Event: Cowboy Weekend
When: Sept 17 & 18, 2010
Where: Ozark Folk Center State Park, Mountain View, AR
Contact Person: Carl Adkins
E-Mail Address: carl.adkins@arkansas.gov
On September 17 & 18, 2010, the Ozark Folk Center is pleased to present Cowboy Weekend, starring Grammy nominated singer-guitarist Don Edwards. Don is continually building a legacy that enriches our vision of the American West. In tales of the day-to-day lives and emotions of those who have lived it, his ballads paint a sweeping landscape of both mind and heart, keeping alive the sights, sounds and feelings of this most American contribution to culture and art. The quality of this cowboy balladeer’s music stems from the fact that he is so much more than a singer. Bobby Weaver of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, summed up Edwards’ importance as “…the best purveyor of cowboy music in America today.”
An historian, author and musicologist, unusually well-versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions, Don brings a rare complement of knowing and loving his craft. Mostly though, there is the soul of a poet; a man who has never succumbed to the temptations of presenting a glamorized or romanticized version of the West. Edwards deals with bad weather, petty motivations, sadness, nostalgia and longing, as parts of the landscape like any other.
The son of a vaudeville magician, Don was aware as a child of a vast cross-section of music from classical to jazz and blues to western swing. Many of those influences enter his own music as they did the music of the West. Edwards was drawn to the cowboy life by the books of Will James and was presented the Will James Society’s “Big Enough Award” which is presented annually to someone who personifies the Western and Cowboy way of life and their achievements. He also loved the “B” Westerns of the silver screen, particularly those featuring “sure-’nuff cowboys” like Tom Mix and Ken Maynard. He taught himself guitar at age ten and in 1961, he got his first professional job as an actor/singer/stuntman at Six Flags Over Texas. In 1964, Don released his first recording on REN Records of Dallas. He has now entertained throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Europe and the Far East.
You will not want to miss Don Edwards on September 17 & 18, 2010. The shows will start at 7:00 p.m. with doors opening at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 for Adults, $6.00 for Children 6 – 12 and season passes are honored.
