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Below we list some Christmas Picks of items released in 2008. See last year's picks here. Find cowboy Christmas books and CDs here. Current Christmas poetry, news, and more is posted here. Visit Christmas at the BAR-D, our daily Christmas celebration, where we add new poetry,  news, and features daily during the season.  (See a list here of all the items released in 2008 to date that have been mentioned at CowboyPoetry.com.) The perfect gifts...   Special Christmas offer:  All three volumes, $50 postpaid.  Read more here.   CDs are also available separately, and there's another special offer for Volumes 2 and 3. Read more about these CDs of classic and contemporary poetry and find order information here at the BAR-D. Please order early for Christmas delivery. A Special Year-end Message This past year, did you find something at CowboyPoetry.com that interested you? Did you visit for poetry, news, event information, features? Was your own poem included at the BAR-D? Was your local gathering announced, or were you a part of a gathering report? Did we share your news with our many readers? Your support is vital. 'Tis the season. If you enjoy features such as Christmas at the BAR-D,  there's no better time to show your support. All that happens at the BAR-D is made possible by the essential contributions of generous supporters: CowboyPoetry.com; Cowboy Poetry Week and its annual Western art poster; The BAR-D Roundup compilation CD; and the Rural Library Project that distributes posters and CDs to rural libraries. We've received generous donations of $10 and donations of $1000; and we are grateful for them all.  Become a supporter, make a tax-deductible donation, perhaps in memory of someone who treasured our Western Heritage: Make a difference. Read some of our supporters' comments here,  visit the Wall of Support, and donate! Read all about our history, the Center, and about how you can be a part of it all right here. You can make a donation by check or money order, by mail (please use the form here for mail to PO Box 330444, San Francisco, CA 94133) or by a secure, on-line credit card payment through PayPal (a PayPal account is not required): CowboyPoetry.com is a project of The Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, a tax-exempt non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Act. Contributions to the Center are fully deductible for federal income tax purposes. As in all journalistic endeavors, no editorial preference is given to financial sponsors or supporters.

 

Some recent books, recordings, magazines, and art we'd be glad to find under the BAR-D Christmas tree...

Below:

2008 cowboy poetry picks
2008 Western music picks
 

2008 Cowboy Poetry Picks

Books

RATTLE
Tracks That Won't Blow Out by Ray Owens
My Father's Horses  by Ray Owens
Sometimes in the Lucias by Janice Gilbertson
Poems from Dry Crik by John Dofflemyer
The World According To Baxter Black: Quips, Quirks, & Quotes by Ray Owens
Jonah by Andy Nelson and Nikki Mann
Somewhere in the West by Linda Kirkpatrick

Recordings and mixed poetry and music recordings

The BAR-D Roundup, Volume Three
Beneath a Western Sky by Doris Daley
Paul Harris by Paul Harris

2008 Western Music Picks

Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle by Katie Lee
The Last Wagon by Katie Lee
The Emigrant Trail by Ray Doyle
Gone for Colorado by Juni Fisher
Forever West by Curly Musgrave and Belinda Gail
Roads to Colorado by Liz Masterson
Snake River Outlaws by the Western Folklife Center's Deep West Records
It Sings in the Hi-Line by Kerry Grombacher
One More Dance by Dee Strickland Johnson

 

And more from 2008...

Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering 2008 Calendar
Last Buckaroo by Mackey Hedges
The Ranching Way of Life by Peggy Godfrey and ScSeed
A Place of Refuge; Maynard Dixon's Arizona by Thomas Brent Smith

 

more to come....

 

The perfect gifts...

 
Special Christmas offer:  All three volumes, $50 postpaid.  Read more here.
 

CDs are also available separately, and there's another special offer for Volumes 2 and 3.

Read more about these CDs of classic and contemporary poetry and find order information here at the BAR-D.

Please order early for Christmas delivery.

 

Support the BAR-D!

'Tis the season.

If you enjoy features such as Christmas at the BAR-D,
 there's no better time to  show your support.

 

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2008 Cowboy Poetry Picks
BOOKS

  The widely-read poetry journal, RATTLE, "celebrates the poetry of the Western range" in its Winter, 2008 issue, with work by 24 cowboy and Western poets. Among those included are J.V. Brummels, Thea Gavin, D.W. Groethe, Al "Doc" Mehl, Rod Miller, Red Shuttleworth, Jeff Streeby, Larry D. Thomas, and Paul Zarzyski. The feature includes illustrations by Ciara Shuttleworth; the cover illustration, "Long Day," is by Mike Callahan.

Rod Miller contributes a far-reaching and provocative essay, "A Brief Introduction to Cowboy Poetry, or, Who's the Guy in the Big Hat and What is He Talking About?," which includes history of the genre and commentary on contemporary cowboy and Western poetry. He steps into the free verse fray, "So, when a Great Basin buckaroo like Rod McQueary, an experienced rodeo hand like Paul Zarzyski, a ranch woman like Linda Hasselstrom, or a ranch hand like DW Groethe chooses to describe cowboy life in words that don't rhyme (or meter) it's difficult to argue convincingly that what they're doing isn't cowboy poetry." He continues with the comment that "...cowboy poetry doesn't end with 'cowboy' poems....Which brings us back to Zarzyski, who has written about racism and the Holocaust. Wallace McRae has made poems about environmentalism and strip mining, Rod McQueary about war, DW Groethe about romantic spiritual connections, Doris Daley about answering machines and acronyms, Pat Richardson about ducks..."

