking or butter making. I used to ride home in the most unreasonable state of excitement; I always felt as if they told me so much more than they said—as if I had actually got inside another person’s skin..."

Of F.H.’s sparse commentary, one line succinctly summed up O Pioneers!. He, or she, described the book as "this magnificently grave and simple and poetic picture of early days on the uplands of Nebraska." If you haven’t yet discovered Cather’s powerful narratives (I confess to being a johnny-come-lately), start with O Pioneers!

Works published during Cather’s lifetime are listed chronologically at www.willacather.org/bibliography.htm. Clicking on the title links you to public domain, no cost, e-text editions. In addition to O Pioneers!, other titles available in e-text form include My Ántonia and One of Ours. Contact the Cather Foundation at 402-746-2653; info@willacather.org.

Yvonne Hollenbeck is capturing both contemporary and homestead-era tales of life on the Great Plains. A daughter of Harry and Ruth Hanson, she was raised near Gordon, Nebraska. When she married her rancher/roper husband, Glen, she packed up and moved north—across the state line to Clearfield, South Dakota. The Hollenbecks make their home on an outfit that has been in Glen’s family for several generations.

I mentioned previously that Yvonne was named as the Western Music Association’s first female poet of the year. That’s quite an honor for a ranchwife who divides her time between helping with chores—feeding cows and feeding the men, getting Glen packed and ready for his next big roping, quilting, and traveling to cowboy festivals across the West. It’s the time spent on the ranch that gives her poetry its authentic flavor.

In addition to three previously released CDs and an equal number of books, Yvonne has a dandy new recording out entitled What Would Martha Do?. You’ll find her popular poem by the same name on the collection, along with 13 other tracks (see complete track listing at www.cowboypoetry.com/yh.htm#bks). This isn’t Yvonne’s first recording, but it is easily her best. Her writing keeps getting better, and with the talented Rich O’Brien as producer, you know it’s gonna be good.

What Would Martha Do? is available for $18 postpaid from Hollenbeck at 30549 291st St., Clearfield, SD 57580; 605-557-3559; geetwo@gwtc.net; www.yvonnehollenbeck.com/.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

February 2007

Stylish New Release of Classic Kiskaddon

I hope this bit of news isn’t too late and that Open Range—Bill Siem’s monumental collection of Bruce Kiskaddon poetry—is still available. If the book has already sold out, my apologies. If, on the other hand, you read this and don’t act, that’s your own misfortune.

Kiskaddon, who penned "When They've Finished Shipping Cattle in the Fall" and "The Broncho Twister’s Prayer," easily rates inclusion on a shortlist of classic cowboy poets. Some have offered that he was the best cowboy poet who ever wrote a cowboy poem. Others say he is the most respected of the classic poets.

Attend a cowboy poetry gathering or festival these days and you’ll likely hear Kiskaddon’s work recited by the top reciters: "The Old Night Hawk," "The Long Horn Speaks," "Ghost Canyon Trail." What a fabulous resource this new collection is for these folks. Siems’ intent was to include all the poems Kiskaddon ever published during his life. Describing that body of work, Siems says Kiskaddon "wrote poetry of authentic cowboy experience that was uniquely unromantic, and its unflinching realism and artistic strength still set it apart and keep it fresh and relevant for modern readers."

Margo Metegrano, editor of CowboyPoetry.com and Director of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, states: "Open Range may be the most important contemporary cowboy poetry book to be published. Bill researched and collected the poems from many sources, including family collections. Hundreds of the poems haven't been seen by most readers. All of Kiskaddon’s own books are rare now, and even the modern collections of his work are scarce and garner high prices."

Kiskaddon wrote during the 1920-1950 era, when as Siems says "cowboy fantasy swept American popular culture." His work appeared regularly in the Western Livestock Journal published in Los Angeles and also on calendars printed by the Los Angeles Union Stockyards. Examples of his poetry may be found online: www.cowboypoetry.com/kisk.htm.

Beyond poetry, Kiskaddon (1878-1950) also wrote short stories. That’s where my association with Bill Siems began. His previous Shorty’s Yarns: Western Stories and Poems of Bruce Kiskaddon (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2004, 171 pages) delighted me for several weeks as I read one story per evening. Last year at the National Cowboy Gathering in Elko, Nevada, I was fortunate enough to dine with Siems. He spoke of this second book dedicated to Kiskaddon’s poetry and shared the mockup with our group. It was a beauty even at that stage.

Because he was such a prolific writer, Kiskaddon’s work was widely scattered. Siems went to great lengths, literally, traveling from his home in Spokane, Washington, to Los Angeles, Denver, and Trinidad, Colorado, while doing research. Culminating four years’ effort by Siems and his wife, Dawn Holladay, Open Range contains Kiskaddon’s entire poetic output of 481 poems, illustrated with 323 line drawings by Katherine Field, Amber Dunkerley and others. Field (1908-1951) and Kiskaddon collaborated for 20 years in the creation of illustrated poems, according to Siems. Two hundred and forty-two of Field’s line drawings appear in the collection.

In addition, the book features biographical and historical introductions by Siems, prefaces by Hal Cannon, Waddie Mitchell and Lynn Held, bibliography, glossary, variant wordings and notes. Siems himself is a skillful writer. His introductory pages turn far too quickly. All of this adds up to 638 7x10" pages. It is Smyth-sewn to open flat at every page. Adding further to the package are colored end papers and a cover that is stamped in blind and dark brown with a paste-down illustration by Field.

Open Range will officially be released at the National Cowboy Gathering in Elko, Nevada, January 28 - February 3, 2007. It will be offered for sale there and is also available from the publisher. That’s where things get dicey. I’m thinking the book may sell out in Elko. Only 300 clothbound copies on acid-free, archival paper were printed. Another 26 were leather-bound. Clothbound copies are $125 postpaid until February 28, 2007; $150 thereafter. Deluxe leather-bound copies are $400. For more information or to order contact Old Night Hawk Press, 2521 S Hatch Street, Spokane, WA 99203; 509-868-8402; www.oldnighthawkpress.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

January 2007

Western Music Association Honors

A great many of the folks stepping forward to receive 2006 Western Music Association (WMA) awards have been mentioned in this column. (Previously published columns containing these mentions are noted below.) Yep, it was pretty much old home week last November when WMA members met in Albuquerque for their 18th annual International Western Music Festival.

The WMA’s purpose is to preserve and promote the traditional and contemporary music of the American West and the American cowboy. It is committed to the community at large, with members taking Western music, history and literature to children across the nation to teach them about the American West. For more on the organization, go to www.westernmusic.org.

New to the WMA festivities were categories spotlighting cowboy poets. Named the organization’s first Female Poet of the Year was Clearfield, South Dakota ranchwife, Yvonne Hollenbeck (Cowboy Jam Session January 2006 & September 2005). Hollenbeck has a dynamite new CD, What Would Martha Do?, which includes her oft-requested poem by the same name. For more on Hollenbeck, go to www.YvonneHollenbeck.com.

The Male Poet of the Year title went to Andy Nelson of Pinedale, Wyoming. Nelson is earning the reputation as a consummate festival emcee. Catch him the end of January at the Sierra Vista gathering: www.CowpokePoet.com.

Hollenbeck and Texas cowgirl singer/songwriter Jean Prescott (November 2006) won the third new category, Best Collaboration of Poet and Musician, for "How Far is Lonesome." Several other collaborations by the two can be heard on Prescott’s Sweethearts in Carhartts: www.JeanPrescott.com.

Belinda Gail and Curly Musgrave took home Traditional Duo/Group honors. From classic cowboy music to original and gospel, Belinda and Curly (August 2006) have a masterful stage presence and are just really nice folks: www.BelindaGailSings.com and www.cowboypoetry.com/curlymusgrave.htm.

Female Vocalist of the Year went to Juni Fisher (May 2006 & September 2005). Dedicated to crafting imaginative ballads, Fisher makes her home near Nashville, Tennessee. Besides her latest release, Cowgirlography, she can be heard on Wylie & the Wild West’s Bucking Horse Moon: www.JuniFisher.com.

Montana-born Dave Stamey, now living in California, took home both Male Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year awards. Stamey is a rare songwriter, able to deliver poignant and meaningful compositions right along with rib-tickling tunes: www.davestamey.com.

Traditional Album of the Year went to the Sons of the San Joaquin for Way Out Yonder (March 2006). Jack Hannah, of the Sons, was named Songwriter of the Year: www.thesons.com.

