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"The 2008 Bar-D Roundup 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 modern-day family outfits. Like the two previous volumes which received critical acclaim, Volume Three is a must for the comprehensive Western audio collector or the person just learning about cowboy poetry."                                             Jeri Dobrowski, Cowboy Jam Session "If you hear somebody wonder at the 'why' of perpetuating the Western ethic, the Cowboy Way and particularly 'why cowboy poetry,' here's the answer for all of it. This collection clearly says what this important, artful communication of the heart conveys at its best."                                                                    Rick Huff, Best of the West Reviews "The Bar-D Roundup compilations represent the finest poets and the best in cowboy poetry. They are the real deal and a real contribution to not only to promoting and preserving our heritage but also in representing the cowboy arts."                                                       Joe Baker, The Backforty Bunkhouse "This is a CD to own and listen to often. It's like a full-course meal with each dish adding to the flavors and textures. The last poem is like dessert: the voice of Robert Service reciting his own 'The Cremation Of Sam  McGee.' The previous two CD were good. This one is great."                                                                     PJ and Dallas McCord, hosts of The Cowboy Culture Corner   The Bar-D Roundup: Volume Three is a great meld of past and present. Anytime you can hear both Buck Ramsey and Robert Service in their own voices, plus Red Steagall, Paul Zarzyski and, well, me, you know you're running the iambic gamut!  Another great ride.                     Mick Vernon, Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival Artistic Director and Radio Ranch host   The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) is a compilation of vintage and contemporary recordings of some of yesterday's and today's best classic and contemporary cowboy poetry. A wide range of voices present tales that express this venerable art form, words that uncover "the heartbeat of the working West." This third annual edition of The BAR-D Roundup showcases contemporary and traditional works, including Robert Service's vintage recording of "The Cremation of Sam McGee"; the poetry of past Texas Poet Laureate Red Steagall, National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow Wallace McRae, and Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Literature recipient Paul Zarzyski ; noted reciters Randy Rieman, Ross Knox, and  Jerry Brooks presenting classic poems by Henry Herbert Knibbs, D.J. O'Malley, and Badger Clark; a third annual selection from Grass, the master work of the late Buck Ramsey, an NEA National Heritage Fellow, recognized as the modern spiritual leader of the genre. There are eighteen additional offerings from today’s top poets and reciters, including Joel Nelson, Ken Cook, Doris Daley, DW Groethe, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Paul Kern, Linda Kirkpatrick (reciting a Bruce Kiskaddon poem), Deanna Dickinson McCall, Andy Nelson, Susan Parker (reciting an A.V. Hudson poem), Pat Richardson, Georgie Sicking, Bill Siems (reciting a Curley Fletcher poem), Jay Snider (reciting a Luther A. Lawhon poem), Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, Hal Swift (reciting a James Barton Adams poem), Mick Vernon (reciting an S. Omar Barker poem), and Smoke Wade. The CD cover is a photo of Perry Preston ("P.P.") Dickinson, circa 1912, Texas cowboy. Perry Preston was the grandfather of Deanna Dickinson McCall, and great grandfather of poets and reciters Rusty McCall and Katie-McCall Owens.   Inside, there's a photo of South Dakota rancher Glen Hollenbeck, husband of poet Yvonne Hollenbeck. Poems and permissions were generously donated by poets, musicians, families, and publishers. Joe Baker of the Backforty Bunkhouse distributes the CD to his extensive network of nearly 200 western radio disc jockeys. The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three CD includes a radio Public Service (PSA) Announcement by Francie Ganje, radio broadcaster and director of the Heritage of the American West show.   Liner notes: Detailed track descriptions with references (separate page)   The Center's Cowboy Poetry Week celebration—recognized by unanimous U.S. Senate resolution—is held each April during National Poetry Month. Each year, The BAR-D Roundup CD and the celebration's poster (by top Western artist William Matthews in 2008) are offered to libraries in the Center's Rural Library Project. The outreach program is a part of the Center’s commitment to serve rural communities and to preserve and promote our Western heritage. Below: What They're Saying ... About The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) Track List Liner notes: Detailed track descriptions with references (separate page) Listen to the 2008 Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry Public Service Announcement Order Information About the cover art and inside photo About The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) and Cowboy Poetry Week 2008 The BAR-D Roundup News How to submit images and poems for consideration for future compilations  Support CowboyPoetry.com   The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) has been offered to libraries in our Rural Library Project and is available for purchase. Those making new or renewal donations to the Center at the $100 or higher level will receive the The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three and the 2008 Cowboy Poetry Week poster that features William Matthews' painting, "Waxed Jacket." Read more about supporting the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry and its programs here. All proceeds help fund the Center’s programs, including Cowboy Poetry Week, the Rural Library Project, and CowboyPoetry.com.)   Read about The BAR-D Roundup (2006) and The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two (2007) and see the special offer below for the purchase of both the 2007 and 2008 CDs.

