Can’t See Them from the Road

It’s branding time in Wyoming and we had the distinct pleasure of joining the
Shepperson family and friends for a morning this week. Les Shepperson is a Team
Wyoming steer wrestler and his family has ranched on land near Midwest, Wyoming for
more than a century. We not only spent time filming the work but had a chance to tour
some of the magnificent country nearby.

Les was picked by the advertising people with Leatherman Tools as subject of a video
feature that will be shown on the company’s website beginning in mid-July. Filming took
place on the ranch Wednesday and Thursday of this week. “They loved it here and
had a lot of fun,” Shepperson told us. He was interviewed about his regular usage of a
Leatherman but also concerning the family ranch history.

The branding this week was right along I-25 some thirty minutes north of Casper. Most,
if not all, who buzzed by that morning had no clue of the real western living that was
taking place next to the highway.
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(Still photos courtesy of Holly Shepperson)

Champs Challenge

A new attempt at showcasing the stars of pro rodeo was unveiled over the weekend in Redding, California. The Wrangler Champions Challenge on Saturday invited top names of the sport – ten per event – to compete for cash and obtain valuable television exposure. There will be a 90-minute television broadcast of the challenge aired nationally on GAC, June 2.

Team Wyoming stars placed in two events at the Redding show. Lance Creek’s Jason Miller finished second in steer wrestling with a 4.7 second turn worth $3,000 and J.R. Vezain from Cowley rode to a third-place bareback riding tie with traveling partner Caleb Bennett each scoring out at 84.5 points. The pair collected $1,500 apiece. Champions Challenge money paid out in Redding won’t go toward the world standings this time.

Redding’s annual rodeo concluded Friday and those checks will show in the world standings. Jason Miller split 1st through 3rd in the second round with a run of 4.2 seconds to make $1,550.

Burch Rodeo Co. of Rozet supplied their strong string of horses in Redding and got the best show out of the magnificent bucker known as Friendly Fire with the highest saddle bronc mark in the Redding Rodeo and the winning bareback outing in the Champions Challenge.

Fond Farewell to a Good Will

Father Carl Beavers said he never knew a man who fit his name any better than Will Kallal of Cheyenne. If you knew Will, you were – and are – the better for it. Kallal died May 15th at the age of 68 after a long and tortuous fight with cancer. Father Beavers and Will were friends who traveled and fished together. Other than a short prayer Kallal recited regularly Beavers said Will’s most constant refrain for life was to “keep a fly on the water.” That’s precisely what Kallal did for senior steer roping at Cheyenne Frontier Days. As Contestants Committee leader Will willed the event into a spot on the CFD roster where it remains. Members of the Senior Steer Roping Association were in attendance at Kallal’s funeral services Saturday in St. Mary’s Cathedral. One of them spoke noting their overwhelming sadness and vowing to never forget what Will did for them “allowing us to compete in the best arena in rodeo.”

Those of us lucky enough to know Will Kallal won’t ever forget his smile, his kindness and his love of the big show known as “The Daddy of ‘Em All.”

Saturday’s service ended with happy march music and a crowded church gathering on its feet clapping…and smiling one of those ear-to-ear Will Kallal smiles.

Born to Buck Expands

The “Born to Buck Classic/Stallion Stakes” bucking horse futurity in Riverton is adding some Wyoming flavor to the event for its second year at the Fremont County Fairgrounds this coming Saturday, May 11. Powder River Rodeo Company is staging the show on its home turf and owner Hank Franzen says fans will enjoy a young bucking horse extravaganza:

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Breeders and cowboys stand to collect several thousand dollars for their best performances. New this year is an all-Wyoming bull dogging challenge. All three Team Wyoming steer wrestlers – Jason Miller, Les Shepperson and Seth Brockman – will be competing along with John Franzen to fill the foursome. They will run two steers apiece during the “Classic” and the top two times will bring back those cowboys in a third run finale for the big cash. Cinch has added $5K to sweeten that pie. Saturday’s event starts at 1 p.m. Wind River Casino & Hotel is once again serving nobly as host venue.

Team WYO Standings

J.R. Vezain

With the upward movement of J.R. Vezain to the top of the leaderboard in pro bareback riding’s world standings, your friends here at “The Hand” thought it would be a good time to give you a convenient place to find how the Top 15 in each event looks right now and where all Wyoming pros rank as we near the start of another busy summer.

Click here for a listing of the Top 15 in select events This information can now be found in the upper right hand corner of the blog and will updated as the information becomes available. 

Kanin Asay

Several Team Wyoming cowboys had strong winters and are either well within the Top 15 or nearing it. As we’ve reported, J.R. from Cowley is # 1 in the bareback riding race. In bull riding, Kanin Asay from Powell is #3, Tyler Willis out of the Wheatland area is #15 and Bobby Welsh from Gillette is close behind in 16th. Casper’s Clayton Savage is within the top 50 at #43.