Honors as Instrumentalist of the Year went to Joey (the CowPolka King) Miskulin of Riders in the Sky. Miskulin wrote and produced music, including "Rust-eze Polka," for Disney/Pixar’s animated feature, Cars: www.musicwagon.com/news.

Andy Nelson, along with big brother, Jim, claimed a second award: Radio DJs of the Year (September 2005 & February 2005). The duo hosts the always-entertaining, weekly Clear Out West (C. O. W.) radio show: www.clearoutwest.com.

Wylie & the Wild West went home with the Western Swing Album of the Year hardware for Live! At the Tractor. Perennial favorites of mine (December 2006, September 2005 & July 2005), their latest release, Bucking Horse Moon, was produced by John Carter Cash: www.wyliewebsite.com.

Western Swing Duo/Group honors went to The Texas Trailhands, who call Fort Worth home. If you haven’t yet heard this Grammy-nominated group, do yourself a favor and check them out: www.texastrailhands.com.

There was a tie for the Crescendo Award between Canadian singer/songwriter Eli Barsi www.elibarsi.com and Utah’s Stampede! comprised of Steve Taylor, Terri Taylor and David Anderson: www.saddlepalmusic.com. Barsi is a frequent headliner in Branson, Missouri.

"For the Freedom" was recognized as Song of the Year. It was written by New Mexico’s R. W. Hampton (March 2005). Hampton, with his incredible baritone voice, has 10 albums to his credit: www.RWHampton.com.

Selected as Radio Station of the Year was KNMB—Ruidoso, New Mexico. KNMB is home to Joe Baker’s Backforty Bunkhouse: www.backfortybunkhouse.com.

Voted on by members, WMA awards are given to its members. Additional tribute awards were presented: the Bill Wiley Award went to Stan and Alma Tussing, the Pioneer Trail Award to Liz Anderson and Hall of Fame inductions to the Sons of the San Joaquin and Carl T. Sprague. Jon Messenger delivered a special tribute honoring Willie Schooler.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2007, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

Special Edition: December 2006

BULLRIDER: a PBR Documentary

BULLRIDER, a documentary on the winning-and-losing, living-and-dying world of Professional Bull Riders came to my attention too late for inclusion in previous gift lists. Long on quality, content and message, the film rates a column all its own:

Professional bull riding (www.pbrnow.com) attracts more than one million live-event attendees each year to 100+ PBR-sanctioned competitions; 100 million viewers watch televised broadcasts. With more than 450 hours of prime-time programming annually, PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on the air.

Producers William Chessman and Maureen Holmes embedded a camera crew with the 2004 PBR tour. They followed 45 cowboy athletes to 28 cities over 10 months to tell the story of friends and brothers vying for the world championship. Oscar-nominated director Josh Aronson and Emmy-winning editor Kate Hirson winnowed live footage and taped interviews down to a whirling 90-minute, wince-and-cheer study of the sport.

Viewers leave home at sunup with rodeo-bound cowboys, attend church services, venture into the bowels of arena locker rooms, duck and dodge with bodyguard bull fighters and witness surgery—up close and personal—in the operating room. The cast runs the gamut: bull riders Adriano Moraes, Justin McBride, Mike Lee and Tony Mendes; bull fighter Rob Smets; former bull riding champions Jim Shoulders, Ty Murray and Tuff Hedeman; PBR Physician Tandy Freeman; PBR Minister Todd Pierce; stock contractor H.D. Page; celebrity bucking bulls Little Yellow Jacket, Mossy Oak Mudslinger and Bodacious. And then some.

Adriano Moraes won an unprecedented third Professional Bull Riders’ title in November 2006. For his efforts, the 36-year-old Brazilian earned a $1.346 million dollar payday. It put him over the $3 million dollar career-earnings mark and made him the PBR's all-time money leader with $3,369,623.

The 2006 storybook ending was a far cry from how Moraes finished the 2004 season. With PBR World Championships in 1994 and 2001, Moreas was intently focused on a third. At the finals in Las Vegas, he tore the biceps in his riding arm. Cameras captured the grimace on his face the instant the injury occurred. Remarkably, Moreas continued to ride in successive rounds, at one point managing a more-than-respectable 93-point ride. In the end, 21-year-old Mike Lee, himself riding with a dislocated shoulder, took the title.

An unforgiving sport, bull riding pits a cowboy’s fragile body against the fury of an animal that knows no rules. It isn’t always pretty, but it’s not the bulls who are harmed. A vivid example replays Tuff Hedeman’s October 1995 encounter with bull riding’s bad boy, Bodacious.

Wimps don’t make it in the PBR.

Those who succeed overcome any number of falls, fractures, concussions, contusions, dislocations and disappointments. Faith, family, friends—and the talents of a proficient orthopedic surgeon—carry them to the pay window. There are no atheists in a fox hole or in bull riding. Moreas says he and other riders rely on God for protection, strength and knowledge to ride bulls. "When we nod our heads [for the gate to open], we feel so alone. We pray, God help us."

Issues of animal welfare are addressed, leaving no doubt that those who own the bulls have a vested interest in keeping them fit and healthy. One stock contractor admits developing deep attachments to the bulls he raises, making it difficult to part with them when the time comes to sell.

The cinematography and editing are exceptional. The slow motion action/audio sequences are stellar. BULLRIDER will make a memorable gift for the bull riding fan in your family. But, you don’t have to be a cowboy or even be aware of the PBR to be mesmerized by the content. This film captures the illogical drive of the sport, the humanness of the contestants and their profound faith.

The DVD sells for $24.95 plus $4.95 priority shipping. Order BULLRIDER on-line at www.bullridermovie.com. One dollar from every purchase goes to the Resistol Relief Fund. The fund benefits anyone injured in the sport of bull riding: high school, college and professional bull riders, as well as those who work in the sport of bull riding.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

December 2006

Rounding up Western Gifts: Part 2

Continued from last month–suggestions for the cowboys and cowgirls on your shopping list:

If it’s cowboy music you’re searching for, may I suggest Ken Overcast’s Montana in My Soul (2006). The 13-track CD was inspired by a lifetime in the saddle under the Big Sky. Through original and traditional tunes, Overcast guides the listener up an imaginary cattle trail from Texas to Montana. There, he puts down roots in the Bear Paw Mountains, an area where "the snow banks get deep and the cold north wind will take your hide off."

Honky-tonk piano, harmonica, fiddle and guitar accompaniment on Overcast’s own "Too Far Back to Texas"set the tone. The old-timey feel continues with accordion, mandolin, banjo and clarinet back-up on a snappy "Five Foot Two," "Lilly Dale"–a duet with Joni Harms and "The Cowboy Blues." Overcast penned the title track with its refrain: "They’ll never bury me back in Texas, this cowboy’s found his home ... I’ve got Montana in my soul." For a complete track listing and audio samples go to www.kenovercast.com. CDs sell for $14.95 + $3 shipping (regardless of order size). Contact Ken Overcast at Bear Valley Records, Dept. CJS, PO Box 1542, Chinook, MT 59523; 1-888-753-7611; 406-357-3824.

The nation’s heartland is the subject of Monte Hartman’s America’s 100^th Meridian: A Plains Journey (Texas Tech University Press, 2005; ISBN-13 978-0-89672-561-4; hardcover; 176 pages; 113 color photos, 2 maps). Traveling the 100^th Meridian, Hartman photographed the great "empty middle" from North Dakota’s Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation to Laredo, Texas. His photos and text, and an essay by Western writer William Kittredge, take the reader along the vertical dividing line between East and West. The large format photo study is devoid of any human subjects, focusing solely on landscapes and man-made structures. The title retails for $39.95 from Texas Tech University Press, Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79409-1037; 800-832-4042; www.ttup.ttu.edu.

North of the Medicine Line, up Calgary way, is where cowgirl poet Doris Daley hangs her chapeau. A quick wit and a masterful emcee, Daley delivers smartly-written lines with just a hint of "Canuck speak." Her humor makes her a favorite among audiences and other performers. If you’ve not seen Daley in person, you are missing a delightful experience. (Catch her in Arvada during January’s Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering and in Elko, Nevada, at the 2007 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.)

Attempting to capture the essence of a live performance, Daley recorded Good for What Ails You (2005). True to her humble roots, the concert venue was a neighbor’s living room. You’ll hear my personal favorites, "Bones," "Answering Machine," "A Letter to Mr. Russell" and "Hands." All appear in print at www.cowboypoetry.com/dorisdaley.htm. Send $21 postpaid to Fiddle DD Enterprises, Dept. CJS, Box 4427, Station C, Calgary, AB Canada T2T 5N2. You may order online: www.dorisdaley.com. Contact Daley at 403-217-4340.