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What They're Saying about The BAR-D Roundup

 

  Comments about The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008)

"The 2008 Bar-D Roundup 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 modern-day family outfits. Like the two previous volumes which received critical acclaim, Volume Three is a must for the comprehensive Western audio collector or the person just learning about cowboy poetry."
                                            Jeri Dobrowski, Cowboy Jam Session

"If you hear somebody wonder at the 'why' of perpetuating the Western ethic, the Cowboy Way and particularly 'why cowboy poetry,' here's the answer for all of it. This collection clearly says what this important, artful communication of the heart conveys at its best."
                                                                   Rick Huff, Best of the West Reviews

The Bar-D Roundup compilations represent the finest poets and the best in cowboy poetry. They are the real deal and a real contribution to not only to promoting and preserving our heritage but also in representing the cowboy arts."
                                                      Joe Baker, The Backforty Bunkhouse


"This is a CD to own and listen to often. It's like a full-course meal with each dish adding to the flavors and textures. The last poem is like dessert: the voice of Robert Service reciting his own 'The Cremation Of Sam  McGee.' The previous two CD were good. This one is great."
                                                                    PJ and Dallas McCord, hosts of The Cowboy Culture Corner

 

The Bar-D Roundup: Volume Three is a great meld of past and present.  Anytime you can hear both Buck Ramsey and Robert Service in their own voices, plus Red Steagall, Paul Zarzyski and, well, me, you know you're running the iambic gamut!  Another great ride.
                    Mick Vernon, Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival Artistic Director and Radio Ranch host
 

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  Comments about The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two (2007):

 

"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."
                                                     Jeri Dobrowski, Cowboy Jam Session  

 "...something for everyone who appreciates tales of ranching, riding, and roping..."
                                                Associate Editor Kyle Partain, Western Horseman

"...a treasury in every sense of that word..." 
                                                     Rick Huff, The Western Way
 

"Cowboypoetry.com has done it again.  Volume 2 of The Bar D Roundup continues to celebrate life in the west with all the picturesque phrasing and expressions delivered as only real, live, hard-working cowboys can. Highlighted by Charles Badger Clark, Jr. reciting his own "Ridin'," every cut on this album is a revealing look into true cowboy living.  You'll want to listen to this one over and over."                                                        Marvin O'Dell, Around the Campfire

"The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two is a ride well worth the taking. Feel a saddle gently rock between your legs, smell pine trees or the sagebrush in bloom, taste strong black coffee and trail dust, and see — truly see — the West come to life in your mind's eye."
                                                    Mick Vernon, Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival Director and Radio Ranch host
 

"On a scale of 1 to 10, The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two rates an 11."
                                              Sam Jackson , producer of the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo

 

Read more about The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two (2007) here.

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  Comments about The BAR-D Roundup (2006)

"For those of us who love cowboy poetry, this is perhaps the best anthology we've yet heard."  Cowboy Magazine   

"The BAR-D Roundup provides a fine collection of classic and contemporary poetry offerings that'll please any fan of the genre."  Western Horseman 

"...one not to miss." O. J. Sikes, host of Western Music Time

"I know of no better compilation of cowboy poetry anywhere."  
                                     Marvin O'Dell, Around the Campfire  

"This is a keeper!"   Toe Tappin' Tommy Tucker, The Western Heritage Show  

"What a fine compilation of cowboy poetry; makes you want to listen 'just one more time'!"  Waynetta Ausmus, Waynetta's Western Roundup

"...a super compilation of contemporary recordings of some of today's best classic and contemporary cowboy poetry...If you like cowboy poetry, I'd say this is a must-have CD."    Mark McMillan, British Columbia Cowboy Heritage Society

Read more about The BAR-D Roundup (2006) here.