Lance Creek, WY steer wrestler Jason Miller is currently holding the #3 position with Les Shepperson from Midwest at 9th in the world. Wheatland’s Seth Brockman is at #34.

After a strong showing in Clovis, CA Team WYO saddle bronc rider Chet Johnson of Sheridan is at #26 and in the team roping world standings for heelers, Jhett Johnson from Casper is currently 28th.
Several Wyoming bareback riders, not yet wearing the WYO patch, had some success over the winter season. Seth Hardwick from Laramie is now #15 while Mac Erickson of Sundance is at #27. Zach Phillips out of the talented Casper College squad is #37.

In team roping, two other Wyoming heelers have cracked the Top 50 going into May. Sid Sporer of Cody is at #44 and Torrington’s Ryan Zurcher is 50th.

Good in Guymon

First round payoffs came early at the Pioneer Days Rodeo in Guymon, OK for timed events contestants and Team Wyoming steer wrestler Seth Brockman made the best run at a blazing 3.3 seconds. That paid the Wheatland man a little more than $1,900. The Guymon event runs through May 5.

Tickling the 88 to #1

It is reasonable to assume Cowley, Wyoming cowboy J.R. Vezain is unfamiliar with the work of Floyd Cramer since the great country music piano tickler died when J.R. was just six years old. Those of us who can recall Cramer’s fingers gliding pounce across all 88 keys of a piano with a skill and style few contemporaries could match are now graced by a new master of the “Flip Flop and Bop.” Vezain has won the last three major pro rodeos of the spring season by staying in rhythm with his bareback mounts for 88 points each outing. This weekend at the Clovis Rodeo it was time to take on a young Wyoming horse out of the Burch Rodeo Co. (Rozet, WY) string. Vezain knew nothing about the animal he was matched with but told us his top hand trip aboard the future superstar was juicy:

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Vezain’s Clovis, CA effort netted a check for close to $6,800 and that win catapults the Wyoming cowboy to #1 in the pro bareback riding world standings. Team Wyoming saddle bronc rider Chet Johnson of Sheridan placed third in Clovis which was good for $3,200. He topped Burch’s NFR bucker Hippy Chick for 83 points Saturday.

Percolator Pleas

Story by Chuck Coon; Layout by Lori Hogan

 The West and its mainstay sport of rodeo have largely disappeared from headline concert stages and popular music recording sessions in recent years especially since the passing of Chris LeDoux in 2005. The pending retirement of George Strait along with Garth Brooks’ semi-retirement could serve to remove rodeo from consideration as even a niche sport on the national radar. An unexpected twosome has opened the way to musically keep rodeo in the conversation.

Liner Note Art by David McClister

It took nearly four decades for them to record an entire album together but the newly-formed duo of old friends – Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell – has placed “flyover” country back in the spotlight. Their 2013 Old Yellow Moon live show opens with a Gram Parsons song called “Return of the Grievous Angel” in which we hear of truckers and kickers and cowboy angels along with thoughts of “a calico bonnet from Cheyenne to Tennessee.”

In “Hangin’ up my Heart” they sing of rodeo dancin’ and the Old Yellow Moon CD features a long-lost ditty called “Bull Rider” Crowell made a demo of a long time ago for Johnny Cash. In a late night one-on-one visit with Crowell after one of the first concert tour stops this year he was very forthcoming about the history of the song. “I used to ride bulls in Texas youth rodeos and I hung around rodeo people after I quit,” Crowell said.

He later formed a dance band that played at a lot of Texas rodeos. “Like NASCAR, rodeo has a language, cowboy bucking chute language like ‘turn your toes out, take a deep seat, watch his head, get a faraway look in your eye.’ There’s a poetry to it and when I wrote that song I wanted to see if I could capture that,” he added.

Team WYO Bull Rider Tyler Willis and Bullfighter Dusty Tuckness in Fort Worth

Crowell had never recorded “Bull Rider” because it was first done by the Man-in-Black. “He nailed it and I wouldn’t go near it,” Crowell told us. He later heard a version done by Norah Jones. “She made it her own the way John made it his own. So I thought I can make it my own too.” Crowell and Emmylou Harris decided “Bull Rider” was a good fit for their new CD.

The Crowell and Harris blend for the song “Back When We Were Beautiful” has been described as nothing less than heavenly. It was written by Matraca Berg and there is no way on this earth she could have sat at her piano fifteen years ago thinking of growing older and imagined this outcome. That is two icons of the country, bluegrass and alternative music worlds harmonizing in such a way that those of us fortunate enough to hear it – live or recorded – are provided the rare pleasure of deeply feeling almost every line.

