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Friends of the BAR-D,

We're celebrating the eighth annual Cowboy Poetry Week, April 19-25, 2009!

At CowboyPoetry.com, you can catch up on all of the latest news. There are daily postings of news and features about cowboy poetry, Western music, Western radio, and more.

You can view vintage and modern photos in Picture the West; read regular columns, including Jeri Dobrowski's Cowboy Jam Session and Rick Huff's Best of the West Reviews; check out the events calendars for a gathering near you; learn about new books and CDs; read about people, organizations, museums, and more in the news of our wide community; and much more.

Our mission is to preserve and celebrate the arts and life of rural communities and the real working West.

You, and the many poets, musicians, fans, broadcasters, gathering organizers, financial supporters, and other critical members of our community—our over 2 million annual CowboyPoetry.com visitors—inspire our mission. We need your help to continue.

Support from BAR-D visitors like you makes it possible to continue programs and projects of the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. The Center sponsors CowboyPoetry.com, Cowboy Poetry Week, the Rural Library Project, and all of our activities. Please renew your support or join the others with a first-time donation. Read more about how you can be an important part of it all right here.

In addition to doing your part to keep our programs going, you can get the collectible 2009 Cowboy Poetry Week poster, available exclusively to supporters (never for sale), and other benefits. Read about support levels and benefits. Visit the Wall of Support, and read comments like these from other supporters:

"I donated because I have come to enjoy CowboyPoetry.com and I didn't want to be like those who show up for brandings but are never around when there are bales to buck, waterers to thaw and irrigation ditches to clean."
Tom Nichols, poet and rancher, Corvallis, Oregon

"Our contribution seems a small price to pay to have the whole world of cowboy poetry at your fingertips. We can catch up on all the current events and have an encyclopedia of classic and contemporary poetry all in one bucket. Our contributions have come back to us tenfold."
Sandi and Jay Snider (poet), ranchers, Cyril, Oklahoma

"I'm on a fixed income and don't have much to give, but I use and enjoy CowboyPoetry.com daily. So I send a small monthly donation, which accumulates in a meaningful way over the year. I want to do what I can to keep the things going." Hal Swift, poet, Sparks, Nevada

NEWS, FEATURES, POETRY, MUSIC, REPORTS, AND MORE
The links below take you right to popular features and news
at CowboyPoetry.com:

NEWS
POETRY AND LYRICS
FEATURES
GATHERING REPORTS
EVENT CALENDARS AND EVENT DETAILS

Below:

COWBOY POETRY WEEK 2009

THE BAR-D ROUNDUP: VOLUME FOUR

COWBOY POETRY WEEK POSTER ARTIST BOB CORONATO

SPECIAL COWBOY POETRY WEEK ART SPUR

PICTURE THE WEST

COWBOYPOETRY.COM CELEBRATES TEN YEARS

COWBOYPOETRY.COM INFORMATION CARDS

YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF IT ALL

THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR SUPPORTERS

COWBOY POETRY WEEK

We're celebrating the eighth annual Cowboy Poetry Week, April 19-25, 2009!

The Cowboy Poetry Week celebration includes many events taking place in communities, at libraries, on radio stations, and elsewhere. Find all of the news and a list of activities here.

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 with its Rural Library Project, is held during the third week of April each year, in conjunction with National Poetry Month in the United States and Canada. Twenty-two states' governors and other officials have issued Cowboy Poetry Week proclamations.

"The Horse Wrangler Gather'd the Morning Mounts...," a painting by notable Western artist Bob Coronato of Hulett, Wyoming, was chosen as the art for this year's Cowboy Poetry Week poster. Posters are sent to libraries as a part of our Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry's outreach Rural Library Project.

Our Art Spur feature invites poets to be inspired by of Western art and photography, and selected poems inspired by Bob Coronato's painting are being posted during Cowboy Poetry Week.

The BAR-D Roundup, the Center’s annual compilation recording of the best in classic and current cowboy poetry is also offered to libraries through the Center's Rural Library Project. Each edition includes vintage recordings of poets reciting their own works (this year includes a recitation by Gail Gardner (1892-1988) of his famous "The Sierry Petes (or Tying Knots in the Devils Tail)") and contemporary poets reciting their works and classic poems. The 2009 CD has a fourth annual selection from Grass, the master work of the late Buck Ramsey, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, recognized as the modern spiritual leader of the genre. The CD includes a radio public service announcement written and delivered by top cowboy poet and philosopher Baxter Black. There are 27 tracks of contemporary and classic cowboy poetry. CDs are also available for purchase and are premiums for Center supporters.

All of the Center's activities, including CowboyPoetry.com, Cowboy Poetry Week, the Rural Library Project, and The BAR-D Roundup are made possible by generous donors. See who they are on our Wall of Support and read how you can join with them and help keep those programs going here. We need your support.