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  About The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three  (2008)

 

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) is a compilation of vintage and contemporary recordings of some of yesterday's and today's best classic and contemporary cowboy poetry. A wide range of voices present tales that express this venerable art form, words that uncover "the heartbeat of the working West."

This third CD opens with a firm stand in the present, with respected Texas horseman, and poet Joel Nelson reciting his poem, "Shadow on the Cutbank," from his Grammy-nominated CD, The Breaker in the Pen. Baxter Black commented that the CD,  "raised the bar for cowboy poetry for 1000 years."  

 

Next, rancher and poet Jay Snider  casts a look back at the cowboy life, reciting "The Good Old Cowboy Days," by Luther A. Lawhon (1861-1922), one of the founding members of the Trail Drivers Association, a poem included in the Trail Drivers of Texas (1920). 

 

Noted packer, reciter and poet Ross Knox, keeping in the past, weighs in with a cowboy's wry observation of his way of life, with "The 'D2' Horse Wrangler," written by cowboy and chronicler D.J. O'Malley (1867-1943).

 

Alberta poet Doris Daley offers her timeless, humorous poem, "Bones," that could describe cowboys of any era, who conversely "love the life 'cause it's so darn healthy."

 

The inimitable Pat Richardson takes listeners to another place altogether, in his amusing and inventive tale of a cowboy and his unlikely companion, "Bigfoot."

 

There is a return to the reality of cowboy and ranching life in the next poems. Beloved octogenarian, cowboy (a term she prefers), and poet Georgie Sicking tells what it takes "To Be a Top Hand." Fifth-generation rancher Deanna Dickinson McCall (her grandfather is pictured on the CD's cover) has some "Advice" for a one of the family's cowboys. Another sort of family perspective comes in "Urban Daughter," the exceptional poem by Montana rancher, poet, and National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow Wallace McRae. Wyoming poet, humorist, emcee, and popular radio host Andy Nelson touches on another family connection in his poem, "The Old Crockett Spurs."

 

Cowboys and horses are explored in master reciter and horseman Randy Rieman's recitation of Henry Herbert Knibbs' (1874-1945) classic, "Where the Ponies Come to Drink." Montana ranch hand, songwriter and poet DW Groethe's moving "My Father's Horses" limns the bond between man and horse. Utah rancher and poet Paul Kern's poem, "At Codding's Place," continues with the wistful and bittersweet theme. South Dakota rancher and poet Ken Cook has something as meaningful to say, with a bit of humor, in "Bloodlines."

 

There's a return to the past, in respect and sentiment in "The Memories in Grandmother's Trunk," by past Texas Poet Laureate, multiple Wrangler Award winner, singer, songwriter, and poet Red Steagall. The subject is further explored by South Dakota ranchwife, champion quilter, and top poet Yvonne Hollenbeck in her moving story of "Prairie Patchwork." (Yvonne's husband, Glen Hollenbeck, represents today's ranchers with his photo that is inside the CD.) Working cowgirl, writer, and poet Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns enjoins, "Step lightly, this is holy ground...made so by those who've gone before..." in her "Fiddleback Headquarters."

 

Bill Siems—scientist, musician, editor, and chief collector of the stories and poems of Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950)—gives life to the classic bucking horse story, "The Strawberry Roan," by Curley Fletcher (1892-1954). It's the perfect introduction to "Luck of the Draw," a stirring salute to rodeo, by the incomparable Paul Zarzyski, the self-described "Polish-hobo-rodeo-poet," recipient of the Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Literature.

