Soul of the West, a musical drama
written by Red Steagall,
Andy Wilkinson
(www.andywilkinson.net),
and Anne Lockhart, will be presented July 25, 2009 in
Buffalo Gap, Texas. From the announcement:
An outdoor musical drama...of this land made for you and
me...by Red Steagall, Andy Wilkinson, and Anne
Lockhart. In partnership with the West Texas Rehabilitation
Center, Perini Ranch is proud to present the history of Charles
Goodnight and the Goodnight Loving Cattle Trail. Barry Corbin
portrays Charles Goodnight, Buck Taylor brings Buffalo
Bill to life, Michael Horse portrays Quanah Parker, and
many more performers will tell the story of the history of this
part of Texas.
Find details here in our event
news, and at the
Perini Ranch and the
West Texas Rehabilitation Center.
[photos of Red Steagall and Andy Wilkinson by
Jeri Dobrowski;
see her gallery of western performers and others
here.]
Posted 7/2
Sadly, we've learned that poet, writer, and
horsewoman LaVonne Houlton
died June 11, 2009, at age 83. Lavonne Houlton raised and showed
registered Morgan Horses for 35 years at the Viking Morgan Ranch,
in Modesto, California. She wrote many articles for publications
including The Morgan Horse Magazine, Western Horseman,
Thoroughbred of California, Horse Lovers,
Horseman's Courier, and California Horse Review. In the
1960s she wrote a monthly column, "LaVonne's Line," that ran in
Piggin' String magazine for many years.
LaVonne Houlton was a Lariat Laureate at CowboyPoetry.com. In
addition to poetry, she contributed stories and photos to
Western Memories and
Picture the West. Recently,
Lynne Pedler Boren shared photos of her father for
Picture
the West; he was the subject of a poem written by LaVonne
Houlton.
A short obituary is
here in the Modesto Bee, where you can leave a message
in the guest book.
Posted 7/2
Texas
rancher, horseman, writer, reciter, and poet
Joel Nelson has been awarded a
prestigious National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
National Heritage Fellowship.
The
NEA describes the award, "As part of its efforts to
honor and preserve our nation's diverse cultural heritage, the
National Endowment for the Arts annually awards one-time-only
National Heritage Fellowships for master folk and traditional
artists. These fellowships are intended to recognize the
recipients' artistic excellence and support their continuing
contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage."
The awards were established in 1982. Two other cowboy poets have
been named National Heritage Fellows: Wallace
McRae in 1990 and Buck Ramsey in
1995. Cowboy singer, storyteller, and illustrator
Glenn Ohrlin received the award in 1985.
Find information about Joel Nelson
here at the National Endowment for the Arts' web site, and
see our feature here.
Joel Nelson is featured on the The BAR-D
Roundup Volumes 2, 3, and 4.
[photo by Kevin Martini-Fuller]
Posted 6/29
CowboyPoetry.com is cited in the July, 2009 issue of
Harper's Magazine,
in the magazine's iconic
Harper's Index, a compilation of facts and statistics,
often thought provoking, each presented in a single line.
The
Harper's Index in the July issue includes: "Number of readings and
other events so far this year on CowboyPoetry.com: 286."
You can search 25 years of Harper's Index with any keyword
here at the
magazine's web site (it lags a month or so in its updates). The
editor calls the index "a statistical poem."
Harper's Magazine, first published in June, 1850, states it
is "the oldest general interest monthly in America."
Posted 6/22
"Books and Buckaroos; Utah State University's Travelling Cowboy
Poetry Collection" is on display June 15 through September 21,
2009 at the Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University (USU)
in Logan, Utah. The collection belongs to the
Fife Folklore Archives,
which is a part of USU’s Special Collections and Archives. The
exhibit highlights examples from USU’s extensive cowboy poetry
collection, which includes National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
posters and pins.
An exhibit reception will be held July 7, 2009, 6–7 pm in the
Merrill-Cazier Library Foyer, with exhibit curators Randy
Williams and Brad Cole. The reception will be followed
by a lecture at 7 pm in the Merrill Cazier Library Room 101.
Hal Cannon, founding director of the
Western Folklife Center
and the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, will discuss the history
of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The events are free and open to
all.
Each year the
Fife Folklore Archives brings many books from their Cowboy Poetry
Library Collection to the Western
Folklife Center's National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.
There, the books—which range from valuable classics to new, self-published chapbooks—are available for browsing.
They welcome book contributions to the collection. See our feature
about the archives here.
[photo by
Jeri Dobrowski,
Fife Folklore Archives Curator Randy Williams (left) and patron at
Elko, 2005]
Posted 6/16
Top
singer and songwriter Juni Fisher is
featured in an extensive article by Michael Lohr in the July, 2009 issue of
Cowboys & Indians.
The article tells about her music career as well as her upbringing in
California's San Joaquin Valley, her life-long work with horses, and her
fly fishing pursuits. It includes a review of her recording,
Gone for Colorado, which
received this year's Wrangler Award for Outstanding Traditional Album from
the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. A lively
interview and other sidebars are also included.
The
Cowboys &
Indians web site includes a related feature
here about Juni Fisher, with audio and video.
See our feature on Juni Fisher here
and visit her web site,
www.junifisher.net.
Posted 6/15
Folklorist
Elizabeth Dear
is spearheading the
Montana Folklife Area
at the
National Folk
Festival
in Butte, Montana, July 10-12, 2009.
The Montana Folklife Area theme is
"Celebrating the Culture of the Horse in Montana and the West," and
will include "folklife demonstrations, displays, exhibits,
performances and narrative presentations." Among the demonstrations
will be "horsehair hitching, rawhide braiding, hat making, saddle
making, boot making, blacksmithing, trick roping, quill and bead work,
pack demonstrations and more."
Cowboy poets and musicians
are among those featured in the performances and narrative
presentations, and some will be a part of demonstrations. They include
Paul Zarzyski,
Wylie Gustafson
of
Wylie & the Wild West,
DW Groethe,
Randy Rieman,
Henry Real Bird,
Sandy Seaton, and others.
The free
National Folk Festival will feature "250 performers and craftspeople
with music and dance performances on several stages, workshops,
children’s activities, folklife demonstrations, a festival marketplace,
and ethnic and regional foods."
A May 26, 2009
article in the Billings Gazette includes additional
information.
Find information, including more about
the performers and demonstrators at the
Montana Folklife Area section
of the
National Folk
Festival web site.
[Thanks to Jeri Dobrowski
for the Billings Gazette article link]
Posted 5/27
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