The issue also includes Alan Fox' conversation with three-term Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. Among other subjects, Pinksy talks about writing and listening to poetry, the Favorite Poem Project (www.favoritepoem.org) he founded (the inspiration for our Favorite Western and Cowboy Poem Project), intellectual property rights, and how editors choose poems for publications: "...you pretty much inevitably are making mistakes; some of those people who think you have blundered are right...Sometimes something remarkable and distinguished will escape your notice. Sometimes you'll be fooled by something that looks good but is really just plausible. That's the nature of the process."

RATTLE's  Winter, 2008 issue includes an additional Alan Fox conversation, with Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey, 60 pages of open poetry, and the 11 winning poems from the 2008 Rattle Poetry Prize.

RATTLE publishes print issues each June and December, with 200 pages of poetry and essays, plus two interviews with contemporary poets. Electronic supplements in March and September are available as free PDF downloads, and there is a free e-newsletter. The RATTLE web site includes poetry, news and reviews.

The Winter, 2008 issue is available for $10, and is included in a subscription to RATTLE. Read more about the issue here and find order information at the RATTLE web site.

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  Cowboy Miner Productions has announced the publication of the poetry of respected poet Ray Owens (1934-2007), Tracks That Won't Blow Out. The 248-page hardcover book also includes illustrations and photographs. Rolf Flake, Red Steagall, Joel Nelson, add their endorsements for Ray Owens' work. Red Steagall comments, "In this presentation, Ray brings us a picture of a young man's pride in 'The
Saddle His Granddaddy Rode,' the goodness of heart in 'Good Sam Mary,' and the pride of accomplishment in 'A Tour Around The Homeplace.'"

(This release was announced earlier this year, but there was a publication delay.)

Read some of Ray Owens' poetry in our feature here.

Tracks That Won't Blow Out is available for $30 postpaid by mail from Verna Owens, 1305 E. Castleberry Road, Artesia, NM 88210; or phone 575-746-3694; or here on line from www.cowboyminer.com.

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  Montana ranch hand DW Groethe has collected 30 recent poems in a chapbook, My Father's Horses. A frequent participant at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, he has performed his poetry and songs at events across the West, and at the Library of Congress and Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. His previous book, West River Waltz, received the Will Rogers Medallion Award.

The title poem in My Father's Horses is included on the forthcoming edition of The BAR-D Roundup. The recording is from a session at the 2007 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which you can listen to in a cybercast from the Western Folklife Center (the final "Hooves of the Horses" program).

My Father's Horses is available for $15 postpaid from D. W. Groethe, PO Box 144, Bainville, MT 59212; 406/769-2312.

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  California's Janice Gilbertson has a gem of a new collection of poems, Sometimes, in the Lucias. Finely crafted— inside and out—the poetry resonates with a deep sense of place, of the Santa Lucia mountains that she calls home.

Poet, author, and editor Rod Miller comments on the book, "Lots of cowboy poems, even good ones, come across as the observations of the poet—and outside-looking-in view of the subject. Janice Gilbertson's poems are almost the opposite. They seem to grow from within the subject, as if the poem is inside the subject, or is the subject, giving readers a deeper sense of a place, a moment, a feeling..."

Respected poet Virginia Bennett provides a foreword, in which she writes, "These mountains, canyons and cattle trails all harbor secrets worth telling. This land deserves a voice, and that voice belongs, in part, to Janice Gilbertson." Read the entire foreword here, along with the book's table of contents.

The book, which also includes photos and drawings by Janice Gilbertson, is beautifully designed by Betty Rodgers of BK Publications, Eagle, Idaho (designer Vince Pedroia's 2007 book, A Mano).

Janice Gilbertson's work has appeared in print and audio anthologies and in publications, She was an invited performer to the Western Folklife Center's National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 2004. Read more about Sometimes, in the Lucias here, along with some of Janice Gilbertson's poetry.

Sometimes, in the Lucias is available for $17 postpaid from: Janice Gilbertson, 43345 Canyon Creek Rd., King City, CA 93930; email.

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  The poems in John Dofflemyer's tenth collection, Poems from Dry Creek, are deeply rooted in place, a place where his family has ranched since soon after the California gold rush. He writes in the book's notes:

After forty years of harvesting grass with cattle, what I know most of all are the things I have learned within this watershed, watching for weather harbingers and observing and inspecting intertwined relationships that beg to be personified.

Poet Gary Snyder (recent recipient of the Poetry Foundation's Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize) comments on Poems From Dry Creek, "...a diverse set of poems really, political, personal, historical, in the moment. Reminding me again it's not that there need be a 'cowboy' poetry but, as we move toward it, a poetry of work and daily life and the land..."

