FEATURING: Waddie Mitchell, Michael Martin Murphey + the Rio Grande Band, Corb Lund.

What happens when you combine a talented Texan, an accomplished Albertan and a novel Nevadan on stage? A stellar show you don't want to miss. Michael Martin Murphey + the Rio Grande Band's cosmic cowboy sound will bring you out of this world. Waddie Mitchell's poetry will move you to new ways of thinking about the world. And Corb Lund's music will give you a worldly appreciation for the smaller things in life. Poetry and song to take you to the sublime beyond.

From the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

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PLAYLIST

"Truth Comes Out" - Corb Lund
"Story With a Moral" - Waddie Mitchell
"Wildfire" - Michael Martin Murphey + Rio Grande Band (words + music by Larry Cansler + Michael Martin Murphey)
"S Lazy H" - Corb Lund
"For Woody" - Waddie Mitchell (poem by Rod McQueary)
"Road Beyond the View" - Michael Martin Murphey + the Rio Grande Band (words + music by Michael Martin Murphey + Ryan Murphey)
"MC Horses" - Corb Lund (words + music by Ian Tyson)
"Blood, Sweat and Steers" - Waddie Mitchell
"Mountain Storm" - Michael Martin Murphey + the Rio Grande Band (words + music by Michael Martin Murphey + Ryan Murphey)
"Coyotes" - Corb Lund (words + music by Bob McDill)
"Belle of the Ball" - Waddie Mitchell
"I Wanna Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" - Carin Mari (words + music by Patsy Montana)
"Talkin' Veterinarian Blues" - Corb Lund
"Experience of Life" - Waddie Mitchell
"Close to the Land (America's Heartland)" - Michael Martin Murphey + the Rio Grande Band (words + music by Michael Martin Murphey)
"Road to Las Cruces" - Corb Lund (words + music by Ian Tyson)
"Typical" - Waddie Mitchell
"Summer Ranges" - Michael Martin Murphey + the Rio Grande Band (words + music by Michael Martin Murphey)

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Waddie Mitchell
Jiggs, NV
Waddie Mitchell was immersed in the cowboy way of entertaining as a boy on the Nevada ranches where his father worked. The art of spinning tales in rhyme and meter about a rich lifestyle of pushing cows and living off the land came to be called cowboy poetry. Waddie recites the older classics as well as his own works, eloquently expressing moments grand and common, humorous and tragic. In 1985, Waddie helped organize Elko’s first Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Waddie has been inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and has received the Nevada Heritage Award from the Nevada Arts Council. In 2017, he released Cohorts & Collaborators, an album featuring nine top western artists who have co-written songs with Waddie. He keeps busy writing, publishing, and recording.

Michael Martin Murphey
Weatherford, TX
For more than 40 years, Michael Martin Murphey has left an indelible mark on the American music landscape by topping the pop, country, bluegrass, and western charts with hits like “Wildfire,” “Carolina in the Pines,” “Geronimo’s Cadillac,” “Boy From the Country,” “Long Line of Love,” “What’s Forever For,” “Cowboy Logic,” “Cherokee Fiddle,” and more. His songs have been recorded by the likes of Kenny Rogers, John Denver, The Monkees, Roger Miller, and Cher, among others. Murph is a member of the Western Music Hall of Fame and has also been honored by such notable organizations as the Academy of Country Music, the Grammy Awards, the Country Music Association, and the Texas Music Awards. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and serves on the Western Folklife Center’s National Advisory Council.

Corb Lund
Southern AB, Canada
Hailing from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Corb Lund grew up in rural Alberta chasing cattle, riding horseback, and rodeoing. Embracing both his long family lineage of ranchers and rodeo people and his indie rock past, Corb’s music filters a range of cowboy themes through his unique lens–from rough-and-tumble tales of lawless frontier saloons to the somber realities of running a modern family ranch. Most recently, he released Songs My Friends Wrote, featuring his own spin on songs written by close friends and world-class songwriters such as Hayes Carll, Todd Snider, and Canadian country music legend Ian Tyson. Corb spent much of 2022 doing what he loves best–being on the road and writing another album of originals to be released this year.

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

Made possible by The Searle Family Trust--In honor of Bill + Sally Searle 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

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