Every so often I like to listen to a relaxing instrumental. Recently added to my collection is Bob Boatright’s Take the A-Train. It’s a dandy to put on while fixing supper. Included in the 18 tracks of Western swing fiddle music are "Maggie," "Lady Be Good," "Farewell Blues," Nobody's Darling But Mine" and "Maiden's Prayer." See a complete track listing at www.backfortybunkhouse.com/boatright.htm If you like what you see and hear (there are two sound clips), send $15 (shipping included to lower 48) to West Texas Country, Dept. CJS, 1400 Benton. Big Spring, TX 79720. If you prefer, order online through PayPal. (Joe at Back Forty Bunkhouse Productions introduced me to Bob’s music.)

Christmas morning without yodeling is like a country school program without Santa. Don’t be caught without Wylie & the Wild West under your tree. Live! At the Tractor, honored as the Western Music Association’s 2006 Western Swing Album of the Year, is available as a CD and a DVD. Both contain 16 tracks of Wylie Gustafson’s original and traditional Western tunes. The DVD (2 hr. 15 min.) contains bonus footage, including music videos, for a total of 30 songs. Individually, the CD and DVD sell for $15. As a pair, they’re $25. Add $3 per order for p/h; $4 for Priority Mail; $10 outside the U.S. Order online at www.wyliewebsite.com; by fax at 509-549-3684 or by mail at 24502 SR 127, LaCrosse, WA 99143.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

November 2006

Rounding up Western Gifts: Part 1

Our first snow here in eastern Montana fell September 17 and has been refreshed several times since. There’s nothing quite like a dusting of white to make me start thinking of Christmas. Here is the first of two installments focusing on gift ideas for the saddle pals on your list:

Whether the poetry enthusiast on your list prefers to read or listen, we’ve got ‘em covered. Turning to Face the Wind is the name of a book and a CD by Colorado native Jane Ambrose Morton. The CD (2006) includes 19 carefully-crafted, original poems found within the book (Cowboy Miner Productions, 2004; ISBN 1-931725-08-X; hardcover; 232 pages). The book has been honored with a Will Rogers Medallion, Fred Olds Cowboy Poetry Award, Glyph Award and Willa Literary Award. It contains over 75 poems and photographs that tell the story of Morton’s family's ranch.

These are stories of people and traditions. All families should be so fortunate as to have a storyteller/historian of Morton’s ability in their midst. A generous sampling of her poetry appears online at www.cowboypoetry.com/janemorton.htm.Two of my favorites found online, in the book and on the CD are "Summer of ‘34" and "Grandma’s Roses." The CD is $18 postpaid. The book is $24.45. Contact Jane Morton (October through April) at Dept. CJS, 7961 E. Natal Ave., Mesa, AZ 85209; (April-October) at Dept. CJS, 12710 Abert Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80908 or at dickandjane2@earthlink.net.

Wilderness, landscape, wildlife and Western artist Kaye Burian has quite a following in these parts. Part owner of the Lazy 77 Ranch, Manning, N.D., she finds inspiration right outside her studio window: buffalo, cattle and horses. Check out a few of the locals at www.kayeburian.com. Burian knows her subjects and does a fine job of capturing the Plains in authentic and realistic views.

A perfect example is "Living the Legacy" commissioned by the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association for their 75th anniversary. Asked to depict the generations of stockmen and stockwomen, the painting shows mystic longhorns and riders in the background with a modern branding scene in the foreground. The site is an actual location on the Gene Harris Ranch near Killdeer, N.D. Limited edition prints, 16x24" in size, are available for $55 postpaid. View "Living the Legacy" at www.ndstockmen.org; click on Association Programs. Order from ND Stockmen's Association, Dept. CJS, 407 S. Second St., Bismarck, ND 58504; 701-223-2522.

Fellas, if your idea of a swell gift for your sweety is a spanky new chore coat or pair of coveralls, for gosh sakes, get her a copy of Jean Prescott’s Sweethearts in Carhartts too! Prescott, an award-winning Texas cowgirl singer, had lots of help on the newly released CD. She collaborated with ranch wives and poets from across the US and Canada to honor women who work the land. For a selection of poems and lyrics, reviews and order info, go to www.cowboypoetry.com/jeanprescott.htm#Some. I hesitate to call this a women’s album, as men will enjoy it too. But, truth be told, women are gonna like this a lot.

While you’re at the Prescott outfit, check out Merry Christmas from Our Camp to Yours (1997). Prescott teamed up with her friends Chris Isaacs, Buck Ramsey and Sky Shivers to record this gem. Those who ever attended, produced or participated in a country church or school program will travel back in time. It has all the elements of a good program, opening with Isaacs reciting S. Omar Barker’s "A Cowboy Christmas Prayer." He also reads Luke 2:1-19. Ramsey sings "Silent Night" and "White Christmas" with guitar accompaniment. Prescott offers Stephanie Davis’ "The Gift" and "A Cowgirl’s Christmas Wish" penned by Prescott and Fran Hedrick. Heck, it even includes Shiver’s telling of a regrettably unforgettable church pageant! Order either CD for $17 (postpaid) from www.jeanprescott.com; Prescott Music, P.O. Box 194, Ovalo, TX 79541; (325) 583-2553.

I already have my 2007 calendar: Cowgirls Of the Old West–Historic Photographs & Illustrations by ZON International Publishing. The collection of full-color, vintage scenes is reproduced in a generous 12x12" format. Last year it sold out well ahead of the new year. Buy one for $11.95 or three for $23.90 (plus postage). Order now from Zon, PO Box 6459, Sante Fe, NM 87502; 505-995-0102; www.zonbooks.com or from Amazon.com. Zon also sells Americana picture books, posters and postcard books.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

October 2006

Plan Now for National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Although the 23^rd annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering isn’t until January 2007, now is the time to make plans to attend. Held in Elko, Nev., the event runs January 27 through February 3. While the event is best known for bringing poets, musicians and musical groups to town for cowboy poetry and music, the sponsoring Western Folklife Center also organizes exhibits, workshops, films and lectures.

Workshops are scheduled early in the week, before the major influx of performers and fans hit town. Among this year’s offerings are Rawhide Braiding with Doug Groves and friends; Back to the Beginning in Photography with Kevin Martini-Fuller; Songwriting with Mike Beck; Set Your Words Free (writing workshop) with Paul Zarzyski; What’s Cooking in Harding County, N.M.; and Joe Wolter’s Ranch Horsemanship and Roping Clinic.

As the workshops conclude, more than 60 performing artists begin arriving in Elko for a whirlwind Thursday, Friday and Saturday schedule. Invited guests will present more than 80 hours of non-ticketed daytime performances. Poets and singers from the region participating in 2007 include Paul Zarzyski, Great Falls, Mont; Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, Newcastle, Wyo.; Georgie Sicking, Kaycee, Wyo.; Sandy Seaton, Emigrant, Mont.; Jesse Smith, Cora, Wyo.; Ringling 5, Wilsall, Mont.; Henry Real Bird, Garyowen, Mont.; Bob Petermann, Wibaux, Mont.; Rodney Nelson, Almont, N.D.; Wallace McRae, Forsyth, Mont.; Yvonne Hollenbeck, Clearfield, S.D.; DW Groethe, Bainville, Mont.; Stephanie Davis, Columbus, Mont.; Ken Cook, Martin, S.D. Everybody’s favorite cowboy poet/large animal vet, Baxter Black, Benson, Ariz., will also appear.

A complete list of performers can be found on the Western Folklife Center’s Web site: http://www.westernfolklife.org/site/. But, wait. There’s more! The Center also includes information about workshops, ticketed shows, exhibits and dances. Curious as to what a ticketed Elko show is like? Listen to one of 2006's cybercast, archived performances – there are 17 to choose from. Scroll through the 2007 brochure—it’s online! Hungry for more? Sign up for their no-cost electronic newsletter. Better yet, become a member (levels start at $40), and have it delivered right to your mailbox. For more information contact Linda Carter at lcarter@westernfolklife.org or by telephone at 888-880-5885, ext 222.

Annually, more than 200 cowboy artists apply in hopes of being selected to perform at Elko’s famed gathering. Deadline for submissions for the 24^th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (January 26 to February 2, 2008) is May 1, 2007. Poets and musicians alike need to submit a short biography and three samples of their repertoire. A more detailed summary appears on the Center’s Web site. You may also call 775-738-7508 or write: Western Folklife Center, National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Applications, 501 Railroad St., Elko, NV 89801.

