The
Booth Western Art Museum is singled out as the "Best Western
Art Museum" in the May, 2008 issue of
True West
magazine.
The
museum sponsors the annual "Southeastern Cowboy Gathering" in March and
the "Southeastern Cowboy Festival & Symposium" in October.
From
the museum's official description, "The Booth Western Art Museum, an
Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is an 80,000 square foot
museum located in Cartersville, Georgia, where guests are invited to
explore the American West through contemporary Western artwork. The
Museum also houses a Presidential Gallery, Civil War art gallery, and
Sagebrush Ranch—featuring hands-on art activities and areas for
role-playing, storytelling and reading, all with a Western flair..."
See our feature about the Booth Western Art Museum
events here.
Posted 4/21
Nevada poet and writer Hal Swift's
poem, "Clod Fight!" was published in the April 14,
2008 issue of
The Fence Post.
As reported
previously, the
latest edition of Hal Swift's column,
A Brush with an Old Sage, is posted at the
Nevada Observer, "Nevada's
Online State News Journal." Hal notes that the column, which
you can read
here
is "a short tale
titled, 'The THING in the lake.'"
Hal recites James Barton Adams' classic,
Bill's in Trouble,
on The BAR-D Roundup: Volume Three.
Read some of Hal Swift's poetry and more about him,
his book, and his CDs in
our feature here.
[photo by Johnny Gunn]
Updated 4/18
In late March,
Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns sent news about
plans to raze the historic San Francisco Cow Palace and make it
available for development.
An April 15, 2008
article in the San Francisco Chronicle reports good news for
the Cow Palace:
The landmark Cow Palace
got a new lease on life Tuesday when state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San
Francisco, dropped efforts to
put the aging arena in Daly City up for sale. Instead, he settled for
a compromise plan that will allow only an adjoining parking lot to be
sold. The state Senate's Agriculture Committee, meeting in Sacramento,
voted 4-1to approve the revised measure.
Read the entire article
here.
Previously, Rhonda provided this information:
... The Cow
Palace, as well as the Grand National Rodeo, Horse and Stock
Show would cease to exist. Obviously we are concerned about the
future of the Cow Palace, but also concerned about how this type
of bill could affect other fairgrounds.
The Cow Palace has a 60-plus year history and has hosted
everything from sports games to concerts to home shows to
livestock shows.... The event you are most likely most familiar
with is the Grand National Rodeo, Horse and Stock Show. We are
gearing up for the 63rd annual show. While we have undergone
some changes this recent year, we provide a show that is unlike
any other in the state. Many of today's exhibitors have parents,
and even grandparents, that showed here as youth. Our Junior
Grand National Stock Show attracts youth from across the state
and provides an unparalleled educational opportunity. It's an
excellent opportunity for youth to learn new techniques,
exchange ideas and meet others from across the state. Additional
contests have been added in recent years that allow exhibitors
without large livestock....
You can read more about efforts to save the Cow Palace at:
www.savethecowpalace.com.
Update 4/18
An article by Don Barry, "Silence
Replaces Bids and Moos at Stockyards in Suburbs,"
in the April 14, 2008 of the New York Times reports on the
closing of the historic South St. Paul stockyards, after 122 years of
business. The article comments that the facility used to be one of the
largest in the world, and quotes from a commemorative brochure,
“If the 300 million head of livestock that came to the South St. Paul
Stockyards since its opening in 1887 were placed head-to-tail, they
would form a line 248,560 miles long that would extend around the earth
at the equator more than 10 times.”
The article includes an audio slide show. Read the article
here ( free subscription may be required).
Posted 4/15
Arizona poet, songwriter, artist and writer
Dee Strickland Johnson ("Buckshot Dot") will be
a guest instructor at the 27th Annual Audio Theatre Workshop,
hosted by the National Audio
Theatre Festivals, Inc. (NATF) in West Plains, Missouri, June
22-27, 2008.
The workshop will feature "Shakespeare and Cowboy Poetry." Other guest
instructors include Sam A. Mowry, the founder and Executive Director of
the Willamette Radio Workshop, and Cynthia McGean, Willamette Radio
Workshop's dramaturge and resident playwright.
