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Don Edwards is one of the best-known of today's singers
of cowboy music, but what drew his interest to this style
of music in the first place. While he takes a break from
performing at Red Steagall's Cowboy Gathering in Fort Worth,
Texas we sit and talk  about
the traditions of cowboy and country musician, with the sounds
of the Tarantula steam engine blowing its whistle in the
background.
"It's something near and dear to my heart……I've
always done it and always loved it. Cowboy songs are some
of the first songs that I ever learned. Basically when I
started my career I played what would be considered folk
music as apposed to the main stream as they say. Cowboy
music had always been a part of it. As long as there was
a coffeehouse for me to play, or a street corner to play
on, or something, you could always sing old cowboy songs
or old country music. Back in those days country music meant
rural music. So that was pretty much what it was, but now
the terminology changes."
Although we know Don Edwards as a performer, he has turned
your hand to songwriting on occasion? "You know, I'm not really a songwriter per se!
There's an old saying no-one uses anymore, but it best describes
people like me….is a songster. We were known for the songs
that we know…for the repertoire. But songwriting is part
of it, but not the main thing. There is a lot of what you
would call singer/songwriters who primarily will sing their
own material all the time. But I use my own material, but
not exclusively. I do write. I want to just dis-classify
myself from people like my  friends
Tom Russell, Ian Tyson and people like that. You know what
I'm saying! (laughs) They are the best!!! We sing cowboy
songs, but not exclusively. We are coming from a westerner's
mentality, not necessarily singing about cowboys and things
like that, but generally from that philosophical mind-set."
The type of venue to find this sort of artiste is in
the small to medium sized concert halls and especially in
the US concerts are taking place in old restored motion
picture theatres that have been transferred into venues
for performing arts. Playing occasionally with his own band,
Don can be seen playing from just a solo artiste accompanying
himself on  guitar,
to a trio or even with as many as eight pieces. Don says;
"Primarily I'm a troubadour…I'm a minstrel and that
is what I am! I'm a solo artiste for the most part playing
guitar and banjo, depending on the type of job that we do.
We do quite a lot of western swing, which I've been known
to do too. Naturally I'll play with a larger band, but we
do play with a trio and do a lot of the old time stuff.
Lately I've been working with Peter Rowan who was a
great bluegrass icon. He's a good buddy and we've been friends
for a long, long time. He's always wanted to do a record
together. Sort of like the old Chisholm Trail meets Tin
Pan Alley. This melding of the earliest recorded music of
cowboy songs…when they were recorded for the first time.
We talked about it for many, many years and then finally
last year we got together with a couple of other friends
of ours that showed interest and wanted to play…I was quite
flattered by fact that Norman Bake and Tony Rice wanted
to play on this record with us. So we did this thing called
High Lonesome Cowboy. It's been quite successful so far.
It's been only out since September (2002) and it's been
doing great!
It's getting some good feedback. It's the older cowboy
stuff, where the older  cowboy
stuff came into the recording era. When it did they took
some of this old cowboy stuff and they kinda made it a little
more for a larger audience and mixed it up with a little
bit of Tin Pan Alley attitude. It was kinda neat in the
20's & 30's and this is how this album feels.
This is another dimension of the music. This is where
the music was in that time-period. We had a bunch of stuff
and just started rattling off songs…Pete singing a nine
and a half minute version of "Midnight On The Stormy
Deep". What was it…"The Sailors Complaint Of His
Unkind Wife Of Wapping" or something like that….this
is what that long title was. Then there was cowboy songs
made from that. The "Trail To Mexico", you get
"I'm Going To Leave Old Texas Now", you get certain
versions of "Barbara Alan"  and
they are all the same tune….and all these songs were based
on it. As you know being from the old country…this is who
knew all that! Pete and I were originally going to do a
whole album of all the same tune but different songs and
with different tempos, but he said…no they wouldn't get
it. (laughs)
As it were, we've got another volume of it ready to record. We
had so much stuff that we said we have to save some. Because the
last two songs on the album are almost 15 minutes long. (laughs) We
said…it sure ain't going to get no air-play and we just all
laughed an said…that's good!
I always knew…since the cowboy gatherings have started, you
have a built- in audience. It's what they call the old saying…preaching
to the choir, you know. (laughs)
But over in the bluegrass field, is the only form of music now
that still maintains its loyalty to the tradition. So we said…why
not that audience? They don't know that they like it yet…they
haven't heard it…but they're gonna!!! (laughs). They are gonna
like it and they have. We are so fortunate to have that
happen."