The book includes new and selected poems, including some that have been published in John Dofflemyer's engaging blog, Dry Crik Journal, Perspectives from the Ranch, hosted on the Western Folkife Center web site. In that blog, regular posts follow his work and daily life and include poetry, commentary, and observations. Robin Dofflemyer's photography is found throughout. "Home" and "John Cutler's Cowboys" on the blog are examples of two of the poems included in Poems from Dry Creek.

John Dofflemyer's Dry Crik Press has published books by Laurie Wagner Buyer, Rod McQueary, Paul Zarzyski, and others, and published the respected journal, Dry Crik Review of Contemporary Cowboy Poetry. A publication for serious writers and readers, Dry Crik Review was published from 1991-1994. See our feature about Dry Crik Review of Contemporary Cowboy Poetry here, which includes an index of all issues. A "lost" issue is published on the Dry Crik Journal blog, which also has a list of available back issues.

Poems from Dry Creek is available for $17 postpaid from John Dofflemyer, P.O. Box 44320, Lemon Cove, CA 93244.

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  Baxter Black, top cowboy poet and humorist, describes his new book, The World According To Baxter Black: Quips, Quirks, & Quotes, as "...a collection of mental pictures, slippery alliterations, verbal hors d’oeuvres and a trail of broken consonants that may miss the point, but still lead you on to the next page."  From the official description:

This brand new 156 page hardcover book from Baxter is a crossbred collection of cowboy slight of hand, humor, and perspective. It’s filled with Baxter’s vaguely skewed philosophical observations, and heavily embellished with authentic cowboy cartoons by A-10! Start your day with laughter, as you read Baxter’s view on Golf, Punkin Roller Rodeos, Canine Time or Pestilence to name a few! Perfect for a quick shot of cowboy hilarity anytime!

Thoughts as deep as a boot heel in the mud, as handy as pockets in your underwear, and poignant as foxtail in a dog’s ear.  Does horseradish make fishes eyes water? Why do dogs roll in horse manure? And, why don’t cows have prehensile lips?

This little book will come short of making you think profound thoughts, and that’s not bad when you’re texting.

The enticing cover is illustrated by Becky Harvey, and inside are illustrations by top cowboy cartoonist "A-10" Etienne Etcheverry. 

The World According To Baxter Black: Quips, Quirks, & Quotes is available for $19.95 plus shipping from Baxter Black's web site, Amazon, and other booksellers.

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  Jonah, a collaboration between cowboy poet Andy Nelson and photographer Nikki Mann, offers readers a vast and engaging perspective on a part of the American working West—a place where the past and present converge in a microcosm of pertinence—through impressive and complementary images and words. The Jonah Infill Drilling Project, taking its name from geographic features (Jonah Gulch, Jonah Ridge, and Jonah Reservoir), is natural gas drilling site in south-central Sublette County, Wyoming.  From the book's description:

From cowboy poet Andy Nelson and photographer Nikki Mann comes a unique look into a small section of desert in western Wyoming called the Jonah Field. Jonah documents an area where wildlife, ranching, history and industry all come together. Sometimes they coexist in peace, sometimes they don't; sometimes one aspect benefits another, and sometimes it doesn't.

Jonah is a stunning photographic chronicle of an ever-changing landscape and a poignant poetic insight to an ever-changing heritage.

Nikki Mann—photographer, journalist, horsepacker, farrier, and field biologist—writes that "The idea for this book began while driving one of the hundreds of roads in Jonah. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a cowboy come riding up from behind the truck. He was looking for some lost cows, in the same manner that cowboys have been looking for lost cows in Jonah and the surrounding landscape for generations...Jonah was once a sea where Alligatoroids swam 40 million years ago. It was a place where prehistoric people hunted with arrowheads, where cattle roamed without fences and is now where natural gas is drilled from beneath the surface to heat homes around the West."

In addition to its photography and poetry, the book includes historic and geographic information, a "roughneck glossary," and a "cowboy dictionary."

Read more about Andy Nelson and read some of his poetry in our feature here.

Jonah is available for $38 postpaid from Andy Nelson, PO Box 1547, Pinedale WY 82941; (307) 367-2842; www.cowpokepoet.com/publications.html.

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  Somewhere in the West by Texas poet and writer Linda Kirkpatrick is the third in a semi-annual chapbook series (Volume 2, No. 2, June 2008). Carrying on the title from her popular collection of stories and poems, her chapbooks’ topics are devoted to “the history of the West and those who played an important role in making it."

 

The latest volume's feature story, "A Pig’s Tale, Feral Hogs of the Frio Canyon," is accompanied by the poetry of the late Texas Poet Laureate Carlos Ashley and Montana’s DW Groethe, photos, historical information, interesting recipes, and colorful tales of "hog hunters" of Real County. The cover incorporates the art of Pat Richardson.

 

The previous chapbook's feature story is "The Mysterious Yellow Rose of Texas," an exploration of the history of the famous song and its place in Texas history. Engrossing biographies of several important figures accompany versions of lyrics (including the first-known, circa 1835), along with engravings and a bibliography. 