 

Top reciter and former miner Jerry Brooks  brings her impressive interpretation to "The Free Wind," by Charles "Badger" Clark (1883-1957). That notion of freedom underlies Grass, the master work by the late Buck Ramsey. In a third annual excerpt from that book, "Chapter Two," the story of a cowboy's life continues. Buck Ramsey, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, is recognized as the modern spiritual leader of the genre. (The 2006 edition of The BAR-D Roundup includes the well-known and widely known Prologue to Grass, "Anthem," a poem that has been called "the finest contemporary piece of writing in this tradition." The 2007 edition of The BAR-D Roundup includes "Chapter One.")

 

Ranch-raised poet and writer Smoke Wade bridges the past and present in his "A Change of Season," which introduces a group of classic poems. California writer and poet Susan Parker presents "The Homemade Cigarette" by rancher and poet A.V. Hudson (1873-1949). A bit of politics—timely in this year of political of history—finds its way into that poem and into "Bill's in Trouble," a light piece written by James Barton Adams (1843-1918) and recited by Nevada poet Hal Swift. "Jack Potter's Courtin'" by S. Omar Barker (1895-1985) continues the fun mood, recited by California poet and musician Mick Vernon, who is also the Artist Director of the Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival. Ranch-raised Texas poet and writer Linda Kirkpatrick brings the classic selections to a close with a reverent recitation of "The Broncho Twister's Prayer," by Bruce Kiskaddon, 1878-1950).

 

A special vintage recording of Robert Service (1874-1958) reciting his classic poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee," is introduced by Gene Kern, the Washington radio host who discovered the fragile recording and saved it and others from disintegration by transferring them to a modern medium. Service hired on as a cowboy for a short time and some of his tales  were colored by that experience. The strong rhyme and meter of his poetry have inspired many cowboy poets.

 

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three CD includes a radio Public Service (PSA) Announcement by Francie Ganje, radio host and director of South Dakota's Heritage of the American West show (listen below).

 

The 2008 CD's striking cover is a photo of of Perry Preston ("P. P.") Dickinson, circa 1912, Texas cowboy, rough-string rider, Marshall, and Texas Ranger special agent. Perry Preston was the grandfather of Deanna Dickinson McCall, and great grandfather of poets and reciters Rusty McCall and Katie-McCall Owens.

Andy Nelson engineered and co-produced the 2006, 2007, and 2008 editions of The BAR-D Roundup.

Joe Baker of the Backforty Bunkhouse distributed the 2006, 2007, and 2007 CDs to his extensive network of western radio stations.

Poems and permissions were generously donated by poets, musicians, families, publishers, and filmmakers.

The Center's Cowboy Poetry Week celebration—recognized by unanimous U.S. Senate resolution—is held each April during National Poetry Month. Each year, The BAR-D Roundup CD and the celebration's poster (by top Western artist William Matthews in 2008) are offered to libraries in the Center's Rural Library Project. The outreach program is a part of the Center’s commitment to serve rural communities and to preserve and promote our Western heritage.

Special thanks for the 2008 edition go to Andy Nelson, the McCall family, the Hollenbeck family, Bette Ramsey, Steve Green, the Western Folklife Center, Jeri Dobrowski, Jo Baeza, Stuart Spani, Joe Baker, Alf Bilton, and to all the poets, reciters, families, publishers, and organizations who lent poetry and permissions.

The BAR-D Roundup CDs are produced by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, made possible by generous funding support from sustaining donors. 

The BAR-D Roundup CDs are dedicated to all those who proudly carry on the ranching tradition. 

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Track list for The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008)

 