The NATF comments that all "would benefit from this unique week of audio
arts training and hands-on participation, dedicated to all areas of
audio production. Beginners to experts of all ages are welcomed for a
week of learning, networking, and sharing."
Find more about the program at the
NATF web site.
Posted 4/11
Images of Montana rancher and rawhide braider Nate Wald (www.natewald.com)
are featured at the
Billings Gazette in an April 4, 2008 photo presentation. The
feature
here shows Nate Wald at his craft, and includes an interesting
picture of his warehouse of dried rawhide. He is a member of the
Traditional Cowboy Arts
Association.
The Billings Gazette includes an
accompanying article by Donna Healy, "Rawhide Braider Creates
Working Art."
Nate and his wife TJ are depicted in the
late Joelle Smith's painting, "Heading Home," which was featured as the
2006 Cowboy Poetry Week poster, and was featured as an
Art Spur subject.
[Thanks to Jeri Dobrowski for this item;
photo of T.J. and Nate Wald from Cody, 2006, by
Jeri L. Dobrowski;
see her gallery of western performers and others
here.]
Updated 4/10
Utah rancher and poet Paul Kern's
attractive
web site
includes frequent additions, which usually consist of related
stories, poems and photographs. For example, a recent post tells about
the history of the family's Idaho's ranch, and includes an image of the
original Homestead Patent, signed by President Taft. Paul says that he
feels the need to "preserve and disseminate this part of our family
heritage to the rising generation(s)." The site includes a link to
Paul's interesting, occasional podcasts, Cowboy Poetry at the Corral
of the Rafter J, which include his works and the poetry and music of
others.
Paul's poem, "At Codding's Place," is included on The BAR-D
Roundup: Volume Three.
Read some of his poetry
here at the BAR-D, and visit
Paul Kern's web site.
Posted 4/8
Poet and artist Eve Thornton's
The Cowboy Country Traveler web site of "cowboy country art,
culture, and writing" is dedicated to the memory of her long-time
friend, the well-loved Texas poet and artist
Rod Nichols (1942-2007).
Eve Thornton comments, "The
Cowboy Country Traveler
website is dedicated to Rod's memory in hopes of keeping
alive the culture he loved best, that of the cowboy. His talent was as huge as his beloved Texas,
and although we've lost the man, we have not lost his voice, which
will forever echo throughout his poetry and be read by poets and
lovers of poetry in many generations to come."
See tributes to Rod Nichols and
links to his poetry
here at CowboyPoetry.com.
The Cowboy Country Traveler
site includes prose, poetry, art, news, and more. Visit the site
here.
Posted 4/4
Joe
Baker and his
Backforty Bunkhouse
radio show and other activities are the subject of an in-depth
article in the Ruidoso (New Mexico) News by Julie Carter, "Taking
Western Swing and Honky-Tonk to the World."
The article comments, "Baker's
continuing promotion of the Western heritage through music has
moved to a new level. With a click of the mouse, Baker has taken
Ruidoso, Lincoln County, New Mexico and Western music to the
world. Not only has his home radio station with MTD Radio gone
'streaming' with Internet access 24/7, but the promotion of
artists through a compilation CD is now available to disc jockeys
worldwide through an internet download."
Readers learn about Joe Baker's radio
beginnings and more about
his career and the work he does to promote and preserve Western
heritage.
Read more about the
Backforty Bunkhouse in our feature
here
and visit the Backforty
Bunkhouse web site.
Read the Ruidoso News article
here.
Posted 4/4
Journalist and photographer Jeri Dobrowski
has her fourth cover story at
Cowboy Magazine, with
an article about South Dakota cowboy and author Ray Hunter, in the
Spring, 2008 edition (see more about what's in the Spring, 2008 edition
here).
Her previous Cowboy Magazine cover stories and cover photos
include a Winter, 2006 feature on South Dakota rancher, poet, writer, and
saddlemaker Robert Dennis (see the
entire story here; one of the photos
was an Art Spur subject for the
National Day of the Cowboy); a Spring, 2007 feature about Montana cowboy
Charles Ferguson and the Makoshika Breaks Ranch; and a Summer, 2006
feature about South Dakota chapmaker Jack Gully of K Bar J
Leather.
