Humor, harmony and a hankerin' for the Old West.
People turned out in droves and had such a good time, they wanted to do it again. "After three years, we outgrew the building and decided to move to the high school. People told us it would die, because that was too cold and formal. But we got the Bar J Wranglers to come down from Wyoming, and they sold out and put us on the map."Their Heber concerts, he says, "will be everything thing you heard in the 1970s and a bit more. Be there -- or be square.""We love to come to Heber," says Scott Humphrey of the Bar J Wranglers. "The first time we came, we knew they were on to something. We're very glad they invited us to join their 'circus.'"That's what you find in abundance at the annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Heber City, which will be held Nov. 3-8.His band has been a major contributor to the genre of Western swing for some 40 years now. "We have a great love of Western music, Western art, Western poetry, so we'll fit right in."There will be a Wild West Show; the Cowboy Poetry Express train (where the audience sits and the entertainers move from car to car); a Buckaroo Ball; the Buckaroo Fair, with vendors offering all things Western; evening concerts; continuous music and poetry, including some open-mike times for anyone who wants to participate; cowboy church and more.Carson has "lived the cowboy life. My passion is training horses. But I love everything about the lifestyle."But even as it has been rolling along, the Wheel has been constantly re-inventing itself, he said. One of this year's most exciting ventures has been teaming up with the legendary Willie Nelson, for a newly released CD, "Willie and the Wheel," and a PBS Austin City Limits concert that will air Nov. 14 (check local listings).Carson has been writing poetry for about 10 years now. His first poem was one he fired off to the local newspaper when the Heber City Planning Commission made him mad over a planned develoment. "Their attorney wrote a poem back, so I answered in rhyme. I found out I couldn't fight City Hall, but I had a knack for poetry. It's been kind of fun."The Bar J Wranglers are comprised of Scott and his brother, Bryan, fiddler Tim Hodgson, guitarist Danny Rogers and sidekick Don Cook. The Humphrey brothers grew up in Jackson, Wyo., "back when it was a real cow town, helping out with the family dinner theater. Our Dad was gifted with a golden voice and a passion for the music of the West. We were raised up with that," says Scott.Now in its 15th year, the gathering has earned a reputation as one of the biggest and best of such festivals in the country.And that's what is so great about the Heber gathering, he says. You can immerse yourself in what you love. "One of the greatest things is how people come from all over the country. There's a huge following, and what they get here is as good as you'll find anywhere."Their focus, he says, "is on the land, the cattle industry, the old American way of life. There are a lot of genuine, good people out there still involved in that, and they're a huge part of our fan base. Bringing them together like this -- it really is a jewel, really one of the top in the country."e-mail: carma@desnews.comRay Benson, of Asleep at the Wheel, is also excited to be coming to the gathering. "We haven't been there before, but we've been through the area. It's beautiful country," he said in an interview from his home in Texas.The gathering started when Whitaker and a couple of his friends discovered a mutual interest in cowboy poetry and decided to have an evening of it. "We'd never been to a gathering, but we thought how hard could it be?" Whitaker went to the town hall, put down a $250 deposit to rent it for one of the few days available, got artist Robert Duncan to do "a little drawing for a poster, found a friend to do a Dutch over dinner. Then we told people they had to pay $5 for the dinner, and the poetry was free."Benson grew up loving and collecting "all the old records. Bob Wills became the most reknowned of the Western swing artists, but I loved them all." It's an uniquely American genre, he says, combining the fiddle and strings with the Big Band and soul sound. "It's roots music. It's great Americana." And it's important, he says, "because if you don't know where your roots are, your branches will die."This year's gathering will move to the new high school, and while the Bar J Wranglers will still perform, they will be joined by a slew of other Western entertainers, including Michael Martin Murphey, Don Edwards, Sons of the San Joaquin, Riders in the Sky, and making their first appearance, Asleep at the Wheel. There will also be a number of other local and regional favorites."We get so many people that come from all over," says Tom Whitaker, founder and driving force behind the gathering. "I think the reason we stand out is that we go beyond poetry. We bring in a huge number of headliners, so there's nonstop entertainment. There's horsemanship. There's Dutch oven cooking. There's something for everyone who is at all interested in Western culture and the cowboy lifestyle."Baxter Black and Waddie Mitchell will be back with their unique brands of cowboy poetry, and will also be joined by local and regional poets of all ages.If it tends to be a romantic look at the Old West, so be it, says Whitaker. "We all know there were tough times back then, and we'd not want to live there, but there are a lot of values and attitudes that shouldn't be forgotten -- not to mention the harmony in some of those great old songs."One new addition this year, says Whitaker, is the Mustang Makeover Competition, where cowboys have taken wild mustangs and had 90 days to train them, and then the horses will be shown and auctioned off. Also new this year are some theatrical presentations of "Annie Get Your Gun."The Wranglers spend their summers at the dinner theater, "then we travel in our off-time. This year, we may even get to go overseas to entertain the troops. Bryan has a boy in the Marines, and we're looking at ways and means of getting there."
e-mail: carma@desnews.com
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