 1.  Joel Nelson, "Shadow on the Cutbank"  1:26
 2.  Jay Snider, "The Good Old Cowboy Days" (Luther A. Lawhon)  4:25
 3.  Ross Knox, "The 'D2' Horse Wrangler"  (D.J. O'Malley)  2:05
 4.  Doris Daley, "Bones" :56
 5.  Pat Richardson, "Bigfoot" 3:14
 6.  Georgie Sicking, "To Be a Top Hand" 1:18
 7.  Deanna McCall, "Advice" 1:00
 8.  Wallace McRae, "Urban Daughter"  2:40
 9.  Andy Nelson, "The Old Crocket Spurs"  1:02
10.  Randy Rieman, "Where the Ponies Come to Drink"  (Henry Herbert Knibbs) 2:38
11.  DW Groethe,  "My Father's Horses"  1:56
12.  Paul Kern,  "At Codding's Place" 1:38
13.  Ken Cook, "Bloodlines" 2:18
14.  Red Steagall, "The Memories in Grandmother's Trunk" 3:19
15.  Yvonne Hollenbeck, "Prairie Patchwork" 1:56
16.  Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns, "Fiddleback Headquarters"  3:30
17. Bill Siems, "The Strawberry Roan" (Curley Fletcher) 3:45
18.  Paul Zarzyksi, "Luck of the Draw" 2:41
19.  Jerry A. Brooks (Brooksie), "Free Wind" (Badger Clark) 3:38
20.  Buck Ramsey, "Chapter Two" from Grass  5:25
21.  Smoke Wade,  "A Change of Season" 1:12
22.  Susan Parker, "The Homemade Cigarette" (A.V. Hudson) 1:59
23.  Hal Swift, "Bill's in Trouble"  (James Barton Adams) 1:55
24.  Mick Vernon, "Jack Potter's Courtin'"  (S. Omar Baker) 3:02
25.  Linda Kirkpatrick, "The Broncho Twister's Prayer" (Bruce Kiskaddon) 3:07

SPECIAL CLASSIC RECORDING

26.  Introduction to  "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Gene Kern  2:00
27.  Robert Service, "The Cremation of Sam McGee"  9:27

28.   Francie Ganje, Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry Public Service Announcement (PSA)  :30

Liner notes: Detailed track descriptions with references (separate page)

All rights are reserved by the artists and owners of the included tracks.

The BAR-D Roundup is produced by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, with generous funding support from sustaining donors. 

Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Andy Nelson, engineer and co-producer (with Margo Metegrano; the McCall family, the Hollenbeck family, Bette Ramsey, Steve Green, the Western Folklife Center, Jeri Dobrowski, Jo Baeza, Stuart Spani, Joe Baker, Alf Bilton; and to all the poets, reciters, families, publishers, and organizations who lent poetry and permissions.

Dedicated to all those who proudly carry on the ranching tradition.

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Order Information for The BAR-D Roundup

Volume Three (2008)

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) is available, postpaid, for a $20 donation, and is offered to new and renewing supporters of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry at the Partner level and above.

Proceeds from The BAR-D Roundup support the Center. CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the Center. 

You can order by mail using the form here or send $20 (check or money order in U.S. funds) per copy to:

CowboyPoetry.com
PO Box 330444
San Francisco, CA 94133

Postage is included for the U.S. and Canada. Add $5 US for other countries.

You can also pay by a secure, on-line credit card payment (a Paypal account is not required):

CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, Inc. a non-profit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Act. Contributions are fully deductible for federal income tax purposes. The BAR-D Roundup fair market value is $20 and no amount of the $20 donation for its postpaid delivery is tax deductible as a charitable contribution.

At Amazon.com, you can sample the audio for each of the tracks from Volume 1 and Volume 2 of The BAR-D Roundup.

Questions about quantity orders?  Email us.

 

Special offer:

Order The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two (2007) and The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008) postpaid, for a $35 donation.

Proceeds support the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the Center. 

You can order by mail using the form here or send $35 (check or money order in U.S. funds) for the two CDs:

CowboyPoetry.com
PO Box 330444
San Francisco, CA 94133

Postage is included for the U.S. and Canada. Add $5 US for other countries.

Postage is included for the U.S. and Canada. Contact us for international postage fees.

You can also pay by a secure, on-line credit card payment (a Paypal account is not required):

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two (2007) is available, postpaid, for a $20 donation.

Proceeds from The BAR-D Roundup support the Center. CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the Center. 

You can order by mail using the form here or send $20 (check or money order in U.S. funds) per copy to:

CowboyPoetry.com
PO Box 330444
San Francisco, CA 94133

Postage is included for the U.S. and Canada. Add $5 US for other countries.

You can also pay by a secure, on-line credit card payment (a Paypal account is not required):

The first edition of The BAR-D Roundup (2006) is available (in limited quantities) postpaid, for a $20 donation.

Proceeds from The BAR-D Roundup support the Center. CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the Center. 

