Paul wants to hear you say it with some swagger … “ELKO!” Paul Zarzyski performs "Why We Like Elko" during the "Straight Chutin' Champions" show at the 36th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Paul Zarzyski
Great Falls, MT
Paul Zarzyski, veteran of 34 consecutive Gatherings and recipient of the 2005 Montana Governor’s Arts Award for Literature, has written poetry for two-thirds of his lifetime, so far, on this planet alone. Even before his short 15-year stint as a rodeo bareback bronc rider, he wrote, unbeknownst to him at the time, Rodeo Poetry, as his approach to the page has always been to “take that extra tuck and let the lingo buck.” Along with his ten books and 6 spoken-word CDs, Paul, thanks to Ian Tyson’s encouragement in the early Elko years, has co-written numerous songs, most recently with Hal Cannon of 3hattrio and Gail Steiger. His latest book and companion double-CD are both titled Steering With My Knees—which Paul deems “thee definitive metaphorical image of living a wild-West life as a wild writer writing/riding wildly into the far-out wilds of the Cowpoke Cosmos mind.”

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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Western Folklife Center’s G Three Bar Theater in Elko, NV, on Feb. 1, 2020.

Made possible by KNPB 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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