FEATURING: Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Andy Hedges, Ismay, Lara Manzanares.

Bask in an evening of well-grounded vibrations. Texas folkster Andy Hedges and living legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott may have an eye toward the sky, but their songs land right here on earth. Ismay's music explores the connection and freedom that grows from the soil. New Mexican songwriter and storyteller Lara Manzanares evokes la tierra with sounds rooted in generations of música buena. Drawing cowboy connections across genres and across lands, these musical acts promise to connect ground and clouds, head and heart.

Hosted by Mike Beck.

From the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

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PLAYLIST

Lara Manzanares
"Indita del Río Puerco" (words by Shebana Coelho & Nasario García, music by Jordan Wax)
"The Big Man (Veritas Atrox)"
"Little Body"
"Yo Soy de Ti"

Ismay
"The Dove, the Shrew, & The Raccoon"
"The Lonely Stallion"
"The Shearer and the Darby Ram"
"Cow Bingo" (poem by Avery Hellman)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott with Andy Hedges
"Philadelphia Lawyer" (words + music by Woody Guthrie)
"Arthritis Blues" (words + music by Butch Hawes)
"Railroad Bill" (traditional)
"Don't Think Twice" (words + music by Bob Dylan)
"Makin' Merry with John Perry on the Ol' Bar Cross"
"Tying Knots in the Devil's Tail" (words by Gail I. Gardner)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott with Mike Beck + Andy Hedges
"Buffalo Skinners" (traditional)
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Mike Beck
Manhattan, MT
Mike Beck is a professional musician and working cowboy whose songs reflect his experiences in California, Oregon, Montana, and Nevada. Born and raised in Monterey County, California, he studied with legendary horseman Bill Dorrance and now travels the United States and Europe conducting horsemanship clinics and making music. Mike’s mellow sound combines real cowboy experience with a unique blend of western, rock, and Americana styles.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Marshall, CA
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott chose the cowboy way at the age of 14, trading life at home for one on the rodeo circuit. His rough-edged enthusiasm and musical instinct drew the attention of his avowed idol Woody Guthrie, initiating an invaluable, lifelong association. Jack was a good friend of Johnny Cash and inspired the likes of Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger. His love for a good song is equaled only by an abiding respect for his fellow man and a profound contempt for injustice. Ramblin’ Jack has been part of the Gathering for a long time, and he’s been a major influence on many Gathering artists and audience members. This National Medal of Arts recipient and two-time Grammy winner is a truly unique American treasure.

Andy Hedges
Lubbock, TX
Andy Hedges is a songster, reciter, storyteller, guitarist, and collector of cowboy songs and poems. The son of an Italian schoolteacher and a rodeo-cowboy-turned-preacher, Andy grew up in the small community of Tokio, Texas, where his family paid rent on an old farmhouse by looking after a few head of cattle. It was there that Andy fell in love with traditional music by listening to his father’s cassettes of cowboy songs. Andy’s vast and varied repertoire includes classic cowboy poetry recitations, obscure cowboy songs, Dust Bowl ballads, and blues. His podcast, Cowboy Crossroads, features in-depth interviews with fellow musicians and poets. Andy has performed many times with folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and the duo’s performance at the 60th Newport Folk Festival was named one of the “10 Best Things We Saw” by Rolling Stone.

Ismay
Petaluma, CA
Melding the experience of taming wild horses, escaping wildfires, and birthing lambs with the mystical soundscape that nature inspires, Ismay has sharpened their musical craft over the last decade while living and working on the family ranch in Northern California. With Songs of Sonoma Mountain, their debut album recorded in the century-old family barn, Ismay realized a contemplative vision blending field recordings and intricate melodies with live, inventive composition. Growing up backstage at their grandfather’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, they were inspired early on by artists such as Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and Hazel Dickens. Ismay represents the collaborative work driven by singer-songwriter Avery Hellman joined by Andrew Allen-Fahlander (guitar, mandolin) and Forrest Marowitz (bass).

Lara Manzanares
Tierra Amarilla, NM
Lara Manzanares is a bilingual singer-songwriter from Northern New Mexico. She grew up singing the traditional New Mexican music of her sheep-ranching childhood, and she composes her own style of music in both English and Spanish. Through a combination of storytelling and songs both playful and sincere, Lara draws on her roots as she sings about love, loss, a sense of place, and her own connection to the land. Her first album, Land Baby, won Album of the Year at the 2018 New Mexico Music Awards. In 2020, she represented New Mexico in the Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America series. She will be joined onstage by bassist Tanya Nuñez and multi-instrumentalist Jordan Wax, members of New Mexico traditional music supergroup Lone Piñon.
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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Western Folklife Center’s G Three Theater in Elko, NV on Feb. 4, 2023.

Made possible 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

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