You can order by mail using the form here or send $20 (check or money order in U.S. funds) per copy to:

CowboyPoetry.com
PO Box 330444
San Francisco, CA 94133

Postage is included for the U.S. and Canada. Add $5 US for other countries.

You can also pay by a secure, on-line credit card payment (a Paypal account is not required):

 

CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, Inc. a non-profit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Act. Contributions are fully deductible for federal income tax purposes. The BAR-D Roundup fair market value is $20 and no amount of the $20 donation for its postpaid delivery is tax deductible as a charitable contribution.

Questions about quantity orders?  Email us.

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About the cover art for The BAR-D Roundup: Volume 3  (2008):

 

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume 3 (2008) CD cover art is a photo of Perry Preston ("P. P.") Dickinson, circa 1912, Texas cowboy. Perry Preston was the grandfather of Deanna Dickinson McCall, and great grandfather of poets and reciters Rusty McCall and Katie-McCall Owens.

Deanna McCall comments:

The picture was a post card (that was quite a fad), of my grandfather Perry Preston Dickinson. He went by "P.P." He was born in Denton County, Texas in 1896 to a ranching family. He got itchy feet and rode to AZ at the age of 12 and stayed there quite awhile. He "courted" my Granny back in Texas and had the card made for her. The picture was taken in the vicinity of Grand Canyon. It is signed "The 10X Bronc fighter," as he was  the rough string rider and was working on the 10X ranch at the time. (Men weren't boys for very long in those days!)  He was a great influence in my life and taught me many of the old stories, songs, and how to ride. He later was a Marshall and a special agent of the Texas Rangers.

This photo was featured in our Picture the West feature on November 13, 2006.

Inside the CD, there's a 2006 photo of South Dakota rancher Glen Hollenbeck, husband of poet Yvonne Hollenbeck, on their ranch near Clearfield, South Dakota. The Hollenbeck ranch is known for its G2 Quarter Horses and cattle. Glen Hollenbeck is a champion calf roper.

We welcome photo submissions for future editions of The BAR-D Roundup. Cover images will be vintage family cowboy and ranching photos, and inside, contemporary ranch family photos will be featured. Email us for information about sharing your family photos.

 

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Listen to the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry Public Service Announcement 

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Two CD includes a radio Public Service (PSA) Announcement by Francie Ganje, radio host and director of South Dakota's Heritage of the American West show.

Listen to the 2008 30-second public service announcement from the CD by Francie Ganje, radio host and director of South Dakota's Heritage of the American West show.

(Listen to the 2007 30-second public service announcement from the CD and to an expanded 60-second version, both by  poet, humorist, and radio host Andy Nelson.)

Email us for audio clips for your broadcast or web site (or download them directly).

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About The BAR-D Roundup: Volume 3 (2008) and Cowboy Poetry Week 

SAN FRANCISCO—The seventh annual Cowboy Poetry Week (April 20-26, 2008) sponsored by the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry (www.CowboyPoetry.com), celebrates a venerable and popular folk form. Cowboy poetry records the voices of the working West, a tradition—stories of cowboys, ranchers, and Western writers—that spans three centuries. The Cowboy Poetry Week celebration includes many events taking place in communities, libraries, and elsewhere.

Center Director and CowboyPoetry.com managing editor Margo Metegrano comments, "Cowboy poetry preserves a history as it tells the stories of our working West. As importantly, it conveys compelling modern accounts of an endangered way of life to those who may have little information about this important segment of our population. Cowboy poets are great ambassadors from the rural world."

Inaugurated in 2002, Cowboy Poetry Week was officially recognized by unanimous resolution of the United States Senate. The celebration, with a special focus on rural libraries, is held during the third week of April each year, in conjunction with National Poetry Month in the United States and Canada. Nineteen states’ governors and other officials have proclaimed Cowboy Poetry Week, and there are activities across the West and beyond. 

 

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer commented in his 2006 Cowboy Poetry Week letter of support, "In the tradition of written and oral history, cowboy poets preserve our rich cultural history, opening the door for the generations to come to discover the heritage of the years past....we are proud of our numerous well-respected contemporary cowboy poets and look forward to the next generation of storytellers..."