You can view some of Jeri Dobrowski's past Cowboy Magazine
articles and articles from other publications
here at her web site.
Posted 4/1
Minnesota rancher, poet, and writer
Diane Tribitt has been
selected as one of the top five winners in the Lyric Writing category of
the 9th Annual
Great American Song Contest, for her song, "Polishin' Buckles with
You."
In her story, "Rancher," in the
new book,
Water Cooler Diaries; Women Across American Share Their Day at Work,
Diane tells that popular singer and songwriter Joni
Harms heard her poetry performance at the 2007
Kamloops Cowboy Festival
and asked her if she would be interested in writing lyrics. Diane's "Polishin'
Buckles with You" was written in response.
Diane Tribitt is the Senior Executive Editor of
IM Cowgirl magazine. Read
more about her and her poetry
here.
Posted 3/28
A March 19, 2008 article in The Citizen (Duncan, British
Columbia) newspaper "Local Cowboy Poet A Winner in Global Internet
Competition" by Lexi Bainis, reports on poet
Mag Mawhinney's being recognized as
one of "8 Seconds" in the BAR-D's recent Lariat
Laureate competition for her poem, "Winter Range."
The article comments on the poem and
quotes Mag, "Mawhinney's poem acknowledges the challenges of the cowboys who
work for little pay, but who reap great rewards. The poem was
submitted for CowboyPoetry.com's annual "Christmas at the BAR-D"
celebration, and was inspired by an experience working cows. She
says, "The beauty of that meadow and surrounding forest, the contrast
between the inquisitive actions of the dogs and the other animals
grazing peacefully on grass stubbles protruding through the snow, gave
me a feeling of pure joy, a completeness beyond words. The scene was
God's winter masterpiece. And it's moments like that when I understand
why a cowboy is willing to work for short pay."
Read more of Mag Mawhinney's poetry
here, and more about
the current Lariat Laureate and 8 Seconds winners
here.
Posted 3/21
Linda
Kirkpatrick's most recent
Texas
Escapes column is the last of a series
about the hog drives of the Frio Canyon. Part Three,
“Here
a Pig, There a Pig,” is the third and final installment of her "Pig
Trilogy," and includes more about the wild hog population, tales of the
area's hog hunters, and former Texas Poet Laureate, the late Carlos
Ashley's poem, "That Spotted Sow or The Ballad of Cedar Mountain."
Read the installment
here.
Part One, illustrated with vintage photos, is called "Git
Along Little Piggy," and covers the period of the late 1890s to the
early 1900s. Read the first installment
here. Part Two is called "This
Little Piggy Stayed Home," and describes butchering and preparing
the meat for the table (with recipes). She warns, "It is not for the
faint of heart." Read the installment
here.
Linda Kirkpatrick is a regular
contributor at
Texas Escapes, with her monthly Somewhere
in the West column, which concentrates on the rich history
of the Texas Hill Country.
Texas Escapes
is an on-line magazine, filled with travel and history columns and
features, articles about over 1500 Texas towns and ghost towns, historical
photos, and more. Visit the
Texas Escapes
web site.
[photo of
Linda Kirkpatrick by Jeri L. Dobrowski;
see her gallery of western performers and others
here.]
Posted 3/19
Top Western music artist R.W. Hampton
has a newly designed web site at
www.rwhampton.com, with new features. He writes, "The site now has
several new features, including a photo page with slide shows you can
browse through, a page just for fans, a music page where you can listen
to every song from all of my eight CDs in their entirety for free..."
The site includes tour dates, news, and an on-line store.
R.W. Hampton has received the
Western Heritage Award (the Wrangler Award) for
Traditional Western Album for his
recent release,
Oklahoma...Where the West Remains,
from the
National
Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Posted 3/18
Montana poet and writer Paul Zarzyski—recipient
of the Montana
Governor’s Arts Award for Literature and also known as the
"Polish-rodeo-hobo poet"—posts occasional pieces in the
News Flashes & Fast
Dashes at his web site,
www.paulzarzyski.com. Entries include commentary on
works-in-progress, observations, and news. The most recent entry is "Putting
the Bite into Cowboy Poetry."