As mentioned above, Bob Petermann will be making tracks for Elko early next year. Bob is a Wibaux County rancher and a neighbor of mine. I simply could not be happier that the selection committee sent him an invitation. He is most deserving of a place on the roster.

Bob is as handy with a vintage Gibson guitar as he is with a rope. And, he’s a pretty fair roper—the kind you like to have dragging calves to the fire at your branding. Bob plays and sings like he ropes—nice and easy. His mellow, soothing music and poetry (yep, he’s both a cowboy singer and poet) are straight from the ranch. There’s no embellishment to take away from the down-home sound developed over the nearly six decades since he learned to chord and sing with his family.

Bob has a book, two cassettes and one CD to his credit. A gospel collection is in the works. Takin’ up Slack, a CD, was released in 2003, and it’s a good one. You don’t have to take my word for it. Baxter Black tells me that it’s one of his favorites. He especially likes "A Couple Good Horses to Ride," a song Bob wrote. There are 12 music and two poetry tracks. Besides Bob’s own compositions, there’s "Take Me Back to the Prairie" by Jimmy Wakely and "God Must Be a Cowboy at Heart" by Dan Seals. To order, send $15 to Bob Petermann, HC71 Box 7410, Wibaux, MT 59353. You may reach him at 406-486-5618 or Pet7410@midrivers.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

September 2006

Telling Tales of the American West

Ivan Doig was named by the Missoulian as one of the 100 most influential Montanans of the century. He joined Senator Mike Mansfield, artist Charlie Russell, author A.B. Guthrie, rancher/poet Wally McRae, newsman Chet Huntley and cattle baron Pierre Wibaux. Despite that, Doig may hesitate at having his work included in a Western culture column.

Born in White Sulphur Springs in 1939 and raised by a sheep herding Scotsman, Doig’s memoirs and novels are set in the American West. That said, he doesn’t consider himself a Western writer. He feels "that writers of caliber can ground their work in specific land and lingo and yet be writing of that larger country: life."

Works of fiction are minimal on the shelves of my library. I find authentic accounts preferable to contrived characters and circumstances. Unless the characters have been assembled and nurtured by Ivan Doig. With him at the helm, it’s practically impossible to tell memoir from biography from novel. Historical incidents stampede, mix with fiction and gallop across the page as engrossing copy. (Cowboy poets striving for a more authentic feel to their poetry may want to read Doig's novels focusing on working ranches: English Creek and Ride with Me, Mariah Montana.)

Acclaim for Doig’s This House of Sky (1978) took him from editorial and free-lance writer to respected author. A finalist for the National Book Award, the memoir of growing up on the Rocky Mountain Front made a San Francisco Chronicle poll for best work of non-fiction. Doig’s English Creek made the same poll in fiction. He was the only living writer with books in the top 12 in each category. Even though I’ve read both, two other Doig books are my personal favorites.

The seeds of Bucking the Sun were planted during Doig’s research for the Two Medicine trilogy: Dancing at the Rascal Fair, English Creek and Ride with Me, Mariah Montana. A reoccurring comment about work during the Depression interested him: work on the Fort Peck Dam in northeastern Montana. A complex mystery, Doig describes the time spent researching and writing it as "a three-year roll of the dice," during which he invested "everything I've ever learned as a wordsmith."

Doig provides reader’s guides to his nine of his 11 books at http://www.ivandoig.com/. Of Bucking the Sun he notes: "The epic project of the New Deal, at the depth of the Depression the Fort Peck Dam put more than ten thousand people back to work, with money in their pockets. And along with the five years that it took to build the world's biggest earthen dam came a roiling collection of construction boomtowns where there had been only snakes and gopher holes. Wheeler, Delano Heights, Square Deal, Free Deal and the other wage-fueled shantytowns famously captured by Margaret Bourke-White's camera in the first issue of LIFE magazine disappeared as fast as they came, but the Fort Peck experience stayed in people's lives. By capturing the water of the Missouri River, it launched them."

Dancing at the Rascal Fair is the chronological start of the Two Medicine trilogy (even though any one can be read in any sequence with clarity). Angus McCaskill narrates as he and best pal, Rob Barclay, leave Scotland. Montana bound in the belly of a steamship, they arrive in time to celebrate statehood: 1889. As winter 1919 breaks and thawing livestock carcasses appear across the Rocky Mountain Front, the pals are sworn enemies. In between, Doig – with his mastery of fact and fantasy – weaves an engrossing tale of Montana’s early homestead era. It is his best selling book.

I had the pleasure of hearing Doig speak while promoting Mountain Time. Likeable and low-key, he discussed his meticulous research methods and paid homage to his wife, Carol, who figures prominently in his literary success. One invaluable tool he uses is a pocket-sized notebook. When a catchy figure of speech tickles his ear, he jots it down and files it for later use. The result is well-crafted dialogue – his credible heroes and despicable villains expressing emotion through a colorful vernacular.

Doig’s latest is The Whistling Season (Harcourt Books). Many of his titles are available on audio tape. Incidentally, his is the voice behind Norman Maclean’s audio edition of A River Runs through It. The audio recording industry awarded it an Audie, equivalent to an Oscar.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

August 2006

Cowboy Tried and True and Rhyming Too

Few have risen to the level of this month’s featured entertainers: Belinda Gail and Curly Musgrave. Whether performing together as a duo or solo, Belinda and Curly are talented, hard working, dependable, family friendly, personable and professional. Their names on an event roster assure ticket holders of money well spent. Likewise, laying down the purchase price for a CD is a sure bet.

As a team, the pair was named as the 2005 traditional group/duo by the Western Music Association. In addition, Belinda took home the group’s female vocalist title – for the fifth straight year. In 2002, Curly was selected by the group as their male performer and songwriter of the year – repeating both wins again in 2003. Beyond awards and accolades too numerous to list in their entirety is the sense that both enjoy what they’re doing. It is equally apparent that they work hard at their craft.

Titles produced by the cheerfully bantering on-stage duo include the recently released Red Rock Moon, When Trails Meet and Our First Noel (14 Christmas tracks with Kip Calahan and R.W. Hampton). When Trails Meet has traveled several thousand miles with me, spinning merrily in the CD player of my car. It’s a collection of beloved standards and contemporary cowboy tunes, with something for everyone. "Gallivantin’ Galveston Gal," first recorded by Gene Autry kicks off the 13-track collection, followed by "Prairie Gal," "Yodel Blues," "Nevada Moon," "Montana Lullaby," "Place Where I Worship" and "Singing on the Trail."

To Curly’s credit are Range & Romance, The Heritage, Cowboy True and Born to be a Cowboy. Lyrics to eight of Curly’s songs and a complete listing of CD tracks are posted at www.cowboypoetry.com/curlymusgrave.htm. Order any of these for $17 postpaid directly from Curly J Productions, PO Box 512, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352; 909/338-3508.

The modest, Canadian-born Curly makes his home in Lake Arrowhead, California. He writes many of the songs he is best known for: "Father to Father," "My Daddy’s Hat" and "Cowboy True." Least you think all is trouble free in the cowboy world of which he sings, consider "Escalante Adios." Featured on National Public Radio’s "What’s in a Song," it tells of the federal government closing Utah grazing lands to make a new national park. The segment is archived at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4462801.

Belinda, also from California, performs gospel and traditional country in addition to Western and Western swing. Labeled America's Western Sweetheart, Belinda’s recordings include She is a Cowgirl, Blessed Trails, Cowboy Code and Lass of the San Joaquin. Among my favorite gospel CDs, Blessed Trails includes "Wings of a Dove," "Detour," "If That Isn’t Love" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." (For selected song lyrics and link to ordering information go to http://www.cowboypoetry.com/belindagail.htm). Titles sell for $17 postpaid.

If you have youngsters in your family, 4-H Club enrollment is on the horizon. Ask your child if they would be interested in Spurrin’ the Words, a cowboy poetry curriculum. (Even some older than average "kids" will find this resource invaluable. You need not be in 4-H to purchase these materials!)

Developed by Kirk Astroth, director of the Montana 4-H Center for Youth Development at MSU-Bozeman, the materials provide a background on cowboy poetry, discuss stereotypes and encourage participants to learn about family and local history. The basics of writing poetry – rhyme and meter – are covered using classic and contemporary examples. (This should be of interest to budding poets of any age or anyone serious about improving their craft.) Astroth says writing cowboy poetry can help kids experience a sense of validation, a realization that their experiences are as valuable as anyone else's.

