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"This is more than music. It's theatre and imagery
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Cowboy Celtic NEWS Archives
Hello from Cowboy Celtic. We've had lots going on since we wrote here last, including getting our new Gunsmoke, Whisky and Heather CD finished and holding our two CD release concerts in November 2006. It was the usual wild time, and we thank everyone for coming and making them a great success! We combined the CD release in Turner Valley with our Annual Cowboy Ceilidh, which is an event you all should try to make! The barbeque beef on a bun is always great, and we think the door prizes were better than ever this year! We played at the Monterey Cowboy Festival in December, 2006 - it's always great for us to go to California in the winter, since it's MANY degrees warmer that here in Alberta. Mick Vernon did a super job of putting the festival together, and we had a great time. The songwriters' workshop, hosted by Paul Zarzyski, was one of the highlights. David Wilkie and Denise Withnell headed down to Elko, Nevada in January 2007 for the annual National Cowboy Gathering. It's a chance to visit with great friends, and we had a ball. One of the highlights for Denise was getting to meet and speak French with Patrick and Estelle Laurent, fourth generation ranchers from the Camargue region of southern France. In the Camargue, horsemen are called gardians. The Gitano Family, gypsy musicians from the Camargue, were also part of the 'French contingent', but they live so close to Spain that most of their music was sung in Spanish. It was great! Stephanie Davis' radio show was a scream, and the biggest highlight of all, especially for David, was hearing Johnny Gimble sing and play. What a legend, and what a thrill! His son and granddaughter were in the band, and his granddaughter is a fantastic singer. All in all, it was a memorable visit to Elko. February 2007 brought us to Ellensburg, Washington, for the Spirit of the West Cowboy Gathering. It was another chance to reunite with old friends, and we saw our good buddy RW Hampton, who we hadn't seen in quite a while. That was a wonderful bonus for us. We also had a great visit with our favourite cowboy singers, the Sons of the San Joaquin, and with many more of our favourite people. Unfortunately, I have run out of time to get in more details for now, but I'll be back - and I promise we won't leave it so long this time. We haven't even told you about our symphony shows and the wild ride home from British Columbia through treacherous avalanche areas and snowy whiteouts. And we have some photos that we hope to share soon. So keep well and keep cruisin' through the cowboy cosmos! Denise, David, Keri, Joseph and Tami - Cowboy Celtic PS - More about Tami, our new flute player, soon.
Hello
all of you out there in the Cow Celt Cosmos! It's been a while since we
checked in and let you know what's going on with Cowboy Celtic. There's
LOTS going on! We are recording a brand new CD and are planning to have it
ready for our Annual Cowboy Ceilidh in Turner Valley, Alberta on November
4, 2006. We're going to have another CD release concert the following
Friday, November 10 at the Red Deer Lake United Church (home of the
Reverend Elvis). It's on Highway 22X, south of Calgary and about 4.5 km
west of Spruce Meadows. More info to follow.
We
also have four symphony arrangements done in preparation for our concert
with the Kamloops Symphony in March 2007. Fabulous arrangements by the
infamous Claude Lapalme -- much more info to come on all of this too.
We'll
have our store for CD sales up and running soon too - so please keep
checking in! Our
best to you, Cowboy
Celtic Hi from Washington, D.C. - we have had a great
time at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. It's a fabulous event, and if you are anywhere
near D.C. you might like to check it out. There's lots of music and crafts and
activities, there's a section featuring Alberta, our home province, and it's all free. It
runs through July 11 on the National Mall. Today we are heading to Denver to play the Colorado Irish Festival - Friday night and Saturday during the day. Lots of fun and great acts! The website is www.coloradoirishfestival.org Sunday, July 9, we're playing at Spruce Meadows, the world class show jumping facility just south of Calgary, Alberta. It's their big North American Tournament, the biggest event of the year. We’re playing on the Sun Life Stage from 2:15 to 3:15. Here’s their web site: www.sprucemeadows.com/north_american.htm Check
out our Concerts button for links to web sites and more information. We'll be putting some
pictures up on our website once we get home. Hope you're all doing well out there. Drop us
a note! All
the best, Dave,
Denise, Keri Lynn and Joe