[photo from the 2005 Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival by
Henry Benson, 1946-2008]
Posted 3/11
Spurs by Pete Bennett are getting a lot of attention throughout the
West, and a new web site,
www.bennettspurs.com, showcases his work. As the web site tells,
Pete, retired cowboy and ranch manager, poet (and husband of poet and
writer Virginia Bennett) builds genuine cowboy
spurs, inspired by his long desire to find spurs "that he would pick up
and want to buy on a cowboy's meager salary if he saw them at a trade show
or gathering."
Pete and Virginia generously donated a pair of spurs to a past
Silent Auction at CowboyPoetry.com and to
the Silent Auction at the recent
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
Posted 3/10
A number
of Cowboy Poetry gatherings and events have received recent press
attention:
Posted and updated 3/7
Poet Gail T. Burton has a new web site at
www.GailTBurton.com, which
features his poetry, publications, and recordings, and includes
interesting photos and links.
Posted 3/6
The April, 2008 issue of
Cowboys & Indians magazine includes photos and
a brief story by Mark Bedor about Utah's 13th Annual
Heber City Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Buckaroo Fair, which
took place in November, 2007. Among those photographed are Kip
Calahan, Jim Jones, Rich and Valerie O'Brien,
Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Dave Stamey.
Visit the
Cowboys & Indians magazine web
site for more about what's in the current issue, on-line
features, and subscription information.
Posted 3/6
Encore Westerns
Managing Producer
Jeff Hildebrandt has received the second impressive award in
two months for the Encore
Westerns' special, "100 Years of John Wayne", which wrote and produced for John
Wayne's 100th birthday. The
National
Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum awarded the
television special the Western Heritage
Award for Factual Narrative. Jeff will receive the Wrangler Award, presented at a
black-tie gala at the the Museum on April 12, 2008. Jeff will also
conduct a morning session to discuss Encore Westerns and host a Q&A
with actor Robert Fuller, and he'll be a presenter at the Awards Banquet.
In February, the John Wayne special received the 2008 "Silver
International Television Broadcasting" award in a highly competitive category included entries
from the HBO, NBC and AMC networks. The
New York
Festivals International Television Broadcasting Awards recognize
"'The World's Best Work' in news, documentary, information and
entertainment programming as well as in music videos, infomercials,
promotion spots, openings and ID's. "
Read more about Jeff and some of his poetry in our feature
here.
Updated 3/5
The
British Columbia Cowboy Heritage
Society (BCCHS) web site announces
Mag Mawhinney as a
Lariat Laureate finalist on the site's
Poets' Page.
The BCCHS organizes the popular 12th
Annual Kamloops Cowboy Festival, celebrating its twelfth year,
March 6-9, 2008 in
Kamloops,
British Columbia.
Posted 3/4
Poet and writer
Jean Mathisen Haugen has
a feature story in
Open Range Magazine
magazine about Western artist and "flintnapper" Tom Lucas
of Lander, Wyoming (see some related photos and more in this
week's Picture the West
here at the BAR-D).
Open Range Magazine
Editor Amanda Smith provides this information about the magazine:
Open Range
Magazine is a unique and exciting new magazine catering to
those who live in the West, and those who dream to experience
the West...the real Western Way of life. It is a magazine
covering the realities of living and working in the West.
From Night Calving to Blacksmithing. Black rocking horse
Oilfield Workers to the miners who run coal at night and herd
cattle during the day. From hardcore ranching to the old style
of law that keeps the West in check. Brand Inspectors to Sale
Barn
Auctioneers, and featured Cowboy Poets...this magazine covers it
all...Touting the true spirit of the west, It isn't all
glamour....it's real, and more and more people are turning back
to the ways of the Open Range.
Visit the
Open Range Magazine
web site
for more information, the current issue's contents, on-line features, and
subscription information.
Posted 3/3
South Dakota poet, cowgirl, and artist Jan Swan Wood's
“Outtagrass Cattle Company” cartoons are a new
weekly feature at the Tri-State Livestock News. Read more
about her and view the first cartoon in an article
here at the paper's web site.