You have to have been around to grow some wrinkles and to absorb the ache that comes with hating to be told you’re “aging gracefully” to fully appreciate the lasting friendship, mutual admiration and love shared between Emmylou and Rodney. He was in her “Hot Band” beginning in the 1970s. The band touring the U.S. and abroad in 2013 is pretty darn hot too but the front duo is oh so cool. They are in their sixties without living in that decade most remembered for the loss of our personal memory cards to the delete button. “My earlier efforts notwithstanding, the last twelve years are the best work I’ve done,” assessed Crowell, 62.

He has written dozens of songs that others recorded for hits including “Stars on the Water,” “Voila, an American Dream” and “Ashes by Now” just to name a few. Crowell was a mainstream artist regularly played on country music radio stations during most of the 1980s and early 90s. “When the radio’s through with you the radio audience goes away. A lot of people didn’t go with me after that,” said Crowell lacking malice in his voice.

He and Emmylou don’t dwell in the past during their current musical steps together while recalling certain lost parts of it such as the look and blup-blup; blup-blup-blup sounds of a coffee percolator. “I prefer tea now,” Harris says. “But I do kind of miss percolators.” Another of their new songs is called “Black Caffeine.” In its intro at a sold-out Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall show Harris noted how good she felt to be back on the road and did not appear saddened, rather relieved, to say java is the only drug being ingested on and off stage.

Image Courtesy of Chicago Tribune

Three members of the five-piece backup group are not far from the starting notes in their professional music careers. The young players are clearly beaming at the opportunity. “I’ve known Rodney for a long time and a friend recommended me for the job,” said tour drummer Jerry Roe. “There are some songs where you feel like it’s important. It’s kind ‘a freaky heavy in a good way. It feels very meaningful,” continued Roe who is named after his grandfather, country music great and actor Jerry Reed. It was Reed who gave Crowell his first real break as a songwriter in the early 1970s by opting for a tune called “You Can’t Keep Me Here in Tennessee.” The favor is being returned and Roe is savoring every second.

Emmylou devotes a segment of in between song chat to explain her discovery of Crowell’s songwriting talent in 1974. “I was looking for songs for my first solo recording. We spent the whole day listening and I didn’t like any of them. Then the last cassette of the day turned out to be Rodney’s demo. From the first note I knew I’d struck gold.” Harris loved two songs on that tape. “Bluebird Wine” was one of them. Crowell rewrote two verses for the Old Yellow Moon compilation. He thinks the new lines better reflect his sensibilities today. “Revision is the writer’s best friend,” asserts Crowell. “I was in my early twenties and knew I could do better now.”

The pairing for this album-length collaboration came together at a “kitchen table” gathering in Nashville with Brian Ahern who was Harris’ first record producer and is her ex-husband. “Working together now that all seems like another lifetime,” said Harris.

She says shining a light on great, often unheralded, songwriters was one of the goals of the Moon project and “Spanish Dancer” by The E Street Band’s Patti Scialfa is a song Harris has wanted to record for several years. She urges audiences to find Scialfa’s 1993 Rumble Doll album because it speaks to something central to the female experience. “You never stop yearning for certain things, no matter what age you are.”

Much of the Old Yellow Moon live set is traditional country music for which Harris stands up with pride. “We sing country music. You know, what it was before it got taken over by the pod people.” Should she elaborate it is fair to assume Harris is speaking of the apparently never-ending stream of stubble faced, torn jeaned, faux vintage ball capped young men whose thumping verses are churned out in cookie cutter fashion and refer to police as “po po” while assuring us that “she loves my truck.”

Crowell with dog Mono

Crowell is having the time of his life with his new recording partner. “We talked about it 35 years ago. ‘You know we should make a record. We sound good together.’” And to that point while walking his short Chihuahua named Mono on a long leash in downtown Milwaukee, Crowell agreed the harmony on “Back When We Were Beautiful” is a perfect example of their combined uniqueness. “It was in the right key and Emmy sounded so good. I was just inspired to sing.” He pauses and without a hint of arrogance bubbles forth: “I sang it really good.”

During concert performances Crowell makes a point of describing Emmylou Harris from his perspective since he has been asked several times what she’s like. “She has the heart of a poet, the voice of an angel and the soul of a cowgirl.” He’ll exchange soul and heart sometimes but always assesses her voice as something winged our way from the heavens.

“At this stage in her career and in my career we don’t have anything to prove. We just needed to have fun. It’s the joy of rock and roll and the heart of country music we’re doing. Country music is truth telling.”

We urge Mono to do his business at a small patch of snow-covered grass off Milwaukee’s Wells Street on a quiet Tuesday midnight. The road currently being shared with us by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell is one he’s wanted to take a drive on for a long, long while. “It’s the right time because I can carry my weight now.”

Harris and Crowell are taking the Old Yellow Moon tour to Europe for most of the month of May. The closest they’ll get to Wyoming is for three Colorado shows in June – the 17th at Denver Botanic Gardens, 18th in Boulder (Chautauqua Auditorium) and the 20th at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Wyoming steer wrestling making every run count

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