The feature story for the premiere volume is "Conflict in the Frio Canyon; The Incident at the McLaurin Ranch," accompanied by a bibliography and vintage photos; her poem, "Conflict in the Frio Canyon"; and classic poetry by Bruce Kiskaddon, "Graves by the Side of the Trail."

 

The chapbooks, in authentic vintage style, also include a list of rare, old, and out-of-print books and more available from her Frontier Book Store. The chapbooks are available for $10.00 postpaid each ($25 for the set of three) from Frontier Books, P.O. Box 128, Leakey, Texas 78873; www.lindakirkpatrick.net.

 

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RECORDINGS and MIXED POETRY AND MUSIC RECORDINGS

 

  CowboyPoetry.com and the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry presents the the third annual edition of The BAR-D Roundup.

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three 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; and 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 includes a radio Public Service (PSA) Announcement by Francie Ganje, radio broadcaster and director of the Heritage of the American West show.

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.

 

The BAR-D Roundup CDs create a growing cowboy poetry archive. CDs are offered to libraries in the Rural Library Project, an important Cowboy Poetry Week outreach program that fulfills our mission to serve the rural Western population. CowboyPoetry.com, Cowboy Poetry Week and the Rural Library Project are programs of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. Center supporters at the Partner level and above receive the CD (and the Cowboy Poetry Week poster by William Matthews). The CD is also available for $20. There's a special offer for the 2007 and 2007 CDs.

 

Read more about the CD, including on-line notes for each track, in our feature  here.

 

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  Award-winning Alberta poet Doris Daley's new CD, Beneath a Western Sky, includes "'A Baxter of Blacks,' 'Average Girl,' 'Dancing with the Stars,' 'Firefighters,' 'What is a Westerner,' '100 Years from Now,' plus many more, including two guest appearances from my songwriting partner Eli Barsi."  See the entire track list here.

"Average Girl" will appear on the 2009 edition of The BAR-D Roundup.

As her bio tells:

Doris Daley grew up leaning into the Chinook winds of Southern Alberta. Her great grandfather came west with the North West Mounted Police in the 1870s; her family has been ranching in the Alberta foothills for five generations.  She can bake a pie, recite the alphabet backwards, catch fish, get the gate, hobble your horse, build a fire, write a poem, be the tenth caller in, and hum the theme songs to Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel. A featured entertainer and emcee throughout the west, she and her husband Bob, an Orvis-endorsed fishing guide, live on the Bow River near Calgary.

Doris has been an emcee and featured performer at every cowboy festival in Canada and several in the U.S., including gatherings in Nevada, Texas, California, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Oregon.  In 2001 she was invited to perform at a command performance for Canada's Governor General, amazing her friends and astonishing her relatives. In 2004, she received the Will Rogers Award for the Top Female Poet by the Academy of Western Artists.

Read more and some of Doris Daley's poetry in our feature here.

Beneath a Western Sky is available for $20 (Canadian) and $15 (US), plus postage. Order from www.DorisDaley.com, ddaley@telusplanet.net; (403) 933-4434.

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  Oklahoma/Arkansas cowboy, bootmaker, and entertainer Paul Harris' new CD, Paul Harris, includes seven songs and four poems. Preview some of the songs and poems at his MySpace Page.

Read Rick Huff's review of the CD here.

The Paul Harris CD is available for $18 postpaid from www.myspace.com/tmf3ph, and by mail from Wood Western Music, HC 63 Box 18C,
Saratoga, WY, 82331.

 

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See last year's picks here.

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Find information about all the cowboy poetry books and recordings released in 2008 and mentioned at the BAR-D here.

 

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2006 Western Music Picks

 

  The incomparable music historian and folk singer Katie Lee (www.katydoodit.com) has released Katie Lee Sings Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle, a CD collection of 28 songs from her modern classic book, Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle, A History of the American Cowboy in Song, Story and Verse. The songs are played and sung by Katie Lee, Travis Edmonson, Earl Edmonson and Will Holt. The CD includes the complete liner notes—filled with facts, stories, and colorful background—from the original double LP record.

Among the songs included on the recording are Gail I. Gardner's "The Sierry Petes"; Badger Clark's "Spanish is the Lovin' Tongue," "A Cowboy's Prayer" and "Roundup Lullaby"; Frank Desprez' "Lasca"; Henry Herbert Knibbs' "Boomer Johnson"; Lillian Bos Ross' "The South Coast"; "Empty Cot in the Bunkhouse"; "Little Joe the Wrangler's Sister Nell"; and the title song.

Katie Lee Sings Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle is available for $20.  Read more about it and about Katie Lee at her web site.

 

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  Music historian and folk singer Katie Lee (www.katydoodit.com) has released a DVD of The Last Wagon, her award-winning documentary featuring Arizona cowboy legends Gail I. Gardner and Billy Simon. The lively film includes much footage of the two and their performances of songs including Gardner's "The Sierry Petes," and "Real Cowboy Life," and Badger's Clark's "A Cowboy's Prayer" and "A Border Affair/Spanish is a Loving Tongue." All three join in swapping memories and tall tales at Gail Gardner's home. There are scenes of horseman Billy Simon working with his cutting and show horses, and conversations with his wife, Betty, a rodeo clown, at their horse camp.