Hello from Cowboy Celtic! It's been far too long since we got on our web site and sent you all a note. From April 6th through 9th, we played at Cowboy Songs and Range Ballads, the annual event organized by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. WOT a great time we had, and we saw old friends and met new ones. We will be updating our site and adding concert dates in the next few days, so will fill you in on some of the fun. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi out there! We are in the final stages of gearing up for our 10th anniversary Cowboy Ceilidhs this weekend - Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22, and the countdown is on. Although the Saturday show is sold out, check with the ticket vendors if that's the only night you can make it. Some people have exchanged their tickets for the Friday show, so you just never know. For the list of ticket vendors, see the link farther down this page on the left. We will be releasing our new instrumental CD this weekend too. It's called The Saloon Sessions, and, along with seven new cuts, it includes a collection of our favourite instrumental music from our previous three CDs (see cover art to the left and down). We call it The Saloon Sessions because it includes many of the tunes that we like to play after our gigs, when we get together in a cowboy saloon or an Irish pub for a pint or two. We have some great door prizes, so be sure to hang onto your ticket stubs. One of the prizes on each night is a beautiful platter, with the barbed wire and steer head design, from Terra Cotta Dudes in Black Diamond. Here's what else to expect if this is your first Cowboy Celtic Ceilidh. We'll have a piper (don't worry if you don't like the bagpipes, he only plays for a short while), an Irish dancer, barbeque beef on a bun (a concession fundraiser for St. George's Anglican Church) and a full bar, complete with a selection of Highland single malt whiskies. What we're really excited about is that Big Rock Brewery is printing our Cowboy Celtic beer label on a few hundred bottles of their beer! So if you're looking for a fun evening, there are still tickets available for the Friday night. We look forward to seeing you this weekend! Thanks for visiting our web site. Denise Withnell of Cowboy Celtic
Well, we're back home and did we ever have a great time in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Cowboy Jubilee was loads of fun, well-attended and one of the best organized events we've been to. Andy Nelson and Gary McMann are both hilarious and talented, and they each put on a great show. Kathy and Dave McCann and the entire committee, not to mention the Chamber of Commerce, businesses and volunteers, were welcoming and wonderful. And can you believe that most of the committee members are musicians? They opened the Saturday evening show and did a fabulous job. The Fall Arts Festival, of which the Cowboy Jubilee is part, was really great, with something for everybody. We played music, listened to the great music of Dave and Kathy McCann, saw fabulous art and sampled wine and gourmet food in the park downtown on Sunday. I highly recommend this entire event to anyone looking for a great weekend. More to come soon! Don't forget to check the details on our upcoming Cowboy Ceilidhs on October 21 and 22! (Click on the red link to the left and up a bit.) Wishing you warm, sunny weather and may all the leaves stay on the trees for another two months!! Denise of Cowboy Celtic
Hello out there. David Wilkie and I are just back from a great trip to Spokane, Seattle, and Victoria, Vancouver and Barriere, B.C. We are gearing up for a great weekend September 10, when we’ll be at the Jackson Hole Cowboy Jubilee in Wyoming. Here's their Web site: www.jacksonholecowboyjubilee.org Last week in Seattle we hooked up with Debbie Fant (formerly of Western Folklife Center fame in Elko, Nevada, and now with Seattle's Northwest Folklife) and Cary Lung, her wunnerful mandolin-playin' pard. They are great tour guides and even better company! We also had a 'funtabulous' visit with fiddle virtuoso Paul Anastasio (of former Asleep at the Wheel and Merle Haggard fame), and his lovely wife, Claudia, also a fiddle player (and we hear she's darned good too). David has known Paul for decades, and had the good fortune to have Paul play on several cuts on his Mandoline Kid album a few years back. Paul studied for years with Joe Venuti, and he is as good as it gets (that goes for both his playing and his wit). Check out his Web site: www.swingcatenterprises.com Another highlight of our trip was a visit with Dennis, Glynis, Ceilidh and Kirsten MacLeod in Victoria. When they lived in the Highlands in Scotland, they put our entire band up at their home, Scatwell House, many times. In Vancouver, we had a superb meal at Donna Livingstone's and Edward Cavell's (look up Livingstone and Cavell Extradordinary Toys in Calgary). A bonus was that the evening included the company of Susan and Robert Burton Hubele (see www.hubele-arts.com). We finished our trip with a lovely evening at Butch and Connie Falk's in Barriere, B.C., where we jammed on some of our favourite songs. Butch has a great voice and is a fine guitar player. We
hope to see you at our Cowboy Ceilidh October 22 (see link to the left for details). If
you click on our Performances button, you'll see that we have posted more October concert dates in
Oregon, and are looking forward
to seeing some of you in that area. We will also be at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko,
Nevada in 2006. Stay
well! All the best, Denise of Cowboy Celtic