“Waxed Jacket,” a painting by top Western artist William Matthews (www.williammatthewsgallery.com) is this year’s Cowboy Poetry Week poster art. Posters go out to hundreds of libraries as a part of the Center’s Rural Library Project, an important Cowboy Poetry Week outreach activity, part of the Center's mission to serve a mostly underserved community of rural Westerners.

 

A new edition of The BAR-D Roundup, a compilation CD of the best in classic and current cowboy poetry will be released during Cowboy Poetry Week. The CD is also offered to libraries and available for purchase; proceeds help fund the Center’s programs, including CowboyPoetry.com.

 

This third annual edition of The BAR-D Roundup showcases contemporary and traditional works, including Robert Service's vintage recording of "The Cremation of Sam McGee"; the poetry of past Texas Poet Laureate Red Steagall, National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow Wallace McRae, and Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Literature recipient Paul Zarzyski; noted reciters Randy Rieman, Ross Knox, and Jerry A. Brooks presenting classic poems by Henry Herbert Knibbs, D. J. O'Malley, and Badger Clark; a third annual selection from Grass, the master work of the late Buck Ramsey, an NEA National Heritage Fellow, recognized as the modern spiritual leader of the genre; and eighteen additional offerings from today’s top poets and reciters.

CowboyPoetry.com is a central resource for cowboy poetry and associated Western arts, a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. Cowboy poetry's enduring popularity is celebrated year round at CowboyPoetry.com, in a growing number of publications and recordings, and at hundreds of regional gatherings, most notably the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, which marked its 24th year in 2009.

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Read more about Cowboy Poetry Week, including selected references and links and see news about poets' activities here.

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The BAR-D Roundup News
 

  Radio host Joe Baker of the Backforty Bunkhouse show plays tracks from the 2008 edition of The BAR-D Roundup. You can listen to archived shows here.

The Backforty Bunkhouse Show airs live every Saturday morning from 6am to 10am on two 100,000 watt stations covering New Mexico and West Texas: "New Mexico's Bear" KNMB 96.7FM and "W-105" KWMW, 105.1FM. Archived shows are available on the internet at the Backforty Bunkhouse web site.

Joe Baker welcomes music and poetry recordings, and he also does reviews. You can send recordings for consideration to: Backforty Bunkhouse Promotions, Joe Baker, 106 Roswell Street, Ruidoso, New Mexico 88345; (505) 257-3955; www.BackfortyBunkhouse.com.

The May 10, 2008 show includes DW Groethe's "My Father's Horses" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The April 12, 2008 show includes Susan Parker's recitation of A.V. Hudson's "The Homemade Cigarette," and Georgie Sicking's "To be a Top Hand" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The April 5, 2008 show includes Mick Vernon's recitation of S. Omar Barker's "Jack Potter's Courtin'" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The March 12, 2008 show includes Yvonne Hollenbeck's "Prairie Patchwork" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The March 15, 2008 show includes Pat Richardson's "Bigfoot" and Red Steagall's "The Memories in Grandmother's Trunk" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The show also airs the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry Public Service Announcement (PSA) by Francie Ganje, radio host and director of the Heritage of the American West show.

Joe Baker sends The BAR-D Roundup to over 170 radio stations each year, through his Backforty Bunkhouse Promotions.

See our feature about the show and Backforty Bunkhouse Promotions here.

Updated 5/14

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  Rick Huff reviews The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three (2008):

Where Hollywood tends to fall flat with continued installments, The BAR-D Roundup just keeps getting better!

With this third release, collaborators Margo Metegrano and Andy Nelson have done a particularly fine job of displaying the universe of the Western experience…occurrence, attitude, lineage and legacy. Part of that roundness is achieved by having some of the top reciters perform some classics specifically for this collection.  Bill Siems (Curley Fletcher’s “Strawberry Roan”), Jerry A. "Brooksie" Brooks (Badger Clark’s “The Free Wind”), and Jay Snider (Luther Lawhon’s “Good Old Cowboy Days”) are among them, but there are classics and modern classics from Joel Nelson, Red Steagall, Wally McRae, Georgie Sicking, Randy Rieman, Yvonne Hollenbeck, and others. The hypnotically eccentric delivery of Ross Knox is included and the shock value of having Paul Zarzyski aboard is intensified with music and drums on Track 15 after we’ve been lulled into an a cappella security up to that point!  The late Buck Ramsey presents a third installment from his masterpiece “Grass” and the special dessert to the feast is a rare and thoroughly eerie 1948 rendering by Robert Service of his classic “Cremation of Sam McGee!”