Katie Lee, now in her late 80's, is the author of the classic Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle, A History of the American Cowboy in Song, Story and Verse. The Last Wagon is based on stories from that book; the film received the 1972 Cine Golden Eagle Award.

The Last Wagon is available for $30. Read more about the The Last Wagon and more about Katie Lee and her work at her web site.

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  An outstanding and original production, The Emigrant Trail, from Ray Doyle (of Wylie & the Wild West) is a rich listening experience. A perfect blend of the old and new in its writing and selections, it carries the sense of history, heritage, and adventure that is the story of many of the West's Irish and Scottish immigrants—and the greater story of America itself.  

As a child, Ray and his family left Dublin for Canada, and later settled in California, with the help of a Mexican-American family. A love of the American West has always been a part of Ray Doyle's life. He tells in the liner notes, "My journey began even before my family boarded an over-crowded ship for a turbulent, nine day voyage from Ireland. American movies brought the world of cowboys across the Atlantic, and my friends and I rode our imaginary horses in what we called 'The California Hills' near my home in Dublin..."

The carefully selected songs and thoughtful production reflect a clear and vast vision of the West. Widely known for his dazzling guitar work, The Emigrant Trail showcases Ray Doyle's equally-strong writing talents. He gives a warm, true voice to his original songs and to classics such as "The Cowboy Life," "The Tennessee Stud," Dave Stamey's "The Vaquero Song," and Gordon Lightfoot's "Canadian Railroad Trilogy." His own creations stand up to those pieces, starting with the impressive, complex title track and continuing to the "gem" of "The Jewel," a song that took one of the top places in the recent Western Folklife Center's Yellowstone song writing competition. Sparkling instrumental performances—many by the incomparable Cowboy Celtic—infuse the entire production with fine and uncommon quality. 

Ray Doyle's songs appear on U.S., Canadian, Australian, and European albums, and his band, "Reach for the Sky" is included on the important A Town South of Bakersfield album. His previously-mentioned song, "The Jewel," appears on the Western Folklife Center's Deep West Records' Songs from Yellowstone and the Tetons.

The Emigrant Trail was over a year in the making, and the entire project shows how that time was well spent on care and precision in production: the top-notch, original writing; the thoughtful selection of pieces; the superior musicians; the artful arrangement of songs; the intelligent liner notes; and the elegant package design. Perhaps what recommends it most is that it is not a one-time listen, but rather one of those rare albums for a listener to savor, many times over.

The Emigrant Trail is available for $18 postpaid from: Ray Doyle, PO Box 661111, Mar Vista, CA 90066; ray@raydoyle.net.

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  Top Western balladeer Juni Fisher's Gone for Colorado, is a masterpiece of songwriting and storytelling. Drawing on her family history for inspiration—her great grandfather set out from Missouri in 1880 at age 14, to be a cowboy—lives and history are interwoven in remarkable writing and performance. From the CD's description:

Sedalia Colorado was the birthplace of Juni's maternal Grandmother, and the scene of successes and heartbreaks for her Grandmother's father, John E Overstreet. Juni set out to uncover a long-kept family secret, about John's first family: his wife and child who shared a ranch and life with him. 

From his birthplace in Missouri, to long cattle drives as a a teenager, to his first marriage and child on a historic Colorado ranch, John Overstreet lived his dream as a cowboy, leaving an indelible and still-present mark on Sedalia. Songwriting legend Ian Tyson sent Juni his "Range Delivery," and writer of "Old Double Diamond," Gary McMahon contributed "Waitin' For Spring." Top Producer Rich O'Brien added incredible guitar and mandolin, as well as his keen ear for production. Patty Clayton's beautiful harmonies are perfect throughout...

See some photos and read more about Juni Fisher's ancestors in a Picture the West entry here.

Juni Fisher won the 2007 Western Music Association Song of the Year award (for "I Hope She'll Love Me," with Joe Hannah of the Sons of the San Joaquin. She's been named as the Academy of Western Artists Western Female Vocalist of the Year and the Western Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year. She's a featured performer at the upcoming National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

Gone for Colorado is accompanied by a booklet of photos, drawings, commentary, and lyrics, in an impressive package designed by Jeri Dobrowski. Find the entire track list and more here, and order information and more at Juni Fisher's web site.

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   Forever West, a new recording from the award-winning duo Curly Musgrave and Belinda Gail, offers a rich, thoughtful collection of new music. A well-paced mix of the old and new, the CD includes complex original compositions and bold arrangements of works by others, including Dave Stamey, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Paxton, Fred Rose, and C. Stuart Hamblen.

An outstanding track is "The Old Waxed Jacket," a song created from Diane Tribitt's poem, "Love's Devotion," inspired by the 2008 Cowboy Poetry Week poster that features William Matthew's painting, "Waxed Jacket." Diane Tribitt's poem was written for the Cowboy Poetry Week Art Spur project. Hear the song here at Diane Tribitt's web site.

