Featuring: Kristyn Harris, Hot Club of Cowtown, The Quebe Sisters

Rosin up the bow and watch the strings fly. These three female-fronted acts put the swing in western music. Kristyn Harris handles all the tricky syncopations with her guitar. Hot Club of Cowtown whizzes along with frontwoman Elana James’ fiddle leading the way. And, The Quebe Sisters have rhythms that just won’t quit. With just the right amount of traction, these women will have you dancing in your seats and begging for more.

Hosted by Charlie Seemann.

From the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

.....

PLAYLIST

Kristyn Harris
"Thank Heavens for Dale Evans" (words + music by Lisa Brandenburg + Robin Lynn Macy + Erin Martin)
"Suits Me Fine"
"The Mule Song"
"Wildfire" (words + music by Larry Cansler + Michael Martin Murphey)
"Texas Plains" (words + music by Stuart Hamblen)
"I've Been Everywhere" (words + music by Jeff Mack)

The Quebe Sisters
"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" (words by Sidney Clare + music by Sam H. Stept)
"Timber Trail" (words + music by Tim Spencer)
"Trouble in Mind" (words + music by Richard M. Jones)
"My Love, My Life, My Friend" (words + music by Sophia Quebe)
"A Hundred and Sixty Acres" (words + music by Dave Kapp)
"Lullaby of the Leaves" (words by Joe Young + music by Bernice Petkere)
"Cow Cow Boogie" (words by Benny Carter + Gene De Paul + music by Don Ray)
"Summer of Roses" (words + music by Willie Nelson)
"Speed the Plow Medley: Speed the Plow, Maid Behind the Bar, Temperance Reel" (public domain)
"Buyer's Market" (words + music by Sophia Quebe)

Hot Club of Cowtown
unamed
"When the Bloom is on the Sage" (words + music by Fred Howard + Nat Vincent)
"Hoedown Lowdown" (words + music by Joe Venuti)
"Near Mrs." (words + music by Elana James)
"Red River Valley" (traditional)
"Billy the Kid" (words + music by Whit Smith)
"Buffalo Gals" (tradtional)
"Rodeo Blues" (words + music by Elana James)
"I'm an Old Cowhand" (words + music by Johnny Mercer)
"Dark Eyes" (music based on the melody of Florian Hermann's "Valse Hommage")

.....

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Kristyn Harris
Burleson, TX
Kristyn Harris is a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, and entertainer known for her western swing spin on original and classic songs of the western and rural lifestyle. She is recognized for her powerful voice, swing rhythm guitar chops, songwriting, yodeling, and energetic stage presence, as well as the passion and authenticity that she puts into each performance. Kristyn tours across the United States and internationally, both as a solo artist and with various band configurations. Outside of music, her time is spent with her herd of Black Angus cattle, working her newest colt, or trick riding. Her most recent album, A Place to Land, was awarded Outstanding Western Album for 2020 by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Hot Club of Cowtown
Austin, TX
Hot Club of Cowtown has been stunning audiences worldwide for over 20 years with its trademark blend of hot jazz, western swing, Gypsy music, American songbook standards, and music from 1930s Paris and the American West. Elana James (fiddle, vocals) grew up in a musical family, and early on spent summers wrangling and packing horses on Colorado ranches. She discovered western swing with bandmate Whit Smith (guitar, vocals), whose first memories include folk and acoustic blues music. Joining them is Sacramento-born slap bass player Zack Sapunor. Together, they keep dancers on their toes as the band virtuosically improvises its way through what The Independent calls “that crossroads where country meets jazz and chases the blues away.”

The Quebe Sisters
Dallas, TX
With over 15 years of touring to date, The Quebe Sisters have delivered their authentic triple fiddle and three-part harmony sound to the concert halls and festivals of North America and Europe. Grace, Sophia, and Hulda Quebe front an innovative, progressive western swing band of archtop guitar, upright bass, fiddles, and sibling harmony. The Dallas-based five-piece group, which also includes bandmates Simon Stipp and Daniel Parr, presents a unique Americana blend of western swing, jazz-influenced swing, country, Texas-style fiddling, and western music. Innovation has led the sisters to channel the musical connection between danceability and emotiveness, combining old sounds with new feelings and old feelings with new sounds. It’s not nostalgia that drives the band as purveyors of western swing, but the aspiration to take the music back to its roots and sustain the spirit of swing.

.....

Filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center’s Laurena Moren Theater on Feb. 4, 2023.

Made possible by Nevada Gold Mines and by the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

.....