The project, supported by a grant from the Montana Arts Council, includes an instructional book and leader’s guide, along with an audio CD. Performances are by Montana poets Mike Logan, Gwen Petersen and Paul Zarzyski. The CD alone is worth the purchase price for Zarzyski’s vivid dialog on, and examples of, "falling in love with the sound of words." The zany Zarzyski takes the listener on a runaway romp encouraging creativity, careening downhill, all the while listening for the music in language, and rattling at last to a rewarding – if not completely truthful – end. If this doesn’t ignite creativity in a writer, ain’t nothing gonna make it burn.

Spurrin’ the Word was recognized by the American Folklore Society for encouraging K-12 educators or students to use or study folklore. Read more at www.montana4h.org. A popular resource with youth and adults, 4-H and public schools (home schoolers, check this out), it aligns with U.S. national educational standards for English.

The booklet with CD costs $10. Order directly (with a credit card) from MSU Extension Publications at 406-994-3273. Contact the Montana 4-H Center for Youth Development at PO Box 173580, Bozeman, MT 59717-3580; 406-994-3501; kastroth@montana.edu. Several museums and bookstores carry it among their selections.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

July 2006

National Day of the American Cowboy: July 22

Organizers across the country are putting the finishing touches on plans for the National Day of the American Cowboy, Saturday, July 22. The resolution establishing the observation was conceived and drafted by folks at American Cowboy magazine. (For more info, including an events listing, go to http://www.cowboyday.com/about.php.) Jesse Mullins Jr, editor, has an insightful letter regarding the celebration in the July/August 2006 issue. It’s obvious that he put a great deal of thought into his remarks; get a copy and savor them. While you’re at it, savor this month’s entertainment selections:

Ridin’ & Rhymin’ is a documentary chronicling the life of 85-five-year-old Georgie Sicking, Kaycee, Wyo. I met Georgie and film maker Dawn Smallman, Far Away Films, at the 2003 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, where Dawn was filming. It was a lengthy process as they retraced Georgie’s childhood, married life and widowhood – up to the present. The resulting 57-minute film is humorous, heart breaking and inspiring.

Ranch raised, Georgie grew up in Arizona. Put out of the house in their teens, she and her brother ran a desert ranch. Georgie managed the place by herself while her brother worked for wages. It was then that she started writing poetry to pass the time. A National Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductee, Georgie participated in the first Elko gathering and has been invited back several times since.

The winner of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival's award for best film about the American West, Ridin’ & Rhymin’ sells for $23.95 ppd. (For more about the film: : www.cowboypoetry.com/randr.htm#Order.) To order, send check or money order (specify DVD or VHS format) to Far Away Films, 1148 SE 50th Ave., Portland, OR 97215; (503) 295-6832; www.farawayfilm.com.

If you’re looking for light entertainment – something you can read every now and again that coaxes a smile – Ranchers, Rounders & Ropers by Robert "Jinglebob" Dennis fills the bill. Corralled between the covers of this 132-page, softcover book are poems and stories of northern Great Plains ranchlife.

A South Dakota rancher, Robert is an accomplished saddlemaker, cowboy poet and storyteller. (For more on Dennis: www.cowboypoetry.com/robertdennis.htm.) What amazes me most about Robert’s prose is that he writes like he talks. Nothing gets lost in the translation. All the details and all the fun are there!

Adding to the enjoyment of the selections are illustrations by Kaye Sperb, Belle Fourche, S.D., and a foreword by Darrell Arnold, editor of Cowboy Magazine. Robert is a frequent contributor to the publication, with several stories having appeared previously there in print. Ranchers, Rounders & Ropers (ISBN: 0-9765969-2-X) is available for $15 ppd from Dennis at 17410 Indian Creed Rd., Red Owl, SD 57785; 605-985-5419.

Spunky New Mexico cowgirl singer Kip Calahan has claimed her share of awards: the Western Music Association’s Song of the Year for "What Cowboy Means" and the Academy of Western Artists’ Female Vocalist of the Year and Western Album of the Year. To see Kip in person is to be drawn into her high-energy force field. Before you know what’s happened, you’re hooked. Music is her passion; she really puts on a show.

Kip’s sassy performance style comes through on the 12-track Dust Devil Angel, opening with Dave Stamey’s "Buckaroo Man," and concluding with Tom Russell’s "Last Thing Smokin." Sprinkled in between are three of Kip’s compositions (one co-authored with Clearfield, S.D. poet, Yvonne Hollenbeck) and a lilting rendition of "Tumbleweed." This isn’t your grandmother’s cowboy music: it’s largely up tempo and slightly edgy. For a complete track listing and samples go to www.kipcalahan.com. To order, send $17 ppd to Kip Calahan, P.O. Box 83, Animas, NM 88020; 505-548-2451.

Tri-State readers need to get tickets NOW for Creative Broadcasting Services’ salute to the cowboy, Wednesday, July 19. DW Groethe, Bainville, Mont., is featured on the Heritage of the American West: http://www.livewithjt.com/. Doors at the High Plains Western Heritage Center at 6 p.m.; show time is at 7. Senior citizens 62+ and kids 12 and under are $5; adults, $10; season pass with preferred seating, $100. Tickets include admission to the museum and a coffee and cookies reception prior to the show. Contact CBSI at 605-722-2511or jim@livewithjt.com.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

June 2006

Conjuring up Authentic Cowboy Memories

Lacking sound equipment or camcorders in the Old West, no recordings of early-day cowboy music performances exist. What today passes for classic cowboy tunes–although enjoyable and entertaining–fails to accurately replicate authentic cowboy music of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

A notable exception is Jack Thorp’s Songs of the Cowboys (Edited by Mark L. Gardner; recordings by Gardner and Rex Rideout; Museum of New Mexico, 2005). The book and accompanying 17-track CD are distinctly different from what is routinely classified “cowboy.” This historical study peels away the stereotypical layers, revealing the authentic, turn-of-the-century American West. A previously unpublished and unrecorded “Ti Ri Youdy” leads the way followed by such standards as “Grand Round-Up,” “Get Along, Little Dogies,” “The Tenderfoot,” “Windy Bill” and “Cow Boys Lament.

Referred to by some as the godfather of cowboy music, N. Howard “Jack” Thorp compiled and published the genre's first songbook in 1908. The 50-page compilation was the result of 19 years spent among cowboys, sheepherders, saloon keepers, gypsies, medicine show professors, theater and circus performers, seeking the songs that cowboys sang. Further, he is credited with having written one of the most heart-rending, oft-performed cowboy ballads of all time, “Little Joe the Wrangler,” also on the CD.

Honoring Thorp’s ground-breaking work, Jack Thorp’s Songs of the Cowboys breathes life into the collection, making it more than merely words on a page. Sung solo and with minimal accompaniment, historian Gardner (www.songofthewest.com) and music historian Rideout (www.timetravelmusic.com) re-created the tunes using vintage instruments. Historically accurate to the era, Gardner and Rideout selected a banjo, a diminutive piccolo banjo (Thorp traveled with one in his saddlebag), violin, concertina, parlor guitar, ebony bones and mandolin for accompaniment. Rideout notes that guitars didn’t make inroads into the West until after the Civil War and likely would not have been used.

With multiple editions of Thorp's work already in print, Gardner and Rideout chose to celebrate the historical aspect of his work. The resulting 80-page, softcover and CD is a grand celebration, indeed. From Gardner’s enlightening introduction to the lyrics, from eight superbly done line drawings by Ronald Kil to the recordings, from Thorp’s cowboy glossary to a suggested reading list and an attractive cover–the package is a bonafide treasure.

Jack Thorp's Songs of the Cowboys (ISBN: 0890134782) is available for $24.95 plus $5 postage from the Museum of New Mexico Press, c/o UNM Press Order Dept., 3721 Spirit Dr. SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106 OR at 800-249-7737. Generous track samples can be heard at www.cdbaby.com/cd/markrex2, which also sells the title. Additionally, it is available from booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Since we’re riding the classics trail, let’s pay a visit to Dick Morton. Dick recites classic cowboy verse. Fifteen tracks are on his CD recording, Cowboy Classics, the subtle background music provided by Gardner and Rideout.