Reviewer Rick Huff comments on the CD that, "New visions and perspectives abound in this one." See Rick Huff's review here. Curly Musgrave says that in this new CD, he and Belinda Gail were "wanting to pull in the 'fringes' and edges into the Western genre, just as it has been since cowboy's started singing the music of the day as cowboy music." Find the track list and more information here at the BAR-D.

Find the track list here at the BAR-D.

The CD is available for $17 postpaid from Curly J Productions, P.O. Box 512, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352 and also available through www.cdbaby.com.

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Colorado's "Songbird of the Sage," Liz Masterson, has released her seventh recording,  Roads to Colorado. It is described:

Since 1982, Liz Masterson has been a trail blazer in the revival of western music. She has been a recipient of the Patsy Montana Cowgirl Award and the Western Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year. Her early career highlights include performances at the Smithsonian Institution with the legendary Patsy Montana.

For 18 years, Liz toured and recorded with the late great Sean Blackburn. Together they traveled to 38 states & Canada and recorded 6 albums of western & swing music. Specializing in obscure songs from the 1930’s and 40’s by artists such as Patsy Montana, Elton Britt, Rex Allen Sr., The Girls of the Golden West, and the Ink Spots, Liz and Sean’s recordings revitalized the material and their family shows introduced it to a whole new audience. With concerts at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and the International Bluegrass Festival, they “set the bar” for performance excellence. Since Sean’s sudden death in 2005, Liz, with the love and guidance of her musical friends, has found the strength and direction to revive her solo career.

Roads to Colorado is Liz’s debut as a solo artist. The recording showcases Liz’s stunning vocals and yodeling. The 13 cut album features Grammy Award winning guitarist, Mike Dowling. Mike’s rhythm guitar is the heartbeat of the album. Every song has the perfect pulse, and he has laid the foundation for the fiddle, Dobro, mandolin, accordion, acoustic bass and beautifully blended vocal harmonies. His masterful playing of the National El Trovador and Fender Jazz Master guitars enhance the music’s vintage feel.

Roads to Colorado includes songs about New Mexico, Montana, Arizona, West Virginia and the many hills and valleys in between, and the friendships made along the way. A great album about the lure of the road and the joys of coming home.

Among the tracks are a co-write with Joyce Woodson, "The Cowboy Way of Life"; a poem co-written with Doris Daley, "I Can't Leave Now"; Stan Howe's "Take Me Back Along the Yellowstone"; and Michael Fleming's title song, "Roads to Colorado."

Several seldom-heard songs are included: "The New Frontier" by Tim Spencer, an original member of the Sons of the Pioneers; "Give Me a Home in Montana" by Patsy Montana; and Carson Robison's "Little Green Valley," which includes some rarely-sung verses.

Jean Prescott and Timothy P. Irvin join Liz on harmony.

Find more information at www.westernserenade.com and cdbaby.com.

Roads to Colorado is available at those web sites and for $18 postpaid from Liz Masterson, PO Box 12699, Denver, CO 80212.

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The Western Folklife Center's Deep West Records' Snake River Outlaws CD is a tribute to the 1950s cowboy band the Snake River Outlaws. From the official announcement:

The Snake River Outlaws played live every Saturday night from the Sunshine Bar on the corner of Woody and Alder in Missoula, and were broadcast live on KXLL radio. The Western Folklife Center’s new CD includes these rare digitally re-mastered live radio broadcasts that create a sound capsule of a time when cowboys, railroaders, college students, society ladies and vagabonds all hoisted mugs of beer to fine music and western sociability.

"While juke boxes and radio and television could bring music to these more rural areas, there was still a great demand for live music, particularly for dances," explains Western Folklife Center Executive Director Charlie Seemann. "In many cases this role was filled by local journeymen musicians who learned and performed the current hits. These hardworking community musicians, often overlooked by country music historians, were the bedrock of the genre and deserve much more credit and attention than they have received."

The CD will be launched in a concert with western swing band Wylie & the Wild West, Sunday, August 24, in Missoula, Montana. The concert is part of the River City Roots Festival, a free event in downtown Missoula, and will take place from 1:45 to 3:15 pm.

Members of the original band will join Wylie & the Wild West lead guitar player Scot Wilburn, whose father and uncle were original members of the Outlaws. Jimmy Widner of Darby, Montana, will be there with his fiddle, and Orval Fochtman, the original lead singer for the group, will travel to Missoula from Weiser, Idaho.

The Snake River Outlaws CD is available in the Western Folklife Center’s online store. 

