The Cowboy Way: Riders in the Sky headline Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Published: August 1, 2011
The Grammy-winning Riders in the Sky headline the 26th annual Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Western Music Rendezvous, Aug. 11-14 at the Fergus Center for the Performing Arts and the Yogo Inn in Lewistown.
The second oldest continuously running cowboy poetry gathering in the U.S., produced by the Lewistown Art Center, features 100 poets and pickers, who offer 52 hourly cowboy poetry sessions and western music shows on four separate stages Friday and Saturday at the Yogo Inn, and perform during the Cowboy Jam ’n Dance on Friday.
Riders in the Sky get top billing at Saturday’s stage show, which begins at 6:30 p.m. and includes 10 acts. Keepers of the flame passed on by Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers, brand western music with wacky humor and wit in “The Cowboy Way!”
For 30 years, Ranger Doug, Too Slim, Woody Paul and Joey the Cowpolka King have brought “good beef to hungry people” with their mix of music, stories, jokes and rope tricks. Along the way, they’ve been inducted into the Grand Ol’ Opry and Western Music Association’s Hall of Fame. Tickets are $17.50-$25 to the night show, with VIP tickets available for $50.
The gathering also includes the Western Art and Cowboy Gear Show, Cowboy Church Service on Sunday, the Charlie Russell Chew-Choo Dinner Train, workshops on writing and yodeling, and the 1895 Moline Chuckwagon Living History Exhibit.
Call 800-860-9646 or 535-8721 or visit www.montanacowboypoetrygathering.com.
Bozeman too: Riders in the Sky also appear at the Ellen Theatre in Bozeman, 8 p.m. Aug. 12. Tickets are $12-$26; call 406-585-5885 or visit www.theellentheatre.com.