Jan Swan Wood has been a featured poet at the
Western Folklife Center's
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, appearing in
1986, 1990, and 1994. She is married to poet Bill Wood.
[thanks to
Jeri Dobrowski
for the above information]
Posted 2/28
Oregon cowgirl Billie Flick is featured in the Spring, 2008
issue of Range
magazine. The article, "Cowgirl for Hire," by Lee Juillerat
profiles the life-long, hard-working cowgirl. The article notes,
"...she can't remember a time when she wasn't riding and working
cattle. 'Mom has pictures of me when i was just a baby riding a
horse,' she chuckles. 'I have worked for ranches my entire life.'"
A. K. Moss' poem,
The Truth, which is on the first
edition of The BAR-D Roundup, was
written about Billie Flick. Billie is married to cowboy and poet
Leon Flick.
Read more about
Range
magazine and find special selected articles on line at the
Range magazine web site.
Posted 2/25
The Wyoming Humanities Council is launching its new book
Welcome to Wyoming, A Guide for Newcomers with a program and panel
discussion at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 22, at the Rendezvous
Pointe Senior Center in Pinedale, Wyoming. They've invited Wyoming
poet, emcee, and humorist
Andy Nelson to be a part of the event
to share his humorous "Rules for Visiting Our State" from his
popular Harvey's Moon CD,
Andy Nelson was named Male
Poet of the Year in 2006 by the
Western Music Association (WMA).
[photo
of Andy Nelson by Jeri L.
Dobrowski; see her gallery of western performers and others
here.]
Posted 2/22
Nevada poet Hal Swift's poem,
"Blackie, the Horse-Ridin' Dog," was published in the February 15, 2008 issue of
Agri
News.
Posted 2/22
Scott O'Malley and the
Western Jubilee
Recording Company are profiled in a February 17, 2008
article in the Colorado Springs Gazette, "Western Muse," by
Bill Reed. The article tells about the 1887 Santa Fe Freight House and
Scott O'Malley's vision that created "...the Western Jubilee Warehouse
Theater—occupancy 168—and...one of the most delightful and worst-kept
secrets in Colorado Springs."
Read about the recent Western Jubilee compilation
CD,
Warehouse
Tracks; Ten Years(1996-2006) in our New in 2007 feature,
here. The CD includes tracks
by artists
Don Edwards ("Red River Valley"), Wylie
& the Wild West ("Cattle Call"), Juni
Fisher, (I Will Miss Ireland Forever), R.
W. Hampton ("Don't Tell Me"), Waddie
Mitchell ("The Whole Load"), Sons of the San Joaquin
("There's a Rainbow Over the Range"), Skip Gorman ("Jack of
Diamonds/Black Mountain Blues"); Norman Blake and Rich O'Brien ("The
Old Spinning Wheel"), Peter Rowan ("The Raven"), Cowboy Celtic
("Leaving Stoer"), and others.
[Thanks to Mark Gardner for the news of the
article]
Posted 2/19
There's a new newsletter posted at the
British Columbia Cowboy Heritage
Society (BCCHS) web site. It includes information about the 12th Annual Kamloops Cowboy Festival
(March 7-9, 2007),
including the the Festival program, which can be downloaded and
reviews and articles.
The site's
Poets' Page includes new and archived poetry.
Posted
2/19
Nevada poet Hal Swift's poem,
"Jimmy's Valentine Poem," was published in the February 8, 2008
Valentine's Day issue of
Agri
News and his poem, "Saturday Night Shine,"
appears in the February 11, 2008 edition of
The Fence Post.
Hal Swift
recites James Barton Adams' classic,
Bill's in Trouble,
on the forthcoming edition of The BAR-D Roundup, Volume 3.
Read some of Hal's poetry and more about him here
at the BAR-D.
[photo by Johnny Gunn]
Updated 2/15
Utah poet Paul Kern has a special
Valentine's Day podcast
at his web site, which features music and poetry by Michael Robinson,
Sam DeLeeuw, Katie Kern, Diane Tribitt, Ken Cook,
Jim Dunham, Linda Kirkpatrick, Jo Lynne Kirkwood,
and Paul Kern.