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 Respected singer, songwriter and musician Kerry Grombacher's It Sings in the Hi-Line is getting positive attention (see Rick Huff's review here). Kerry describes the new release:

It Sings in the Hi-Line is my new album of western songs. They're stories set in the landscape that I travel, from my home on New Orleans' Bayou St. John to the Hi-Line of Montana, the desert Southwest and the Northwest forests where I fought fires in my younger days. The album was recorded at Flashpoint Studio in Austin with Kerry Grombacher (vocals, guitars), Kenny Grimes (guitars), Lynn Daniel (bass), Chip Dolan (accordion), Paul Pearcy (percussion), Warren Hood (fiddle) and the Eastside Flash (dobro). Here are notes on the twelve songs:

 1. "It Sings in the Hi-Line"—the Hi-Line is Northern Montana where US Hwy 2 and the Burlington Northern RR parallel the Canadian
     border, and it's where Chief Joseph surrendered to the US Cavalry
 2. "Never Come Again"—a chance encounter with an old cowboy in an Abilene truck stop
 3. "Almas Perdidas (Lost Souls)"—memorializes the 2002 discovery of the bodies of 11 Mexican migrants in a freight car in Iowa
 4. "Wild West Mambo"—Buffalo Bill brought the Wild West Show to New Orleans in 1884 and Plains Indians met Mardi Gras Indians
 5. "Moonrise, Hernandez NM"—inspired by Ansel Adams' October 31, 1941 photo
 6. "Blue Pony (Dream of Leaving Havre)"—a young woman longs to leave the Hi-Line town of Havre (pronounced hav-ur), whose
     high school's mascot is the Blue Pony
 7. "Crosses on the Side of the Road"—I've been photographing roadside crosses and altars for several years
 8. "Bison Wind"—down-on-his-heels cowboy heads south for the winter
 9. "Valley of Shadows"—the Spanish Inquisition, active in the New World in the 18th Century, causes Jews to flee Monterrey, Mexico
10. "Cajun Cowboy"—Louisiana cowboy (there are lots of them) finds work in Wyoming
11. "Rock Springs"—Wyoming residents have laughed and told me that every word rings true
12. "The Edge of the World"—written after a day of working horseback on a ranch owned by the Acoma Pueblo, west of Albuquerque

See our feature about Kerry Grombacher here, which includes the lyrics, "Crosses on the Side of the Road."

It Sings in the Hi-Line is available through www.kgrombacher.com and at www.cdbaby.com/cd/grombacher3, or for $17 postpaid from: 812 North Carrollton Ave. New Orleans LA 70119; kgrombacher@yahoo.com.

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  Dee Strickland Johnson ("Buckshot Dot")'s new CD, One More Dance, includes fifteen songs and one poem with musical accompaniment. The pieces include her own works, and those written by Les Buffham, Dave Stamey, Ken Graydon, Dean Cook, Bill Staines, Charles Badger Clark, Karen Quick, and Bev Triplett (the poem). See the complete track list here.

One More Dance is available for $18 postpaid from: Dee Strickland Johnson, HC 3 Box 593-F, Payson, AZ 85541, www.buckshotdot.com.

 

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See information about all the Western music recordings released in 2007 and mentioned at the BAR-D here.

 

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More from 2008...

 

  Colorado's Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering has had an impressive roster of poster artists in the past twenty years of gatherings, including Tim Cox, Jim Rey, Tom Lea, Wayne Justus, and others. The Gathering has put together an impressive calendar for 2009, which they describe:

The unique 2009 Calendar features artwork from various artists who created posters for the Durango Cowboy Gathering. Included in it are the very first 1989 "MJB Cowboy Camp" poster and several Jim Rey and Tim Cox posters which are no longer available. This collectible Calendar will be a keepsake for any fan of western art and cowboy poetry.

Calendars are available for $10 postpaid by check or credit card from Durango Cowboy Gathering, P.O. Box 2571, Durango, CO 81302; 970-749-2995. Find more information here at the Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering web site, along with more information about the availability of past years' posters.

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    Mackey Hedges' acclaimed novel, Last Buckaroo, has been reissued, thanks in great part to the efforts of entrepreneur and strategic business consultant Robert Sigman. From a press release:

A former head of a major Hollywood studio and avowed lover of western life and culture is giving readers a second chance to hear from the real deal. Past President and CEO Robert Sigman has spearheaded the republishing of noted buckaroo and author Mackey Hedges’ acclaimed western novel Last Buckaroo. The fascinating, authentic and action-packed tale has become a collectors' item classic after going out of print in 1995.

“I read the book a few years back and called Hedges out of the blue to tell him how much I had enjoyed it,” Sigman said. “My life was enriched by this story and by the man who crafted it, and now I want others to have that same experience. Republishing this book is a labor of love meant to honor a quintessentially American way of life and a man who truly embodies the cowboy ideal.”

Last Buckaroo is a rollicking, gritty, and always entertaining look at what goes on in the life of a cowboy. Told through the perspective of the larger-than-life narrator, Tap McCoy, the book covers the entire panorama of western lore, from bucking bronks to eccentric cowboys who dance on saloon tables, participate in spontaneous rodeos and more. Readers meet an array of bizarrely real characters, from stoic Indians to ladies of
the evening to cowboys of every possible sort imaginable.

The publishers quote a True West magazine review:

Authentic buckaroo Mackey Hedges has written the western novel, the buckaroo's own version of what goes on in cow camps, ranches, pack stations, feedlots and trails of the west. Through the persona of Tap McCoy, larger-than-life narrator, tales of bucking broncos, a horse falling into and hanging upside down from the branches of a pine tree, eccentric cowboys who pull knives at the drop of a hat, barroom brawls, drunken cowboys dancing atop tables, spontaneous rodeos, and horse wrecks are spun. A cast of bizarrely real characters parade through the exploits of Tap and Dean. Practical jokers, stoic Indians, burly, reclusive buckaroos, egomaniacs, and brothel madams—all sides of human nature are examined through the unrelenting yet forgiving eyes of Tap McCoy. This is a side of the West that only buckaroos have known in the past - rollicking, gritty, wacky, dusty, dangerous, nerve-wracking.