Enjoy the celebration!

Read more here.

THE BAR-D ROUNDUP

We're proud to announce the release of The BAR-D Roundup: Volume 4, the Center's fourth annual cowboy poetry compilation CD.

The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Four includes a vintage recording of Gail Gardner (1892-1988) reciting his famous work, "The Sierry Petes (Tying Knots in the Devil's Tail)." Also included are the epic "The Red Cow" by the late Larry McWhorter, and "Tracks that Won't Blow Out" by the late Ray Owens. Among other classic selections are poems by Bruce Kiskaddon and Henry Herbert Knibbs recited by the respected Randy Rieman and Jerry Brooks and the traditional "Roundup in the Spring" recited by the late JB Allen, and "The Cattleman's Prayer" recited by Dick Morton.

Gail Steiger recites "The Dude Wrangler" written by his grandfather, Gail Gardner, and Jesse Smith recites "The Black Beauty" by the late rodeo legend Johnie Schneider. The CD has a fourth annual selection from Grass, the master work by the late Buck Ramsey, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, recognized as the modern spiritual leader of cowboy poetry.

There are many additional tracks of classic and contemporary poems, most from poets who frequently please audiences from contemporary gathering stages, including: Allen Clark (reciting a poem by Arthur Guiterman), Ken Cook, Doris Daley, Elizabeth Ebert, DW Groethe, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Linda Kirkpatrick, Jo Lynne Kirkwood, Slim McNaught, Rod Miller, Jane Morton, Andy Nelson, Joel Nelson, Rodney Nelson, Pat Richardson, Georgie Sicking, Jay Snider, and Diane Tribitt.

The CD includes a radio public service announcement written and delivered by top cowboy poet and philosopher Baxter Black.

This year's cover features an irresistible image of Gail Gardner as a boy, from an 1890s tintype, provided by the Gardner and Steiger families. Inside, there's a contemporary photo of three generations of the cowboys in Jay Snider's family, taken on the Snider ranch in Cyril, Oklahoma.

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

Past editions of The BAR-D Roundup have enjoyed wide radio airplay, and the new edition has been distributed to hundreds of Western radio stations, thanks to Joe Baker of New Mexico's Backforty Bunkhouse. Wyoming's Andy Nelson, poet, humorist, popular emcee and co-host of the award-winning Clear Out West (C. O. W.) Radio show is the CD's co-producer.
The CD is offered to libraries in our community outreach Rural Library Project, available to our supporters, and available for purchase. Find more information, including order information and special offers in our feature here.

COWBOY POETRY WEEK POSTER ARTIST BOB CORONATO

We're pleased to feature Bob Coronato's painting, "The Horse Wrangler Gather’d The Morning Mounts: 'One That Had’n Lived The Life ... Couldn’t Paint a Picture ...To Please The Eye, of One That Had!'" (one of his shorter titles) as the official poster for Cowboy Poetry Week, 2009.

Bob Coronato lives part of the year in Hulett, Wyoming—where he is the proprietor of "The Rogues Gallery," which he calls "my little shop,...studio and freak show"—and the other part of the year in Atascadero, California. An East Coast native, he headed to Wyoming after art school, and his working ranch experience gained there is at the heart of his work.

He comments, "We are at a clash of two different times: the traditional 'cowboy'n' ways are being overridden by the modern, quicker technologies...I try to document moments in time that show the ways of a fading lifestyle...The 'West' is alive, it's just hiding in small corners of our country, trying to desperately hang on and not be forgotten."

Bob Coronato was an invited Master Artist at 2009's 12th Annual Autry National Center's Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. There are interesting recent articles in both Art of the West and Southwest Art magazines about Bob Coronato.

Find more about Bob Coronato and see more of his work in our feature here.

ART SPUR

Art Spur invites poets to let selections of Western art inspire their poetry.

Our eighteenth piece offered to "spur" the imagination—as part of Cowboy Poetry Week—is noted Western artist Bob Coronato's painting, "The Horse Wrangler Gather’d The Morning Mounts: 'One That Had’n Lived The Life ... Couldn’t Paint a Picture ...To Please The Eye, of One That Had!'" The image was also chosen for the 2009 Cowboy Poetry Week poster.

Selected poems are being posted here during Cowboy Poetry Week.

Past featured artists and photographers include Tim Cox, the late Joelle Smith, Jeri Dobrowski, William Matthews, Chanda Snook, and many others. Find links here to all past Art Spur pieces.

Stay tuned for the next Art Spur, which will be a part of the 2009 National Day of the Cowboy celebration (which takes place July 25, 2009).

PICTURE THE WEST

Picture the West is one of the most visited features at CowboyPoetry.com, a growing treasury of photos that give a glimpse of the ranching, cowboy, and rural and working life of the West—from today and yesterday. It's a great way to share your heritage or your current way of life, and to help show our many visitors the real West.