Bluegrass has made great strides in drawing interest
to that genre of music over the past couple of years (Dolly
Parton's albums The Grass Is Blue and Little Sparrow, plus
the momentum of O Brother Where Art Thou). I interviewed
Ricky  Skaggs
a couple of years ago prior to him coming over for the one-day
festival at London Arena and he said that they was going
to be a new explosion of bluegrass music on the scene. The
traditional sound of country music is slowly making a comeback.
"It will come back…absolutely. And especially through
those artistes that are true players, like the Ricky Skaggs,
like Patty Loveless, like Vince Gill, like Marty Stuart,
people like that who are real players and love the music.
They are always going to be there, while some of the others
sort of fade away unfortunately, because they are in it
for the money. Somebody like myself…I've always stayed with
traditional music. I'm probably showing that I'm not a good
businessman. In other words I didn't care about having a
hit record! That didn't enter my mind. I'm not saying…Oh
gee it would be nice if it happened, but it wasn't my motive
to do that. I couldn't care about that, because I have to
care about what I do, or I couldn't do it…in other words
I can't fake it!!! Some people can do that. They can go
up there and turn themselves into someone else for an hour
and make all this money, then go back to what they like
doing.
What it really comes down to is that you have to love
what you do. The money can be here and it can be gone. And
I as a somewhat borderline cynic, (laughs) I guess I can
say…what am I doing this for? Well you're doing it because
you love it! And because one person just walked up and said
I really love this music. And you say…this is why I'm doing
it! It is just one of those things where you try not to
be the next fad going on. You can go crazy trying to find
what everybody likes. Because you don't want to appeal to
everybody, because that mass appeal is  synonymous
with homogenisation. That's just like when you were talking
about O Brother Where Art Thou. It's a wonderful thing if
they don't try to water it down and make it mainstream.
Because that is what was so wonderful about it!"
Don has long been a big campaigner for keeping traditional
music alive. "You don't necessarily just have to do
the old songs. You can perpetuate it Tom Russell, Ian Tyson…people
like that. But you also have to stay and keep the tradition
alive. Because it's like anything else in history…you can't
know where you're going until you know where you've come
from. That's what we've found in my travels over the years,
in places like England, Ireland, in Scotland and in Germany
and Holland…all these places that I've been, they seem to
be so much steeped in tradition, because they've had so
much more practice at it. It's one of those things where
more and more people here are beginning to find out…ahh,
there must be something to this stuff. They start to look
for something real, especially in times of tragedy. You
know the worse time in our country's, usually comes out
as the best of the people. Whether it be musicians, be artistes,
be regular old people just getting tough and hunkering down.
That's how that happens."
This has shown itself with the tragedy of September
11th. "Something good always comes around to counteract
it. I've noticed at places where we have played before that
people are not just a fan as such. I hate to use that word
a  lot
of the time…fan…it means fanatic, but not so much that.
What I've been very humbled by it their reverence. I mean
it almost like a religious experience for people. There
is somebody out there doing this. And I think it is because
they want to identify with the roots. You Know…where did
I come from…why am I here…what am I doing here? Through
music…it is a good vehicle to carry it. Because a lot of
time some people don't read, some people don't have an attention
span for storage. Sometimes through music it transcends
and some people say…oh yeah I get it!!! I'm glad of how
it's been going, because I've been professionally 40 years.
(laughs) And you know…I've seen a lot of thing come and
they go, but I've never changed anything. I've written new
material and things like that…I've tried to perpetuate it
and I've written things that would be considered current.
But generally what I do is stay with what I do and my main
objective is to bring about an awareness with the people
and the land and the reason for this particular gathering.
It's the farmer and the rancher…people like that. Throughout
history we've found out what happens family farmers and
family ranchers. When huge agriculture comes in and business,
it takes over these people. And we try to sing about their
trials and tribulations and things that they can relate
to. But primarily we are trying to sing for just the folks.
And that is where it is all at. Just good folks"!!!
Don had somewhat of a diversion into acting just a few
years ago. Perhaps readers may remember the character Smokey
in Robert Redford's very  successful
movie The Horse Whisperer. I asked Don how his came about.
(laughing) "Yeh…That was a fluke!!! Well…you never
know where your music's going! Mr Redford was a fan of my
music, through a gentleman I had met previously…the producer
of that movie, Patrick Markey. He introduced my music to
Mr Redford and subsequently he said that is exactly what
I'm looking for. He said I wanted a cowboy singer and they
thought I wanted more country. He said no I've got a country
singer in Alison Moorer…who is just wonderful you know.