A Colorado native, Dick was assigned to the 8th Cavalry at the end of WW II. Marrying a rancher’s daughter, he learned the daily and seasonal rhythms of ranching. When his wife, Jane, began writing and reciting poetry, Dick accompanied her to gatherings. He developed an interest in the classics and started memorizing his favorites. Dick won the title of top serious reciter at the 2005 Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Kanab, Utah (www.westernlegendsroundup.com/).

Poets of particular interest to him include Bruce Kiskaddon, Badger Clark, S. Omar Barker, E. A. Brinstool, Henry Herbert Knibbs and D. J. O'Malley. Dick’s interest lies not so much in the perennial favorites of these legends as in their lesser known, more introspective pieces. His presentation isn’t flashy, but it connects in a powerful and charming manner. It's a recording to put in the player, push back in an easy chair, listen and relax. That's unusual for cowboy poetry.

My personal favorites include “Bunkhouse Christmas” by Barker; “The Broncho Twister's Prayer” by Kiskaddon; “The Walking Man” and “Where the Ponies Come to Drink” by Knibbs; and “The Cowboy’s Prayer” by Clark. For a complete track listing, go to www.cowboypoetry.com/dickmorton.htm.

Cowboy Classics is available for $15 postpaid. Order by mail: (April–Oct.) Dick Morton (Dept. CJS), 12710 Abert Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80908 or (Oct.– April) 7961 E. Natal Ave., Mesa, AZ 85209.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

May 2006

Girls’ Night Out

Females on the cowboy frontier were rare. Respectable roles were generally confined to those of ranchers’ wives. In today’s world of cowboy poetry and Western music, women are more visible and considerably more vocal.

Virginia Bennett is one of the genre’s most respected poets – male or female. Reared in New Hampshire, Bennett headed West while in her teens. Since 1971 she’s broken and trained horses and worked on ranches throughout her beloved West. She now calls California home, working alongside her ranch-manager husband, Pete.

A veteran writer and performer, she’s appeared at Elko’s National Cowboy Poetry Gathering 12 times – her poetry included in several anthologies. Those praising her work use words like "authentic" and "wisdom." Sprinkle in "humor" and "traditions" and you have the basis for Bennett’s wide-ranging look into life in the American West. Read a sampling at www.cowboypoetry.com/vibennett.htm.

Among my personal favorites are "I Like to Think I Know"– speculating on the background of a dependable horse acquired as a 10 year old, "The West Had Its Way With Me"– about her journey west and " Home . . . Again"– contemplating crossing over. These can also be found within In the Company of Horses. Published in 2004, the 166-page softcover contains 107 poems, 25 photos from the Bennett family album, an insightful introduction and extensive notes on the poems. To order, send $18.95 to Virginia Bennett, PO Box 216, Paso Robles, CA 93447.

Juni Fisher’s voice is rising in the ranks of contemporary Western/Cowboy music. A singing storyteller, Fisher was raised on a farm and learned traditional cowboy songs from her father. She studied equine science, worked at a sales yard and rodeoed. She’s ridden reined cowhorses, cutting horses, foxhunters and steeple chasers and penned her own cowboy music. Fisher was named the 2005 Female Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists. Voters were undoubtedly impressed by the originality of her writing. Some suggest she is the female equivalent of song writing heavy-weight, Tom Russell. For more www.cowboypoetry.com/junifisher.htm.

Cowgirlography is Fisher’s most recent release, saluting real cowgirls, horses and love. The liner notes for the title track warn, "If you wear ‘fashion hats’ and line dance, stop here. You may not understand . . . heck, you may even get mad." From her 17-point "Rules of Cowgirlography" are "#1. Treat men and horses nice and #7. Your hat: shape it well. It goes on your brow, not on the back of your head." Standout tracks are "Bring My Fiddle" – a dying cowboy’s request, "The West (Boys, She Ain’t Broke to Ride)"– by Baxter Black and Jack Hannah and "I Hope She’ll Love Me"– a touching duet with Joe (Sons of the San Joaquin) Hannah.

For details of her three CDs ($16 postpaid for one; any three for $40), go to www.junifisher.com. Order from Red Geetar Records, 2105 Granville Rd, Franklin, TN 37064. Note: Juni Fisher and Patty Clayton headline the 20^th annual Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora, N.D. Shows are at 7:30 p.m., May 27 and 28. Contact Bill Lowman at 701-872-4746.

Add some fun to your backyard grilling with The All-American Cowboy Grill (Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, Ken Black & Jim Clark, Rutledge Hill Press, 2004). Rogers-Barnett, the daughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, collected 200 recipes focusing on the grill and dedicated them to the American cowboy. Rodeo cowboys, film greats, TV stars and music legends contributed to the collection. A section at the back gives the Web sites for many of those who contributed, including Gene Autry, James Drury, Don Edwards, Chris LeDoux, Ty Murray, George Strait and Patsy Montana.

The majority of the recipes are entrees, but there are dishes that can be prepared on the grill and foods to accompany a meal. You’ll find Pilar and John Wayne’s Glamorous Meat Loaf; Donnie Gay’s Posse Potatoes; Montie Montana Jr.’s Hang ’Em High Jalapeno Cornbread; and Doug McClure’s Trampa’s Banana Cream Pie.

Adding to the delightful mix are 100 movie stills and publicity shots with Western pop culture trivia sprinkled throughout. Sidebars feature real Western history. The 240-page, comb-bound book retails for $16.99 from www.rutledgehillpress.com. It sells for slightly less from Amazon.com and may also be found at your local bookstore.

Submit items for consideration to Jeri Dobrowski, 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621; jamsession@robscabinets.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

April 2006

National Cowboy Poetry Week: April 16-22, 2006

Saddle up and ride along with those celebrating National Cowboy Poetry Week. Proclaimed by unanimous resolution of the U. S. Senate in 2003, it’s a coast-to-coast salute to the meter and rhyme of the working West and its heritage.

Cowboy Poetry Week is sponsored by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, Inc. The nonprofit formed to serve a mostly rural community of Western writers, musicians and artists. Its aim is to help preserve Western and cowboy poetry; to provide a central resource for poets, libraries, schools and the public; and to educate the public about the history and value of Western and cowboy poetry. Individuals, groups and radio personalities are planning a variety of events. To find out about the festivities, go to www.cowboypoetry.com.

In honor of Cowboy Poetry Week 2006, a small group of dedicated folks produced the Center’s first CD compilation, The BAR-D Roundup. Recordings by some of today's best classic and contemporary cowboy poets were hand picked for inclusion. Mark L. Gardner leads off the 27-tracks with "What’s Become of the Punchers?" by Jack Thorp, America’s first collector of cowboy music and poetry. Red Steagall weighs in with "Born to this Land." Besides these two serious works, there are plenty of laughs to be had, supplied by poets from across the West. A detailed track listing can be found at www.cowboypoetry.com/cdnotes.htm.

The BAR-D Roundup is available for a $20 donation. Proceeds support the Center. Send check or money order to CowboyPoetry.com, PO Box 330444, San Francisco, CA 94133, or order on-line at www.cowboypoetry.com/cd.htm#Order.

Whether you’re a long-time fan of cowboy verse or just getting a feel for it, Buck Ramsey’s Grass: with Essays on His Life and Work is a "must read." Edited by Scott Braucher and Bette Ramsey, Buck’s widow, "Grass" is a book-length poem. It tells the tale of Billy Deaver, who leaves the farm at 15 to pursue a cowboy's life.

In describing "Grass," author Bryan Woolley said: "The story of Billy Deaver’s entry into manhood and the world is a tale that was lived in the flesh by hundreds of young cowboys in the days of the big ranches and long cattle drives. It is a Texas story, a Western story, an American story. This book serves as tribute to a man who is sorely missed, but whose spirit lives gloriously in his work."

Buck Ramsey (1938–1998) completed the epic in the 1980s while confined to a wheelchair. He was paralyzed nearly three decades earlier – the result of a horse wreck. In between the accident and his death he learned to play the guitar, generated an extensive body of poetry and worked to preserve and perform historic cowboy songs. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow and received the National Heritage Master Artist Award.

First published in 1992 under the title And As I Rode Out on the Morning, the commemorative Grass contains the poem, the short story it was based on and commentaries on Ramsey’s work from poets, musicians, historians and others devoted to the cowboy movement.

Not to be overlooked are 21 line drawings and 68 photos. Walt LaRue did the drawings for the original book. They were never used, however, as the publisher made the decision to cut them from the project. What a shame they were previously omitted; what a treat they were used this time. Photos gleaned from museum collections blend seamlessly with the text presented on opposite pages. Several came from the XIT Museum in Dalhart, Texas; the majority are from the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas.