The Cowboy Poetry Week Picture the West features photos of cowboy and poet Gail I. Gardner (1892-1988), whose image as a child and whose own recording of his famous poem, "The Sierry Petes" is featured on The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Four. The previous week's photos were of the generations of cowboys in Oklahoma rancher and poet Jay Snider's family. One of the photos is featured inside The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Four.

Find an index of all of the many interesting Picture the West photos here.

Contribute your photos. Send them to editor@cowboypoetry.com.

CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF COWBOYPOETRY.COM

CowboyPoetry.com is celebrating its 10th year in 2009; the site was launched January 1, 2000 (the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry was formed in 2005). Currently, the site receives about 2 million "hits" each month, representing an average 152,000 monthly page views and 87,000 monthly visitors.

As we celebrate, we've been showcasing favorite poems each week from our archive of thousands of contemporary and classic works We'll be celebrating the BAR-D birthday throughout 2009.

A new "Celebrating Ten Years" pin helps mark the CowboyPoetry.com anniversary, a gift to all new and renewing supporters. Find more information about becoming a supporter below.

Information Cards

Each year, thanks to individuals and gathering organizers, many thousands of CowboyPoetry.com information cards are distributed at gatherings and events. Two 2009 information cards are available:

One is the image selected as the cover for the 2009 CD, The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Four, an 1890s tintype of Gail Gardner (1892-1988), cowboy, poet postmaster of Prescott, Arizona, and grandfather of cowboy, songwriter, and filmmaker Gail Steiger.

Another features Bob Coronato's painting, "The Horse Wrangler Gather’d The Morning Mounts: 'One That Had’n Lived The Life ... Couldn’t Paint a Picture ...To Please The Eye, of One That Had!'," chosen as the image for the 2009 Cowboy Poetry Week poster.

The reverse sides of the postcards have information about the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry and CowboyPoetry.com. Find larger views, the reverse-side text, and previous years' cards here.
See a list here of gatherings, organizations, and individuals who are helping to spread the word by making CowboyPoetry.com information cards available.

Help spread the word! Email us us for a supply of handout postcards about CowboyPoetry.com for your event.

YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF IT ALL

If you visit CowboyPoetry.com often and find news, information, and entertainment; if your poetry, CD, book, news, or gathering have been featured... please show your support, so that we can continue to bring you all of the information that is important to you.

Thanks to all of our supporters for making CowboyPoetry.com and all of the Center's work possible. Continued annual support is essential to programs such as Cowboy Poetry Week, The BAR-D Roundup, the Rural Library Project, and CowboyPoetry.com.

CowboyPoetry.com and the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry exist only through the tax-deductible donations of those who support our work.

If you're not already a supporter, please consider being an important part of it all. If it's time to renew your support, please do.

When you give at the $40 level and higher, you'll receive the 2009 Cowboy Poetry Week poster, which features Bob Coronato's impressive painting. At the $100 level and higher, you'll receive the poster and the 2009 edition of The BAR-D Roundup.

Please give us your support, which will let us continue to bring you our many features and programs.

You can make a donation by check or money order, by mail (please use the form here for mail to the Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry, 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.
Your generosity today allows us to plan for tomorrow. We thank you and look forward to working together to continue to fulfill the Center's mission to serve rural populations and to promote and preserve our Western heritage.

Join with others on the Wall of Support.

THANKS TO OUR RECENTLY RENEWING SPONSOR SUPPORTERS

Ken Cook

South Dakota's Ken Cook ranches in southeast Bennett County, South Dakota. Ken, who has appeared at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and many other venues, has three CDs of original poetry. The newest, released in April, 2009, is Cowboys Are Like That. Ken Cook's poetry is featured on the 2008 and 2009 editions of The BAR-D Roundup.

Read more here: www.kencookcowboypoet.com

National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo

The unique National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo was conceived by and is produced by poet Sam Jackson, based on his belief in "excellence through competition." The next National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo takes place September 10-12 2009, in Montrose, Colorado. The rodeo teams up with Tough Enough To Wear Pink and the San Juan Healthcare Foundation to raise money for the local cancer center.

Read more here: www.nationalcowboypoetryrodeo.com

Susan Parker

California's Susan Parker writes original poetry and recites classic and contemporary poetry. Intrigued by the "vanishing voices" of pioneering women of the West, she is at work on a project to collect and recite some of those works. A performer with impressive stage presence, Susan Parker has been featured at the California Rodeo Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Kamloops Cowboy Festival, and at many other venues. Her most recent project is She Rode a Wild Horse, a well-received CD of her original poetry and recitations of classic and contemporary poetry. One of her classic recitations is included on the 2008 edition of The BAR-D Roundup.

Read more here: www.susanparkerpoet.com

Find all of our supporters' names on the Wall of Support.