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Western
Folklife Center T H E A R T A N D C U L T U R E O F T H E A M E R I C A N W E S T |
Voices of the West
" 'Varied' is surely the word for it. Western voices do not sing cowboy songs only."- Charles Kuralt (referring to Voices of the West), CBS Sunday Morning
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Western Folklife Center
Founding Director Hal Cannon, producing Voices of the West radio. Photo by Teresa Jordan. |
In September 1998, The Savvy Traveler, public radio's favorite travel show, announced a major new collaboration with The Western Folklife Center to enhance its coverage of the American West with The Open Road. The regular radio series will bring listeners along, as husband and wife team Hal Cannon and Teresa Jordan search for the authentic spirit of familiar destinations such as Yellowstone, the Big Island of Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Dakota's Badlands, the Little Big Horn, the Great Salt Lake, Alaska's Inside Passage, and outback Nevada.
Voices of the West Radio began in December 1995 with the national broadcast of A Cowboy Christmas (to order A Cowboy Christmas and other recordings, just go to The Cowboys' Store).
A Cowboy Christmas
This program weaves together poignant reflections, children's stories,
and holiday music with a western flavor. Buck Ramsey and his sisters sing
a specially composed musical Christmas card; children from a one-room school
in Ruby Valley, Nevada, read their Christmas lists. Segments include well-known
cowboys: Baxter Black reading "Rudolph's Night Off," Tex Ritter singing
"Christmas Carols by the Old Corral," and more.
New Year's Day
Celebrate the New Year with western toasts, New Year's resolutions,
reflections on renewal, and wonderful music.
St. Patrick's Day
How does the lush emerald greenness of Ireland stay in the hearts of
westerners 100 years after emigration to the American West? In this show,
meet Kevin Shannon from the copper mines of Montana, who says that when
Ireland has a cold, Butte, Montana sneezes. Each year Butte, an old Victorian
mining town, feverishly celebrates St. Patrick's Day.
Memorial Day
What is the legacy of the West? Why do we put so much value on memorializing
our past? Folklorist Carol Edison, a student of the great old stone carvers
that made headstones of western pioneers, will take listeners on a walk
through a western cemetery. Bess Lomax Hawes reminisces about her father
John Lomax and her family's legacy of being the premier collectors of folk
music in America. Utah historian, Will Bagley, strolls along the rutted
tracks still imprinted on the desert sands where the fated Donner party
trekked 150 years ago this year. Look for audio selections from this Voices
of the West Radio show soon.
Veteran's Day
The diversity of veteran's experiences is heard through stories, songs
and poetry in this program. Native American veterans talk about the way
their culture acknowledges veteran warriors; cowboys Rod McQueary and Joel
Nelson read poems about their service in Vietnam and the conflicts between
rural and cowboy values; World War II veterans from Blackfoot, Idaho -
two Japanese-Americans and their friends-play harmonica tunes from the
war. Look for audio selections from this Voices of the West Radio show
soon.
Sponsors of Voices of the West and The Open Road are the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the R. Harold Burton Foundation, and the Utah Travel Council.
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