Completing the package is a 1990 CD recording of Buck performing "Grass." The prologue, "Anthem," is often praised as the finest single piece of literature to arise from the cowboy renaissance. Buck rose to prominence among modern cowboy poets with his 1989 recitation of the prologue at Elko’s cowboy poetry gathering. (His first recording of "Anthem" is included on the previously mentioned Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry CD compilation.)

Order the 170-page hardback Grass from Texas Tech University Press, Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79409-1037; 800-832-4042; www.ttup.ttu.edu

It sells for $29.95.

To submit items for consideration contact Jeri Dobrowski at jamsession@robscabinets.com; 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

March 2006

Way Out Yonder and Then Some

While preparing this installment, I discovered the CD I planned to share with you had been named the 2006 Western Heritage Award winner for Outstanding Traditional Western Album. Way Out Yonder by Sons of the San Joaquin is a worthy recipient.

Presented by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (formerly the National Cowboy Hall of Fame), previous honorees include Don Edwards, Red Steagall, Riders In The Sky-– and the Sons of the San Joaquin. They have been recognized twice previously for outstanding original compositions "Charlie and the Boys" and "He Just Can’t Be Seen From the Road." (For more about this award: www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/e_awar.html.

For those of you who are not familiar with The Sons, they are a family trio based in Fresno – in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley. Brothers, Joe and Jack Hannah, and Joe’s son, Lon, sing Western songs in velvety, three-part harmony. The lyrics celebrate the life and work of the American cowboy. The late Roy Rogers said The Sons were the closest thing to the legendary Sons of the Pioneers, which he founded. That’s quite a compliment.

I had the pleasure of hearing The Sons in person last summer in Kanab, Utah, where they were headlining at the Western Legends Roundup. What a show these fellas put on!

They get right to business with the opening track, "There’s a Rainbow over the Range," written by Tim Spencer of Sons of the Pioneers fame. Jack Hannah penned most of the remaining tracks, including my favorites "It’s the Open Range for Me," "A Cowboy’s Heart is in the Saddle" and "The Lord of the Rollin’ Hills." For a complete track listing and 45-second audio samples: www.westernjubilee.com/WayOutYonder.htm

The Sons record with Western Jubilee Recording Company. Previous albums include 15 Years- - A Retrospective; Sing One for the Cowboy; Horses, Cattle and Coyotes; Gospel Trails and Christmas. CDs sell for $15 each plus $3 s/h from www.westernjubilee.com; PO Box 9187, Colorado Springs, CO 80932; 800-707-2353.

For generations, ranch folks have hung Charlie Russell prints in the livingroom, den and bunkhouse. Today, works by Tim Cox and Jack Terry are gaining popularity. All of these can be found at AllPosters, Emeryville, California, which claims to be the world’s largest poster and print store: www.allposters.com.

AllPosters on-line catalog lists 1,962 items under Americana - American West: 882 items pertaining to cowboys; 96 for cowgirls; 378 for Western. Additional artists represented include David R. Stoecklein; William Albert Allard; William Matthews; Donna Howell-Sickles; Frank Tenney Johnson; Bill Owen; Gordon Snidow; John Fawcett; and James Bama.

There are prints of photographs, paintings and pencil drawings (plain, matted and framed); tapestries; note cards; posters; magnets. Items range in size from 8x20" to 40x30". Prices range from $5 for a magnet to $445.99 for an artist’s proof of Michael Swearngin’s "The Mesa Is His Dwelling." Most prints and posters are in the $20-$60 range.

If you’ve been looking for affordable artwork for your home or office, consider such Russell classics as "In Without Knocking," "Partners," "Tight Dally and a Loose Latigo" or "Camp Cook's Troubles." Perhaps you’d prefer Frederic S. Remington’s "Running Bucker," "Stampede," "Fall of the Cowboy" or "In a Stampede." I’ve always been fond of Tom Ryan’s work. "Sharing an Apple," "A Split Decision" and "Heritage" are all available.

Besides such recognized paintings, there are images reproduced from vintage postcards, song books, rodeo posters, ads, fruit crate labels and Anheuser Busch Brewing Association’s "Custer’s Last Fight." There are studio promotional pieces featuring Roy Rogers and Tom Mix and hundreds of contemporary works by artists and photographers depicting the West. Unfortunately, the inventory is accessible only by computer.

Save the Memorial Day weekend, May 27-28, for the 20^th annual Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Medora, N. D. Bill Lowman, organizer, announced the lineup. Headlining night shows on Saturday and Sunday are Juni Fisher and Patty Clayton. Saturday’s show also features Lowman and Jess Howard. Sunday’s includes the Larsen Brothers and The Old Five & Dime. Yvonne Hollenbeck presents "Five Generations of Quilts" at the Medora Community Center at 10 a.m., Saturday. Contact Lowman at 701-872-4746.

To submit items for consideration for Cowboy Jam Session contact Jeri Dobrowski at jamsession@robscabinets.com; 1471 Carlyle Road, Beach, ND 58621.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column also appears in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

February 2006

Prospecting for Cowboy Poetry and Western History

Cowboy Miner Productions has released the latest in their series of contemporary cowboy poetry: West River Waltz by DW Groethe. Hal Cannon, Founding Director of the Western Folklife Center, penned a back-cover blurb for the book calling Groethe's work "fine craftsmanship."

A North Dakota native living in Bainville, Montana, Groethe was invited to perform at Elko’s National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Library of Congress, The Kennedy Center and the National Folk Festival in 2005. Those invitations speak to his authenticity, writing ability and musical prowess. When he’s not on the road, he reports for work on a ranch north of Bainville.

Popular cowboy poet Pat Richardson wrote me recently about West River Waltz. He was obviously excited about the book: "It’s brimming with originality. Groethe is a genius!" Lamenting the sameness of topic and predicable rhymes employed by too many modern poets, Richardson continued: "Groethe writes with the depth and the confidence of someone who knows what he's writing about – which is refreshing. He does serious poems just as well as he does funny ones. It's the best cowboy poetry book I've seen."

Included in Groethe’s first hardback are more than 70 poems and the lyrics from his four recordings. (For a complete listing go to www.cowboypoetry.com/dwgroethe.htm#Waltz.) The 224-page West River Waltz is available from Cowboy Miner at www.cowboyminer.com/dw-groethe.html; 1614 E. Bell Road, Ste. 101 #33, Phoenix, AZ 85022. You may also order directly from Groethe for $24.50 postpaid: PO Box 144 – Dept. CPDC, Bainville, MT 59212. Request an autographed copy if you like.

Cowboy Miner started when Mason Coggin, a mining engineer, recorded and produced a cassette of underground mining poetry and another of Bruce Kiskaddon’s cowboy classics. The tapes quickly sold out, and Mason and his wife, Janice, made plans to publish a book of Kiskaddon’s most popular poems. Their goal was to produce a treasured book worthy of being willed to a favored heir. That hardback, Classic Rhymes by Bruce Kiskaddon, sold out and is available only on the secondary market. Subsequent collections featured works of S. Omar Barker and Henry Herbert Knibbs.

Of particular interest to the cow country region of eastern Montana, Classic Rhymes & Prose by D. J. O'Malley, was released in 2000. It began with an unpublished manuscript of poems and articles written by O'Malley and obtained from the Montana State Historical Society. O'Malley was the stepson of a cavalry officer on the burial detail for Custer's command at the Little Big Horn. He worked as a cowboy, stock inspector, deputy sheriff and guard at the Montana State Penitentiary. Many of the folks he encountered during his lifetime became Western history notables. Besides his famous "When the Work’s All Done This Fall," O’Malley wrote newspaper stories. These are the prose contained within the book, along with plentiful photos and illustrations. If you don’t already have this 293-page volume in your Western library, your library is incomplete.

Classic Poems & Prose by Badger Clark, edited by Greg Scott, was released in 2005. I met Scott last April in Cody, Wyoming, where he spoke at Cowboy Songs and Range Ballads at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. As with the O’Malley collection, this 430-page hardback goes far beyond poetry, assembling 25 short stories and several essays credited to South Dakota’s poet laureate. Not to slight Clark’s legendary rhymes such as "A Cowboy's Prayer" and "A Bad Half Hour," I found his short stories captivating. At the end of three weeks – reading a story a night – I felt as if I had lost a good friend when the stories came to a close. Clark’s poetry can be found in print quite readily, but Scott and Cowboy Miner did a great service to the reading public by bringing his stories to print – along with his poetry.