If you ever hear someone ask about the why of the “cowboy way” and particularly Cowboy Poetry, here’s the answer to all questions. This collection says what this important and artful communication of the heart conveys at its best.

Rick Huff reviews Western music and cowboy poetry recordings in his "Rick Huff's Best of the West Reviews" column in Rope Burns and The Western Way from the Western Music Association, and we're pleased to have selected reviews in our feature here.

Posted 5/13

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  The award-winning Clear Out West (C. O. W.) radio show with Andy Nelson and Jim Nelson is broadcast weekly throughout the West from Pinedale, Wyoming, bringing "News and Entertainment of the Cowboy Culture" to a wide audience.  Andy and Jim, the "C.O.W. boys"—known widely for the wild humor they bring to Cowboy Poetry gatherings and their rodeo and sports announcing—feature western music, cowboy poetry, and more on their popular show.

Clear Out West (C. O. W.) radio is broadcast to many radio stations and past shows are available for listening on demand from the Clear Out West web site.   

The May 12, 2008 show includes Red Steagall's "The Memories in Grandmother's Trunk" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The May 5, 2008 show includes Pat Richardson's "Bigfoot" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The April 28, 2008 show celebrating Cowboy Poetry Week includes selections from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three: Joel Nelson's "Shadow on the Cutbank"; Doris Daley's "Bones"; Hal Swift reciting "Bill's in Trouble" by James Barton Adams; Yvonne Hollenbeck's "Prairie Patchwork"; and  Andy Nelson's "The Old Crockett Spurs." 

There are also selections of songs written in collaboration with poets, including Belinda Gail, "Amigo" (Les Buffham); Wylie & the Wild West, "Bucking Horse Moon" (Paul Zarzyski); David Anderson, "It's Been a While" (Jo Lynne Kirkwood); Rex Allen, "Moonshine Steer" (Gail I. Gardner); and Jean Prescott, "March Winds" (Yvonne Hollenbeck).

Clear Out West (C. O. W.) co-hosts, brothers Jim and Andy Nelson, received the Western Music Association's 2006 Top Radio DJ's of the Year Award. 

Andy Nelson, who is also a popular poet, humorist, and emcee, co-produces The BAR-D Roundup.

Clear Out West welcomes Western music and cowboy poetry CD submissions: Clear Out West, Box 1547, Pinedale, WY 82941; cowboys@clearoutwest.com; (307) 360-8776.

Updated 5/12

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  Marvin O'Dell's three-hour Around the Campfire show airs six times a week on Heartland Public Radio, which broadcasts 24 hours a day on the internet. Around the Campfire includes Western and cowboy music, and cowboy poetry. Check the current schedule for show times.

The show for the week starting May 3, 2008 features Deanna Dickinson McCall's "Advice," from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The show for the week starting April 26, 2008 featured Mick Vernon's recitation of S. Omar Barker's "Jack Potter's Courtin'" from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.

The show for the week starting April 19, 2008 featured cowboy poetry, in celebration of Cowboy Poetry Week. Poetry was included from The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three: Andy Nelson's "The Old Crockett Spurs," Ken Cook's "Bloodlines," and Paul Zarzyski's "The Luck of the Draw." Many other poets were featured, including Linda Kirkpatrick, Diane Tribitt, Smoke Wade, Mike Moutoux, Dave Watson, the late Larry McWhorter, and others.

Marvin O'Dell was named the 2007 Radio DJ of the Year by the Western Music Association (WMA).

CD submissions are welcome for consideration for airplay.  See our feature about Around the Campfire here and listen to the show on Heartland Public Radio here.

Updated 5/7

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  England's Graham Lees' weekly radio show, The