The book's cover features the late Joelle Smith's stunning "Riata Man" painting.  (Joelle Smith's art graced the first Cowboy Poetry Week poster and the 2006 edition of The BAR-D Roundup. Read more about her in our feature here

Read much more about how the Last Buckaroo and its reissue came about; more about the author, Mackey Hedges; more about the cover artist, Joelle Smith; find a discussion of "Vaqueros, Cowboys and Buckaroos"; order information, and more at the book's web site, www.lastbuckaroo.com.

Last Buckaroo is available for $20 plus postage from www.lastbuckaroo.com, Amazon, and other booksellers.
 

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The University of Oklahoma Press has published A Place of Refuge; Maynard Dixon's Arizona, by Thomas Brent Smith with an essay by Dixon expert and biographer Donald Hagerty. The book showcases Maynard Dixon's (1875-1946) Arizona subjects. The Western modernist painter first traveled to Arizona in 1900 "to absorb what he he believed was a vanishing West." The book includes more than 100 reproductions of works from 1897 through 1946, in a chronological portfolio.

Donald Hagerty's biographical essay, "Sky and Sandstone; Maynard Dixon's Arizona Years," sets the works in the context of Dixon's life. He writes, "Over a half century of intense productivity, Dixon saw the closing of the western frontier, the 'flickering out of old campfires,' as he lamented it, and the arrival of a West newly defined by the automobile. He straddled an era of seismic change in American art...Through it all, his work was founded in a quest for the essence of the western spirit."

Thomas Brent Smith, Curator of Art at the Tucson Museum of Art, interprets Maynard's work in its historical and artistic context, including comparative commentary on the works of other Western artists. A number of Frederic Remington images are included and of particular interest is Remington's letter to a 16-year-old Dixon, filled with advice for the artist.

A Place of Refuge; Maynard Dixon's Arizona is available for $40 from the publisher, Amazon, and other bookstores.

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   The Ranching Way of Life is an impressive documentary created by Colorado rancher and poet Peggy Godfrey and ScSeed, a local non-profit grassroots organization, with support from the Colorado Council on the Arts and other organizations.

Written and narrated by Peggy Godfrey, the captivating and informative film was four years in making. It presents the rancher's world, season-by-season, giving a close-up, thoughtful look at the work, risks, and rewards of ranching life in the rugged and beautiful San Luis Valley. The film includes commentaries by area ranchers and impressive still and film footage, including extraordinary calving scenes. Poetry by Peggy Godfrey and others and music appear, naturally, throughout the film.

The DVD includes supplemental themed short features with additional engaging commentary by local ranch people on topics including "Neighbors," "Ethics," "Branding," "Stories" and a "Message for Youth." A shortened "youth version" of the documentary is also included. 

From the official media release:

The film is a cultural heritage and occupational arts project that captures seasonal ranching activities, stories, poems, interviews, and music that celebrate ranching...

Those featured in the documentary are long-time residents of the San Luis Valley. Some represent families who have lived here for more than 100 years. Their arts include storytelling, music, poetry, lyrics and jokes that flow from this ranching way of life. Their arts also include the occupational activities of haying, branding, calving, cattle driving, shearing, and irrigating. Hunting, trapping, antler/bone carving, woodcarving, tanning hides, rawhide braiding and leather work are also artistic skills enjoyed by and useful to ranchers. Ranches are scattered across the vast 30 mile wide and 100-mile long valley and into the side canyons of the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

A total of 37 individuals have been filmed...The agricultural lifestyle, ranching traditions, family farms—all are intrinsic to the heritage of Colorado and all are threatened in today's economy. The threat of exportation of water to urban areas, the power of large agri-business to take control of markets, the drain of traditional knowledge as youth migrate to urban centers: these are a few of the reasons that ranching is becoming an art to be preserved and shared....

The Ranching Way of Life video project addresses the community building, cooperative enterprise, and protection of community character and rural lifestyle that ScSEED aims to foster.

All will appreciate the stories, the honest presentation of ranching life, the stories, and the incisive commentaries on ranching's past and future. And for those who have not lived the ranch life—particularly anyone writing about it or wanting to learn about it—this film about the real working West should not be missed.

See our feature here on a film about the impressive and irrepressible Peggy Godfrey, Cowboy Poetry: A Woman Ranching the Rockies, and read some of her poetry and more about her in a separate feature here. Her poem, "Country Graft," is included on the The BAR-D Roundup, Volume 2 (and is also included in The Ranching Way of Life).

The Ranching Way of Life is available for $11 postpaid from ScSEED, P. O. Box 393, Moffat CO 81143; www.scseed.org.

 

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Visit our daily Christmas celebration, where we add new poetry, news, and features  every day during the season.

 

 

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