|
Each year during the second week of July the Academy
of Western Artists Gathering takes place in Fort Worth,
Texas culminating with the Will Rogers Awards at the famed
Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium. The Academy reports that
western music is
the fastest growing genre with an increase of 300% in membership
over the past two years, western album sales up, western
artists gaining more work and a whole new generation of
performers surfacing.
The Academy of Western Artists is a group of people
actively involved in the contemporary cowboy heritage movement.
It aims to promote, preserve and protect the positive values
inherent in the traditions of western arts. It gives recognition
to those who with skill and artistry excel at writing and
performing traditional and contemporary western music and
poetry. It also holds in the highest regard those that manufacture
the gear of the cowboy trade, and those working cowboys
who compete in the sport of ranch rodeo, along with the
time-honoured arts of campfire and chuckwagon cookery.
The AWA has made great developments in promoting the
independent western  artists.
Donna Guffey of The Sisters of The Silver Sage feels that
being a member of the AWA has greatly bolstered their career.
"First of all....we get to meet person to person with
all the great performers and entertainers that we've listened
to for years! But most of all....the AWA has provided us
with a list of radio stations and DJs who have agreed to
play our music! In our part of the country, Bluegrass and
Country Music reigns.....and so it has really been beneficial
to us to have all those wonderful DJs and radio stations
out west playing our CD! The AWA also provides information
on those agencies and businesses that support the performing
artist and his music.....publishers, record labels, chart
activity, playlists. And each year at the convention there
are workshops and seminars that provide useful information
for the artists as well!"
Curly Musgrave is one of the leading performers on the
western scene…." The AWA is
a growing organization, evolving really, and so like any
such process, there are ups and downs. Overall, my sentiments
are quite positive and I feel, within the genre, it has
been of benefit to my career. I think, as time goes on,
there will be a better focus and draw with those 'outside'
the genre to generate interest and move us more toward the
mainstream music audience without losing our identity as
Western performers. That's always a tricky process and requires
the infrastructure that they're trying to get in place.
The award system, while small compared to CMA/ACM standards,
and perhaps skewed in some ways, has given me a number of
awards and some attention, that looks good on resumes and
boost one's stature within the genre. It has also been a
wonderful 'networking' vehicle and allows us to become informed
about goings on within' the genre, assuming they  publish
and publicize a relatively unbiased cross section of information.
Some of my best friends and connections come within the
Western genre."
2004 saw the general public being invited to attend
the AWA convention for the first time and I was trilled
to receive an invitation due to my constant support of western
music through my articles and regular radio show The Western
Hour. This year's convention took place over 9th - 13th
July at the luxurious Doral Tesoro Hotel and Golf Club.
Various activities, workshops, showcases and evening
entertainment was the order of
the weekend. Chuckwagon cookout competitions took place
outside with prizes awarded for the best food and after
the judging; food was available for all to taste. Inside
we found a trade show containing many stalls with goods
for sale including western works of art, CDs, clothing and
fancy goods. Stands could be found representing the Rex
Allen museum in Kansas and the Georgia based Booth Museum.
Throughout the day, artists showcased their music, much
of which is self-penned and cowboy poetry gaining a great
deal of interest. The First Annual Cowboy Poetry/Songwriting
Team Roping Challenge also took place with the teams having
a set theme and five minutes to wrangle words rather than
calves. I had the delight of being invited to be  one
of the five judges, seeing strong competition with the teams
being judged on various aspects and cash prizes awarded.
After the hustle and bustle of the day's activities,
the evening entertainment offered an easy relaxed atmosphere
with special performances from top western swing bands Dave
 Alexander
and the Legends of Western Swing, Bobby Flores, Ted Scanlon
& Desperado, plus a host of AWA members adding to the
weekend's performances. Radio D'J' and presenters added
to the evening entertainment by producing a radio format
with their own special guests being interviewed and performing
on stage. I was thrilled to take part in this format together
with my own guests, western singer/songwriters Jean Prescott
and Fletcher Jowers along with the five-piece band The Texas
Trailhands joining me on stage.
The five-day event built to a climax with the
prestigious the annual Will Rogers Awards Show…conceived
to promote awareness of the depth and breadth of the
organisation as well as highlighting the year's outstanding
group and individual works. The winners of each category
received a statuette of Will Rogers, with a total of
twenty-seven awards being given to the winning artists, DJs
and radio stations.
Without new blood showing interest in any genre of music,
the music will surely fade  away
completely. Young talent is encouraged to come into the
western fold in Fort Worth through the Cowtown Opry Buckaroo
Club; a western talent-school meeting monthly for children
under 17 years run by Janet McBride, Devon Dawson and Dale
"Sourdough" Myres. Started in 1997, The Buckaroos
is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation,
performance, and promotion of Texas heritage music.  Great
strides are taken to instil the traditions of western music
into the little Buckaroos and keep the memory of Patsy Montana…the
greatest of female western performer blossoming, with kids
coming from far and wide to learn to yodel just like Patsy
did. In conclusion I would just like to thank the organisers
Sandra Herl and Bobby Newton for their kind invitation and
the hard work they put into keeping western music, western
poetry and other art forms alive and kicking and giving
inspiration to a new bread of up and coming western artists
and performers.
2004 Academy of Western Artists
(performer) winners
1-Entertainer of the Year-Sons of the San
Joaquin
2-Rising Star-Kata Hay
3-Cowboy Poetry-Male Andy Hedges
4-Cowboy Poetry Female Doris Daley
5-Cowboy Poetry Book: Born to This Land, Red Steagall/Skeeter
Hager
6-Cowboy Poetry Album: Sons Of A Gun Stew, Dennis
Gaines
7-Cowboy Poetry Humor-R.J. Vandygriff
8-Western Music Male Vocalist-Brenn Hill
9-Western Music Female Vocalist-Belinda Gail
10-Western Music Yodeler-Wylie Gustafson
11-Western Music Duo/Group-Sisters of the Silver Sage
12-Western Music Song-Paint Her Real-Donnie Blanz/Melinda
Bailey
13-Western Music Album/CD-Let's Put Western Back In
Country-Joni Harms
14-Western Swing Male Vocalist-Dave Alexander
15-Western Swing Female Vocalist-Christine Mims
16-Western Swing Duo/Group-Desperados
17-Western Swing Song-We're Proud DubYa's From Texas, Cindy
Walker/Shelly Lee Alley, Jr.
18 Western Swing Album-Sweet Sentimental Dreams-Ginny
Mac
19 Western Swing Instrumentalist-Bobby Flores
|