Cowboy Celtic savours musical miracle Cowboy Celtic’s David Wilkie knows all about miracles. Cowboy Celtic will release its latest CD at its annual Cowboy Ceilidh on Saturday in Turner Valley, but Wilkie understands the album Gunsmoke, Whisky and Heather is a labour of love that almost never happened. About 18 months ago Wilkie was diagnosed with what initially appeared to be three brain tumours. The frightening experience left him paralyzed on his right side and impaired his speech. A life-long musician, one would expect Wilkie to be frantic about losing his ability to play music. However, music did not cross his mind. “I didn’t think about music,” admitted Wilkie. “I am just so glad to be alive. This last year has been an amazing journey for us.” Wilkie’s miraculous journey began when his doctor told him the apparent tumours were a result of a virus, surgery would not be needed and the tumours would eventually clear up on their own. At his most recent CAT scan the tumours were gone and Wilkie was given a clean bill of health. Although the tumours cleared up, it has been a painstaking process for Wilkie to regain the full use of his right hand. His memory was also impacted by the ordeal. In essence, not only did he struggle to play his precious mandolin, but he also had to re-learn the folk songs he has loved to play for decades. However, Wilkie
is back, refreshed and with a new outlook on his music. Wilkie and his partner Denise Withnell had an opportunity to reflect on the tumultuous past year during a quiet morning at their Turner Valley home on Friday. Over a cup of coffee and a plate of warm cookies the duo discussed the experiences that went into Gunsmoke, Whisky and Heather — their first CD since Drover Road which was released in 2001. While he was recovering from his ordeal, Wilkie said he had a lot of time to review his music career and the direction of Cowboy Celtic. As a result of that reflection, Gunsmoke, Whisky and Heather is a much different effort for the Cowboy foursome which also includes fiddler Joe Hertz and harpist/vocalist Keri Zwicker. “It is a totally
different sound,” admitted Wilkie. “We tried to break the mold.” One of the reasons for the new sound on the album is everyone had input into the music. Wilkie, in his trademark San Francisco 49ers sweatshirt, admits in the past he was a bit of a dictator when it came to the music of Cowboy Celtic. But for this project he encouraged everyone to add their two bits and he could not be more pleased with the results of their influence. “This is the best album we have done I think,” was his assessment. His assessment is warranted. There are some outstanding tracks on the album highlighted by Pier 21 which was written by Alberta songwriter John Wort Hannam; the classic Scottish folk song The Miles and the Road to Dundee; and the intriguing tune The Burial of Wild Bill. The Burial of Wild Bill is taken from a poem written from the newspaper account of the murder of Wild Bill Hickok and the song was believed to be first recorded by Frank Jennings’ Pilot Mountaineers. Wilkie, who penned four of the 11 tracks, said he deliberately sought out cowboy songs few people had heard before. “I have been
exploring the roots of cowboy songs and the Celtic connection for years and
I have pretty much done them all,” he explained. “So for this new album we
wanted songs no one has done before. It is an eclectic album.” “Dave does not get stuck in a rut,” she joked. Although Cowboy Celtic has been together for more than 10 years, there is always nervous energy when unveiling a new album. Thankfully, they will be debuting the album in front of friends and family this Saturday at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick in Turner Valley. “This is always our favourite show,” said Withnell. “The crowd that is there is always great.” “It is like playing in your livingroom,” added Wilkie. “It is intimate and we are playing for our friends.” Fans of Cowboy Celtic who miss the show in Turner Valley will have a second opportunity to see the foursome on Nov. 10 at the Red Deer Lake United Church which is on Highway 22X just west of Spruce Meadows. After the two hometown performances, the members of Cowboy Celtic will be preparing for yet another exciting adventure. Cowboy Celtic is working with Claude Lapalme, the music director for the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, on writing arrangements of Cowboy Celtic’s music for the symphony. Withnell said working with Lapalme, one of Canada’s most renowned directors, has been a wonderful experience. “It is unbelievable what he has done,” she said of their collaboration. Once the arrangements are complete, Cowboy Celtic will prepare for a performance with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra at the annual Kamloops Cowboy Festival in March. Withnell said Cowboy Celtic will accompany the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra sometime in 2008 — an opportunity both Withnell and Wilkie are eager to experience. “It will be an overwhelming experience to hear our music with that giant sound,” said Wilkie. Fans of Cowboy Celtic will likely feel the same way. For ticket information on Cowboy Celtic’s upcoming concerts visit ww.cowboyceltic.com Tickets are available at The Station Cultural Centre in Okotoks, Coyote Moon in Turner Valley, Terra Cotta Gallery and Wonders in Black Diamond and Megatunes in Calgary.
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