But he wanted a cowboy singer….you know a guy who can play
the part of an old cowboy who has been around the ranch
a long time and a kind of a singer. You know…I considered
my character being some sort of a Sam Galloway and The Last
Of The Troubadours by O.Henry. I don't know if anyone out
there has heard that story, but they can look that up!!!
And that was what my character kinda was...it was a wonderful
experience.
We spent 14 weeks in Montana in the middle of the summer,
which was just wonderful. And Mr Redford was just as nice
as could be…just a real down to earth guy and all the actors
and actresses were. The really neat thing about that movie
was not only being in a major motion picture, but I just
fell into it. It wasn't one of those deals where I go seeking
this out…it just fell in my lap. I mean there I was minding
my own business, singing my cowboy songs and going around
the country…going around the world, what have you. And they
say like…Mr Redford would like you to read for this part.
I go like…well OK…I took it with an attitude…well I don't
have anything else to do!!! 'Cos you don't want to get pumped
up for something and then not have it happen, so you put
up a little barrier. I went to  Santa
Monica, California and read for this thing and they said,
Mr Redford will call you and let you know. Because, he looks
at every actor, he looks at every extra, every single thing
he touches, he does it…a perfectionist! I was very polite,
but said yeah, right sure they're going to call me. Low
and behold…on the phone he goes hi Don, this is Bob. I go…Bob…who
the hell is Bob??? He goes Robert Redford…this is BOB, can
you believe it…and I'm going ohhhh this is really cool.
He said…I really like what you do. I'd like you to play
the part of Smokey.
Originally, I'm going to have to tell you that one of
those songs was in its entirety in its original cut, but
the film was four hours long. So they had to cut it to some
extent. There were two songs that stayed in the movie that
I was totally happy about, even though it was just a short
segment. I had two scenes cut out which were two bigger
scenes that I had…but Hey that happens. I'm not an actor
and it all happens occasionally, but you know I was just
tickled to death…actually I felt it was a lot of fun to
be with these people. Sam Neill
and I would sit in the corner and just visit….you know how
you do, you just wait, it was like being in the army you
know! It was just this great rapport with the actors, because
we are all sort of equals, because we were all I the same
environment, out there in Montana on this ranch, so nobody's
ego was advantageous at all to any degree. It was just a
wonderful experience to do that and I don't regret a minute
of it. It's brought about a bit of awareness too, strangely
enough, even as small as it was. But the funny thing about
that film was that I would have been considered as an extra
with speaking part to some extent, if it had been a larger
cast. The unusual thing about it, was that there were only
nine principles in that movie and I was one of the nine.
So I was considered a principle that means…I get a house,
and I get a car and all this stuff. I'm going ohhh this
is very cool for an old cowboy singer from Texas. This is
very cool, I love it!!!"
The ironic thing about this is that Robert Redford just wanted
a cowboy singer in the movie and for Don to be treated in this was
just goes to show the respect Redford had for the music genre that
Don has dedicated his life to.
"I think he did a very good job with the film. He was very
particular with every little detail of  the
film. I was very sceptical that they would have Hollywooded
it up and it would have not been real. But he painstakingly
took hours with people like Buck Brandenan and the wranglers
and the cowboys and all the people that working on the movie.
And he wanted every little detail right. I was very impressed
with that and very respectful of his attitude and that he
went about it that way…it was a thrill.
Robert Redford was not the only cowboy actor that Don
Edwards has worked with. Rex Allan was the last of the singing
silver-screen cowboys. Sadly Rex died in a strange accident
with his own car in 2002 around 12 months after making a
CD of cowboy songs with Don titled 'A Pair To Draw'.