Posted 2/14
South Dakota writer and poet Slim McNaught
has a cover story about the late Kyle Evans, South Dakota's official
South Dakota Centennial Troubadour, "The Legend and the Legacy," in the
Tri-State Livestock News
Annual Premier Edition of the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo magazine.
He has an additional article, "Incredible Metal Masterpieces," about the
work of South Dakota ranchers and artists Brett and Tammy Prang.
Also included in the special publication are Wyoming poet and writer
Rhonda Sedgwick Stearns' stories,
including one on ranch horse competition, "Growing at BHSS"; "Ranchers
Showcase Range Skills at BHSS"; and "Horse Training Cowgirl Hits the
Arena," about South Dakota cowgirl Jody O'Bryan.
There is also an article about
Jim Thompson, popular radio and rodeo
broadcaster and journalist, who was inducted into the
Black Hills Stock Show
Hall of Fame on January 30, 2008 at the Stockman's Banquet and Ball
in Rapid City, South Dakota.
The Tri-State Livestock News
carries regular columns by Rhonda
Sedgwick Stearns, Jeri Dobrowski,
Baxter Black, Lee Pitts, and others.
Visit the Tri-State Livestock News
web site for more.
Posted 2/11
Ken Overcast, rancher,
singer, songwriter, writer, storyteller, and host of the
popular syndicated radio program, The Cowboy Show,
is featured in the January/February 2008 issue of
Montana Magazine.
You can read an excerpt from the article, "Living the Rancher Way,"
here at the magazine's web site.
Read more about Ken at The Cowboy
Show site.
Posted 2/8
Andy Nelson—popular
Wyoming poet, emcee, humorist, and the award-winning co-host
of
Clear Out West
(C. O. W.) radio—can
be heard in February as the voice in a dramatic promotion for the
Encore Westerns
channel's "Six Gun Salute" to actor Glenn Ford.
Encore Westerns Managing Producer
Jeff Hildebrandt explains, "Every month, Encore Westerns
gives a 'Six Gun Salute' to one of our favorite actors. In February, we
honor Glenn Ford with four of his movies: The Americano, Cowboy,
The Man from the Alamo, and '3:10 to Yuma. The Glenn Ford
salute will run on Saturday, February 24, 2008, starting at 6:20 pm
(Eastern and Pacific). Jeff says that Andy was "discovered" by Encore
Westerns at the recent Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Arvada.
(Jeff Hildebrandt is also a
frequently-published poet. The current issue of
IM Cowgirl
magazine includes his poem, "Discover Your Inner Cowgirl"; see more about the issue's contents
here.
Read more about Jeff and some of his poetry in our feature
here.)
Andy Nelson, who was named the 2006 Top Male Poet by the
Western Music Association (WMA),
is headed to Elko, Nevada, as an invited poet at the Western Folklife
Center's 2008 National Cowboy Poetry
Gathering.
[photo by
Jeri L.
Dobrowski; see her gallery of western performers and others
here.]
Posted 1/29
Deanna Dickinson McCall's short
story, "Elena's
Angels," is featured in Amazon.com's new
Amazon
Shorts feature.
Amazon.com describes Amazon Shorts as "never-before-seen short works
from a wide variety of well-known authors, available only on
Amazon.com."
Deanna comments, "I
wrote 'Elena's Angels' to share the story of being Hispanic in
today's West. It exposes the prejudices that still exist, but also
gives us hope. Life in America's truly rural areas is often
misrepresented and misunderstood. In 'Elena's Angels' I have brought
to light the fact we all want to fit in, and be accepted for who we
are, no matter where we are."
As her bio on
Amazon tells, "Deanna Dickinson McCall is a 6th generation cattle
rancher. She and her husband of 32 years raised their three
children on a remote ranch without electricity or phone service.
They currently ranch in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico.
Deanna writes about the real West in modern times. The events and
characters ring true from a lifetime of experience. She has viewed
the West and ranching culture through the eyes of a child, wife,
Poets, Musicians and Others with News in Print, on the Web, and Beyond
Howard Higgins and Joe Baker of the
Montana writer, columnist, and poet 
The May, 2008 issue of
