|
Nov. 25, 2009
Interview
with Duane Lee Nelson:
1. How/when did you get
started/interested in Cowboy Poetry?
I grew up on old Zane Grey,
Max Brand and Louis L’Amour Westerns, and old time Country Western
music, so when I first found some old Cowboy Poetry (by people
like Gale Gardner and Bruce Kiskaddon), I really fell for it.
They wrote about things that I love: horses, the cowboy life,
ranching… then when I found poetry by Baxter Black and Waddie
Mitchell, well, I was hooked. But it took quite a while to
start writing my own poems. I started writing, and reciting,
about 8 or 9 years ago.
2. I believe I've seen OPB's Oregon
Art Beat cover this topic (cowboy poets), but it seemed to be
focused on Eastern Oregon.
Are there any other cowboy poets in
Hood
River
County
that we should be aware of?
If there are, I would sure
like to get together with them! I know Linda Pishion
in The Dalles
writes, and there is a fellow named John Bowerman way east over by
John Day that wrote some awfully
good stuff. But he is retired now. And Pete and
Virginia Bennet are very good poets. They live up at
Goldendale. But right here in the
Hood
River
Valley?... not
that I know of.
3. This event on the 28th is billed as
the 3rd annual. How has this gathering grown and who else will be
featured?
We started out our first year
with just a crazy idea, and we didn’t get started until about a
month or two before the show. We got Joni Harms from Canby,
and Cowboy Poet Van Criddle from
Eugene, and we had a
heckuva good show. We pretty much filled the Civic
Auditorium show room, but we sure gave a lot of tickets away!
The second year, we got a lot
more sponsors, and Centerpointe Community Bank signed on as our
Title Sponsor, which made breathing a lot easier! We still
just broke even, but we were able to get Waddie Mitchell as our
main performer, and we did fill the ballroom. Waddie is one of the
very best Cowboy Poets ever, and he put on a fantastic show.
So that is the success we are trying to build on. Lori and I
(Lori Campanella, my wife) have a vision for this Gathering, and
part of that includes continuing to have the very best Cowboy
Poets and singers we can get. We have a lot of fun doing
this (actually I have a lot of fun; Lori works her tail off!), and
we are insistent that the show remains first class all the way
through.
4. In this genre, who is among your
favorite performers?
Gosh, there are so many!
Poets-- Waddie Mitchell, Baxter Black,
Van Criddle, Leon
Flick, Doris Daley. Paul Zarzyski, from Montana
is a free-verse guy that you have to see in person to really
appreciate his passion for verse. Singers-- Don
Edwards tops any list I can think of; not just of Western singers,
but of all singers and musicians in any genre. After listing Don
Edwards, I would like to add the following: Dave Stamey, along
with Sons of the San Jauquin, Micheal Martin Murphey, Juni Fisher,
Joni Harms…well, they are all 1A.
5. Do you travel to other similar type
events throughout the year?
Yes, I go to as many
gatherings as my work and budget will allow. We do get paid
for most of them, but usually, that covers the gas and a meal or
two! Last year I performed at The Spirit of the West
gathering in Ellensburg, Farm Fest in Eagle Point, the Rogue River
Roundup, the Lee Earl Memorial in
Lewiston, Idaho,
Whispering Pines Gathering in
Bickleton Wash.,
and the Coast Fork Gathering in
Creswell, Ore.
6. Ok, this may be a first for my
blog, but would you mind writing a sample of your work here and
telling us what it's about/why you wrote it?
I happened to have this one in
my files here at work, and it is one that I really like, so…
This is one I wrote just because it’s the
way I feel about cowboyin’. No one particular day or
happening; just a feeling and a mood.
Hope you like it.
COWBOY
LIFE
by Duane Lee Nelson
"Shortcut Poetry"
Now this cowboy life is challengin', and on
your body takes a toll,
There ain't a part of me that ain't been busted, is crooked or no
longer whole.
Why just last spring at the "Rockin' G"
branding, my finger got left in the dirt.
Caught up in my dallies and sliced clean off, left blood all over
my shirt.
One knee got wrecked when a colt fell down, the
other has never been right,
since I was doctorin' a calf from a big Angus cow, and mama sure
went on the fight.
She wallered me round in the mud for a bit,
left my knee pointin' two different ways,
Now from that I got 'bout a six-month vacation, but for a cowboy
that's without no pay!
Been kicked in the face, my elbow's been broke,
my fingers are all bent and twisted,
My back is toast, my rotor cuffs gone, heck, there's too much to
even be listed.
Yes, this cowboy life is challenging; look at
me, you can see the cost!
But when I think about it, I realize, that without it I'd surely
be lost.
You see...
When I look across the valley to the high
rimrock beyond,
And see the mountains shinin' with the coming of the dawn,
When I catch my horse and get him saddled, in
the morning light,
And ride across God's country, a-horseback until night.
Hear the meadowlarks a-singin', see an eagle in
the sky,
And cows and calves all scattered in the prairie grass so high.
Hear my horse's hooves a-whisperin' in the
cheat-grass midst the sage,
Its like I'm living in a storybook, can't wait to turn the page.
All your aches and pains are silent now, your
body is at ease,
As you trot away the miles, just as easy as you please.
And your age? Why, it don't mean nothin'
now, you're as young as ever was,
And you marvel at God's wonders, and you take the time to pause
And reflect, upon this life you lead, with
emotions you can't hide,
You look forward to the coming days, just like a new-wed bride.
Yes, this cowboy life is sure challenging, and
on your body it does take a toll.
But in the end, you'll know its worth it all,
Cause it's dang sure good, for your soul.
|
