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In August 1988 a group of western music
performers and fans met in Las Vegas, Nevada and organised
the non-profit making Western Music Association. The purpose
was to reserve and promote the traditional and contemporary
music of the American West and American Cowboy. Originally
started as an Arizona non-profit corporation the WMA has
now expanded to several State and regional chapters and
is among the forces that are responsible for the current
popularity of western music around the world. The WMA has
a Board of  Directors
made up of elected volunteers and also an Advisory Board
drawn from a wide team of performers, western music fans,
music business people, ranchers and working cowboys.
The WMA encourages professional growth
for the individual performing members and the development of
young up-and-coming performers from the earliest age. There
is a lot more to the Western Music Association than
promoting individual performers or groups and their music.
Their Educational Outreach Program was started as an
important way to acquaint students with the musical heritage
of the American West, from traditional trail songs, through
the era of the silver-screen cowboy, to contemporary western
songwriting. WMA members take western music, history and
literature to the children of various communities to teach
them about the American West's history and heritage that all
Americans can call their own.
An annual festival incorporating the
WMA Awards takes place each November over a five-day period
and for the past few years has been held in Albuquerque,
New Mexico. The work of the Annual Western Music  Festival
committee and other WMA activities are accomplished with
many hours of volunteer dedication and sponsor contributions.
In 2006 I had the greatest pleasure in
accepting a kind invitation to attend the event that was
held at the prestigious Hotel Albuquerque situated in the
Old Town. Several venues were set-up within the vast ground
floor of the hotel to facilitate the many events taking
place. Wednesday started things off with a songwriter's
college where budding songwriter were offered the once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to learn and hone their skills from top western
music songwriters such as Curly Musgrave, Donnie Blanz,
Juni Fisher and Dave Stamey. The event proper started on
Thursday when workshops took place, vendors set-up their
stalls along with music on stage throughout the day in the
exhibition hall. Other specialist programming included a
harmony and a yodelling contest with certificates going
to the winners, plus a discussion of Western Music in B-Western
Films. A panel comprising of (historians) O.J. Sykes and
Boyd Magers along with Marilyn Tuttle (Mrs Wesley Tuttle),
Sharon Willing (Mrs Foy Willing - Riders Of The Purple Sage),
Hal Spencer (son of Tim Spencer -Sons Of The Pioneers) and
Sherry Bond (daughter of Bobby Bond) took questions from
the audience. The evening saw a whole host of artists taking
part in a Toast and Jam Tribute Concert to the Sons Of The
Pioneers.
Friday continued with numerous concerts
within the exhibit hall and two other venues. More workshops
took  place
including cowboy poetry, marketing and packaging material
for radio airplay and Youth Track workshops offering advice
to developing young artists. Friday also saw a luncheon
and the Awards Show take place with all of the usual categories
for group, male and female vocalists, song, album and songwriter
of the year etc., being presented with a fine glass trophy
with the recipients name and WMA logo emblazed prominently.
There were fourteen categories in all and a full list of
winners can be found at the WMA website. Just a handful
of recipients included Belinda Gail and Curly Musgrave -
Traditional Duo/Group, Juni Fisher - Female Vocalist, Dave
Samey - Male Vocalist, Sons Of The San Joaquin - Traditional
Album (for Way Out Yonder) and Song of the Year went to
R.W. Hampton "For The Freedom" a song R.W. wrote
with regards to the events currently taking place in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Liz Anderson (mother of country singer
Lynn Anderson) was also honoured with a special presentation
for her contributions to songwriting for county and western
music. Merle Haggard recorded "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive",
"(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers", "The
Worse Is Yet To Come" and "This Town's Not Big
Enough" in the mid-60's. Lynn Anderson and her band
performed her mother's music as part of the ceremony, and
the Sons Of The San Joaquin brought the luncheon to a close
with a concert of their own three-part close harmony performance.
Friday evening saw a whole host of performers
on stage for the Barn Dance Broadcast hosted by local western
radio broadcaster Rick Huff and Hugh McLlennan. The show
was very much in the form of WSM's Grand Ole Opry and the
WLS National Barn Dance broadcasts. To bring the evening's
entertainment to a close, western singer Michael Martin
Murphey performed his Lone Cowboy Campfire Concert as a
fund-raiser for the WMA. Murph (as he is popularly known)
does a lot of benefit concerts for worthy causes. In April
Murph and a host of western artists staged a sell-out concert
in aid of ranchers and fire fighters when the worst ever
wildfires swept through the Texas Panhandle (north-west
Texas).
Saturday saw very much the same as previous
days with performances in the various venue set-ups within
 the
hotel. A silent action for numerous western items and memorabilia
plus a raffle for a Martin guitar also took place. The evening
featured a grand dinner followed by entertainment by many
western artists taking to the stage and eagerly aided and
abetted by Wyoming radio presenters Andy & Jim Nelson
with their hilarious brand of comedy directed at anybody
and everyone. This sensational evening was brought to a
close with a swing dance to the music of local band the
Curio Cowboys.
This brought us to Sunday morning and
the Cowboy Church & Gospel Show with many of the
previous days entertainers taking part and followed by a
survivor's lunch, before everyone packed up and made their
way home.
The WMA annual festival and awards show
ran smoothly and efficiently once again and an appealing
experience. I'd just like to thank membership director
Martha Short for the invitation along with Doug & Betty
Carter and Jim & Ann Anderson for their wonderful
hospitality during my stay in New Mexico and Texas. The
WMA's own quarterly Western Way magazine is the only
professional magazine dedicated to the promotion of western
music. It preserves the stories and songs of western music
performers from the past and gives voice to the current crop
of songwriters and musicians. Articles about the music
heritage are published side-by-side with reviews of new
recordings and information about cowboy gatherings, concerts
and festivals. Check out the WMA website http://www.westernmusic.org/
Keep Riding High……Graham Lees
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