The first in a series of modern-day cowboy poetry collections, Cowboy Miner debuted Contemporary Verse by Larry McWhorter in 2000. McWhorter passed away in 2003. Thankfully, his best loved and most requested poems were compiled in this one volume. Following McWhorter’s were similar collections by Duke Davis; Chris Isaacs; Sunny Hancock and Jesse Smith; Jane Ambrose Morton; Rolf Flake; Michael Whitaker; Kent Stockton; and now, Groethe.

See Cowboy Miner’s complete selection of classic and contemporary cowboy poetry and Western tales at www.cowboyminer.com.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column originally appeared in the Tri-State Livestock News

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

January 21, 2006
Special Black Hills Stock Show Edition

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column originally appeared in the Tri-State Livestock News

Some links for the above article:

    Ken Overcast: www.KenOvercast.com
   North Dakota State Senator Ryan Taylor: www.mycowboylogic.com
   Montana rancher, writer, and minister John L. Moore: www.johnlmoore.com

   Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo: http://blackhillsstockshow.com

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

January 2006

National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, held annually in Elko, Nevada, is as entertaining as Miles City’s Bucking Horse Sale, a county fair and talent show rolled into one week-long affair. Music, dancing, educational workshops, poetry, cowboy gear, documentaries, shopping and ethnic food abound in this celebration of traditional and contemporary cowboy life.

The 2006 edition runs January 28 to February 4. During the busiest days, performances run continuously and concurrently on multiple stages. Visit the sponsoring Western Folklife Center online at www.westernfolklife.org. Contact them at 888-880-5885.

This region’s invited performers include Chuck Larsen and Jesse Smith from Wyoming; North Dakotans Jess Howard and Rodney Nelson; Montanans Wally McRae and Paul Zarzyski; native Montanan Wylie Gustafson, now of Washington; and South Dakota’s Yvonne Hollenbeck.

Three other performers I have to mention are Jay Snider, Jerry Brooks and Baxter Black. Snider, a rancher from southwest Oklahoma, and Brooks, an underground miner from Utah, are making their first Elko appearances. I’ve had the pleasure to hear both at Sam Jackson’s Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, Kanab, Utah, where they’ve taken home trophies and prize money on a regular basis. Snider writes contemporary and classic-flavored verse. Brooks is a phenomenal reciter of classic cowboy tales. Plus, they’re both just really nice folks.

Black needs little in the way of introduction, except to say that he is as rare of a gentleman as he is a talent. It’s no wonder he was selected to deliver a foreword to Elko! A Cowboy’s Gathering, a 2-disk CD recorded live during the 2004 Gathering. If you can’t be in Elko in person, this is the next best thing. Still, you’d miss the legendary, late-night jam sessions at the Stockmen.

Summarizing the event, Black says: "Elko made cowboy poetry respectable. It put poetry, all poetry, on the national stage... It has proven poetry to be a salable commodity... It has breathed live into the careers of a herd of talented Western singers and song writers, not to mention thousands of folklorists, theatrical folks, Western artists, saddle makers, historians, Louie L'Amour lovers, Indians, Australians, Mongolians, film makers and publishers who have hooked up to the oxygen of Elko and breathed deep..."

A generous 40 tracks are included on the set released by Western Jubilee Recording Company. Elko! contains poetry, story telling, singing, accordion and harp playing. Among my favorites are "The Drover Road to Amulree" by David Wilkie & Denise Withnell; "Silver Spurs" by the Sons of the San Joaquin; Wally McRae’s "Things of Intrinsic Worth"; Joel Nelson’s "Equus Caballus"; R.W. Hampton’s "Born to Be a Cowboy"; and "Evening Chat" by Waddie Mitchell. It ends, appropriately, with Don Edwards’ "When the Campfire Has Gone Out." The collection sells for $24.95 plus $7.50 s/h. It is available through the Western Folklife Center at www.westernfolklife.org/giftshop/; 501Railroad St., Elko, NV 89801.

The Center’s best selling CDs are River of No Return and I'm Pullin’ Through by Stephanie Davis; Baxter Black's Double CD; And I Stood There Amazed, Eighteen Inches of Rain and Lost Herd by Ian Tyson; Then Sings My Soul by R.W. Hampton; Song of the West by Tom Russell; and Paul Zarzyski’s Words Growing Wild.

From My Window is Yvonne Hollenbeck’s recent release of 65 poems. As with her previous collections, Hollenbeck included photos and stories from the Great Plains homestead era. This versatile entertainer included selections from her five-generation quilt trunk show in the 115-page paperback. For those who are familiar with Hollenbeck, you’ll find the ever-popular "What Would Martha Do?" Send $15 to 30549 291 St., Clearfield, SD 57580; 605-557-3559. To see where Hollenbeck is performing after Elko, go to her Web site at www.YvonneHollenbeck.com.

I couldn’t have been happier to receive Jay Snider’s Of Horses and Men along with a Christmas card from him and wife, Sandi. The CD features 15 tracks in his easy-going Southern drawl and is infused with masterfully edited background music. "Three Hundred Miles to Go" invites listeners into the world of the trail herd cowboy. A playful story about "Bankers" brings it to a modern close. Humor and wisdom are scattered throughout. Send $19 to Snider at, Rt. 1 Box 167, Cyril OK 73029; 580-464-3103. For more about Snider go to his page at www.JaySnider.net.

© 2006, Jeri Dobrowski, All rights reserved
This column originally appeared in the Tri-State Livestock News

Read the 2005 Cowboy Jam Session columns on page 2

About Jeri Dobrowski

Jeri Dobrowski grew up south of Miles City, Montana, in the same general whereabouts as Gus and Wally McRae. Cheerleaders at her high school bolstered sports teams with "Broadus Hawks we wish you luck, Powder River Let 'er Buck!"

A fourth generation Montanan, her great grandfathers homesteaded in southeast Montana at the turn of the century. One settled on the banks of Powder River in the late 1800s. Sheep initially grazed the rugged breaks, paving the way for a more respectable cattle enterprise. Another came north from Oklahoma Territory locating further east of the river. A third left Iowa and settled south of Miles City. He and his sons supplemented their ranching enterprise with a general store, post office and freighting business. The last brought his family to Montana from South Dakota, arriving
in Miles City on a snowy Easter Sunday in 1913.

As a child, Jeri's best friends were her dogs and a Shetland/Welsh pony named Joe. Educated in a one-room country school for six years, she grew up helping on the family's cattle and small grains operation. As comfortable in the corral as she was in the kitchen, she showed registered Quarter Horses, rodeoed and sewed. Interested in writing and photography, she sold her first story for publication to the Montana Farmer-Stockman while in high school.

Today, Jeri works as a photographer and freelance writer, and her Lame Steer Publishing company offers graphic design, book design, editing, and publishing services. Her particular areas of interest include cowboy entertainers, the West, agricultural issues, rural life and food. She has been involved with the Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora, N.D., since its inception. An award-winning journalist, she serves on the editorial staff of the popular Taste of Home magazine. Over the years, she has learned the delicate art of wedding photography, sharing the joys, stresses and surprises of the occasion with dozens of couples. In 2004, she helped excavate and report the unearthing of a 65-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex specimen discovered in Montana. (See daily journals at http://www.unearthingtrex.com/ for photos and details.)

Jeri and her cabinet-and-furniture-maker husband, Rob, make their home on his family's home place in Wibaux County Montana. Their children, Jennifer and Brian, have graduated and are out of the house. They now share their home with the kids' dogs, which didn't make the move. Suzie and Jessie are border collie/Australian shepherds. With these high-octane, Ph.D. -candidate canines, there's no suffering from empty nest syndrome.

Photo by Jeri L. Dobrowski, obtain permission for reproduction rights

Jessie (l.) and Suzie

Suzie
went to her reward
June 12, 2006

Working as a free-lance photographer/journalist since 1981, Jeri Dobrowski’s images appear on and in cowboy poetry and music recordings, books, programs and posters. See some of her photography here.

Read her Cowboy Magazine (Winter, 2006) cover story about South Dakota rancher Robert Dennis here at CowboyPoetry.com.

A photo she took while preparaing that story, "Leadin' a Spare," is featured in our Art Spur project. Art Spur invites poets to let selections of Western art inspire their poetry.

See larger versions of Jeri Dobrowski's patriotic photos from the 2005 Medora, North Dakota Flag Day parade here.

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