"That was a labour of love, I'll tell you!!! Snuff
Garrett had been a huge Hollywood producer in the 60's -
70's, but had been a huge fan and friend of the cowboy stars;
Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Rex Allan and it was through him
that I got to know Rex personally. I'd always loved him
and loved his singing…I'd loved all those guys. These both
sides of that world! There's the real cowboys like at this
gathering, the working cowboy who is primarily a cowboy
who sings. I do the western as well, which I consider Rex
Allan and Roy Rogers, Gene Autry they were the western part
of the cowboy music. Snuff asked me….do you want to make
a record with Uncle Rex??? I said… you got to be kidding
me! He said no! Uncle  Rex
said that he'd do it with you. I said, wow that's a compliment
that he'd even consider it. Low and behold we go into a
studio in Mesa, Arizona for five days and it was the best
time…I'm telling you…I just loved it. It was not just the
songs we were singing, we were just picking these songs
off the top of our head…we had no rhyme or reason! We went
in there and Rex would say Donald you know such and such
and I'd say yeah. And for that entire five days, Rex Allan
could not figure out how me and three other musicians that
backed us up, were so into this music and knew it. He kept
turning round to look at Rich O'Brien and say who's that
guitar player Don? I'd say that's Rich O'Brien, then Snuff
would say that's Rich O'Brien Uncle Rex. He'd say that's
who he is, damn, he's good!!! But he'd keep saying it all
the time! He just couldn't make the connection that there
were people actually carrying on what he had already done…he'd
been there, done that, you know what I mean. In the movies,
he was on WLS in Chicago, he told us all those wonderful
stories about being on the National Barn Dance. The guy
that was recording it…Clark Rigsby at Tempest Recording
Studios at Mesa, Arizona…he unbeknown to any of us, kept
a machine going the entire time we were there. He's got
all those stories that Uncle Rex told. It is just unbelievable,
because we had the best time. It was like we had the clocks
going and we're just sitting there talking. Rex is telling
all these unbelievable great stories you know! Then he'd
just pop up with a song…so you know "Bridle Hanging
On The Wall"?…Yeah, that's Carson Robinson…How the
hell do you know that?!! This is what he would do…I'd say
Uncle Rex this is all I listen to…it's you guys that is
all I go for. I said, after 1953 I don't know what happened
in the world!!! I couldn't care less, this is where I am
in my life. So he'd just laugh….let's go have a smoke Donald.
He'd go light-up another cigarette…it was the best time.
You say  "highlights
of your life" that's one of them….the Last Singing
Cowboy. Just picture that. He is the last singing cowboy
and god rest his soul, he died a year later.
To do that album with Rex was just one of the thrills of my
life! I can ramble on for ever, but I can't enough about what an
experience that was. O actually be a fan of somebody on the screen
when you're a kid and then here you are in this recording studio
sitting across the microphone from him and we're singing these songs
together. Every one of them came about like…do you know this…yeah
I know that…or this reminds me do you know this one. And as it
were, as it started to take a picture, it was kind of spooky…the
songs that were in it, to think that Uncle Rex passed away a year
later…that's what's kinda spooky about it….like "Empty
Saddles" and "The Bridle Hanging On The Wall". I got
choked up when he started saying…do you mind if I say cocoa…there
were some moving moments in that deal. It was fun, I really loved
it."
The year before this project Don had payed tribute to
Gene Autry for his 90th Birthday.
"We were friends with all the people at the Gene
Autry museum in Burbank, California. They called and wanted
us to come out for the festivities for his 90th birthday.
I said yeah, I'll be there in a minute…Johnny Cash and everyone
was there for that. I thought that we'd be a little bold
and say…do you think we could record this? He said…Well,
I think that it might be a little hectic over there at the
 gala
event. But if you want to do it like a day before we can
let you have the Wells Fargo Theatre and well have a show…let
people come for a concert and record a couple of them. I
said…gee that would be wonderful, lets do that. Well, I'd
be darned…we went down there and I did all those Gene Autry
songs. That was paying tribute to a guy…a lot of people
wouldn't do this, but some do. Growing up, he was one of
my idols musically and in the movies too… he was another
one like Rex…a hero of mine! But he had a huge catalogue
of recordings, more so than any other singing cowboy. Gene
Autry sang blues man!!! That's how far Autry went! We did
just like the older stuff. We didn't do stuff like "Rudolf
The Red Nose Reindeer", stuff that was a gimmee you
know! We did the older stuff. The only thing we did, was
a little version of "Back In The Saddle" and I
had to do "Silver Headed Daddy Of Mine". It was
his first major hit record. We did that, but basically we
did everything that was more or less obscure. We did that
and kept our fingers crossed. Gene said…I really like that!
I said ohhhh great! What if he'd said he hated it. (laughs)
Oh man…that would have been horrible! But it was another
thrill, to be able to do that and have him sitting there.
Oh man, that is Gene Autry!"
post script
In the second week of January 2003 following this interview
I received an e-mail from Don Edwards wife Kathy to inform
me of the prestigious accomplishment of a Grammy Nomination
for Best Traditional Album - High Lonesome Cowboy.
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