FEATURING: Dom Flemons, Hot Club of Cowtown.

The chemistry of this hard-swinging trio and hard-singing songster is undeniable. Hot Club of Cowtown is a classic western swing combo with a beyond-classic sound, melding the strains of Elana James’ stellar fiddling, Whit Smith’s virtuosic guitar playing, and Jake Erwin’s timeless bass slapping into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. And Dom Flemons blends folk mastery, blues prowess, and country dexterity into a compound beyond compare. By nourishing their musical roots, the two acts that share this bill grow new musical life full of substance and pizzazz.

Hosted by Lori Gilbert.

From the 36th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

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PLAYLIST

Dom Flemons
"Ol' Cindy Gal" (music by Joe Thompson)
"Charmin' Betsy" (traditional)
"Black Woman" a.k.a. "Wild Ox Moan" (words & music by Vera Ward Hall)
"Steel Pony Blues" (words & music by Dom Flemons)
"Goodbye Old Paint" (words & music by Charley Willis)
"He's a Lone Ranger" (words & music by Dom Flemons)
"There's a Brown Skin Girl Down the Road Somewhere" (music by Eck Robertson)

Hot Club of Cowtown
"Stay a Little Longer" (words & music by Bob Wills & Tommy Duncan)
"Shame on You" (words & music by Spade Cooley)
"Li'l Liza Jane" (traditional)
"Rodeo Blues" (words & music by Elana James)
"Caveman" (words & music by Whit Smith)
"Along the Navajo Trail" (words & music by Dick Charles & Eddie DeLange & Larry Markes)
"Farr-Away Blues"( music by Hugh Farr & Karl Farr)
"Before the Time of Men" (words & music by Elana James)
"Billy the Kid" (words & music by Whit Smith)
"Big Balls in Cowtown" (words & music by Hoyle Nix)

Dom Flemons and Hot Club of Cowtown
"My Baby Said Yes" (words & music by Tampa Red)
"Take Me Back to Tulsa" (words & music by Bob Wills & Tommy Duncan)
"Avalon" (words by Al Jolson & Buddy DeSylva, music by Vincent Rose)

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Dom Flemons
Silver Springs, MD
Dom Flemons is an award-winning musician, singer-songwriter, and slam poet. Carrying on the songster tradition, Flemons strives to mix traditional music forms with a contemporary approach to create new sounds that appeal to wider audiences. He began his career as a performer in the Arizona music scene, where he produced 25 albums for singer-songwriters and slam poets in Phoenix. In 2005, Flemons co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops; he released his first solo album, Prospect Hill, in 2014. His most recent album, Black Cowboys, was released in 2018 through Smithsonian Folkways.

Hot Club of Cowtown
Austin, TX
Hot Club of Cowtown has been stunning audiences worldwide for over 20 years. Their trademark blend of hot jazz, western swing, Gypsy music, American songbook standards, and music from 1930s Paris and the American West, is unmistakable. Vocalist and classically trained violinist Elana James is a sometime-Montana and Colorado horse wrangler. She discovered Western swing with bandmate Whit Smith (vocals, guitar), whose first memories also include folk and acoustic blues music. Jake Erwin (bass) completes the trio with tight vocal harmonies and jaw-dropping double bass lines.

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This show was filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center's Laurena Moren Theater on Feb. 1, 2020.

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

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