Arizona Folklore Preserve
In The News
January, 2008 - June, 2008
Sierra Vista Herald
Tempo Magazine,
May 29, 2008
Calahan and Jones take the stage at the AFP
 |
COURTESY OF LORI FAY MERRITT
Kip Calahan and Jim Jones will be in concert this
Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Arizona Folklore
Preserve. For information, call 378-6165. |
The Arizona Folklore Preserve, in partnership with the
University of Arizona South, and Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s official
state balladeer, present Kip Calahan and Jim Jones in concert at
2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are recommended and
can be made by calling 378-6165.
Kip Calahan and Jim Jones, both outstanding solo artists, have
been polishing their act as a duo for five years now, with joint
appearances at the Cochise Cowboy Poetry & Music Gathering; the
Tombstone Western Music Festival; Heber City, Utah; Branson,
Mo.; and other locations throughout the West.
Kip Calahan has a strong and beautiful voice that endears her to
fans of Western music. She also has won the respect and
admiration of her peers, and has received numerous awards from
the Western Music Association and the Academy of Western Artists
for her vocals and her songwriting.
Jim Jones moved from Texas to New Mexico in 1991, continuing his
career as a folk musician until 2002 when he decided to devote
his time and talent to Western music, the sub-genre of folk he
loves the most. Now he writes and sings about horses, love
between cowboys and cowgirls, roundups, rodeos, ghosts, heritage
and tradition and folklore, the elements and stewardship of the
land. Both artists have CDs of Western music available.
Calahan’s first CD included a track, “What Cowboy Means,” that
won Song of the Year, and her second CD of Western music won
Album of the Year. The title song from Jones’ CD, “The Western
Take,” co-written with Rick Huff, was number one on the Power
Source Music Magazine’s Western chart for September of 2005 and
remained in the top 10 the rest of the year. It also was one of
the top 10 most requested songs of November 2005 as charted by
the Western Music Association.
Calahan contributes great harmony vocals when not singing lead,
and Jones is an outstanding instrumentalist. The pair also have
collaborated in their songwriting with “She Can’t Do That,” and
have recorded several duets.
Learn more about Kip Calahan at
www.kipcalahan.com, and
about Jim Jones at
www.jimjonesmusic.com. Jones’ MySpace page,
www.myspace.com/jimjonesmusic, includes two Jones-Calahan
duets.
|
Richard Zoller's Column, "The
Last Word"
Sierra Vista Herald Tempo Magazine,
June 5, 2008
Entertaining afternoon
 Last Saturday we visited the Ramsey Canyon Folklore and Music
Preserve. The featured artists were Kip Calahan and Jim Jones, a
team that is at least as entertaining as any other team we have
witnessed.
These two have been together for a long time. They complement
each other to a fantastic degree, though in many ways they are
direct opposites.
Kip Calahan is a brash sort of person with a big, really
excellent voice and a brassy personality. She plays guitar well,
as does her partner, though her guitar tone is clear, usually
loud and perhaps a little metallic, while Jim’s tone quality is
covered, somewhat soothing, though always heard. Kip has lots of
volume, good breath control and good pitch, though she should
avoid yodeling.
We particularly liked Jim’s obbligatos and fills, which always
test any musician’s originality as well as his musical ear and
his technique.
Jim also plays harmonica, tin whistle and mandolin, all of which
add variety to their duets. Jim and Kip trade off lead or melody
parts fairly equally. Each of them sings a harmony part when the
other is singing melody.
Kip and Jim have a tremendous library of Western songs, nearly
all of them new to this writer. They range from praise of the
cowboy life to love songs, tragic songs, songs of violence,
comic songs and novelty songs.
The song titles were not always announced, so there may be a lot
of errors in titles listed here.
Some of the songs that have clever lyrics or other memorable
features are: “Your Good Girl’s Turning Out Bad,” “Gotta Hold It
to the Road,” “Bird Song in the Cottonwoods,” “I Could Never Do
Nothin’ Right,” “Juke Box Spot” (one of my favorites), “She
Can’t Do That” (they wrote that one together), “Skeleton
Canyon,” “If I Had a Gun” and “Magdalena.” This is by no means a
complete list. There were at least 25 songs!
There was a lot of banter between the two, and some between the
performers and the audience.
Everybody enjoyed it; there were a lot of laughs. Kip and Jim
exchanged a lot of good-natured insults.
Kip Calahan claims to be retired. She says that she has built a
house on “some land that my mother owned.”
She is fortunate in being able to retire while she is still hale
and hearty, and we congratulate her, but we wonder why she is
still working if she is really retired. However, it’s our good
fortune. She is a very entertaining lady.
Jim Jones should work up a top rating in the world of cowboy
music. His exceptional talent is obvious, and he has a low-key
(no pun intended) appeal that is bound to attract a lot of fans.
His voice and his instrumental skill are uncommonly good.
The Ramsey Canyon Folklore and Music Preserve was founded by
State balladeer Dolan Ellis and is now a partnership between
Ellis and the University of Arizona South.
There is a concert every weekend, at 2 p.m. on Saturday and
Sunday. Coming up are concerts by Jodi Harms on June 7 and 8,
Ellis on June 14 and 15, the Santa Cruz River Band on the 22 and
23 and Michael Grande on June 28 and 29. Call 278-6165 or 6i66
for reservations.
|
Sierra Vista Herald
Tempo Magazine,
May 1, 2008
The Santa Cruz
River Band in concert at AFP
 |
|
COURTESY OF THE ARIZONA FOLKLORE
PRESERVE The
Santa Cruz River Band will be in concert
this Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at
the Arizona Folklore Preserve. For
information, call 378-6165. |
The Arizona Folklore Preserve, in partnership with the University
of Arizona South, present The Santa Cruz River
Band in concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday and
Sunday. Reservations are recommended and can be
made by calling 378-6165.
The Santa Cruz River Band is a trio of troubadours who make
beautiful music they refer to as Southwestern
Folk. Much of the music they play is of the
border region, and their repertoire includes
many Mexican tunes, perfect for this weekend on
the eve of the Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Their music is authentic, as are the band members. Ted Ramirez,
Mike Ronstadt and Gilbert Brown are native
Arizonans and more; they are eight-generation,
third-generation and first-generation Arizonans,
respectively. Each has a strong feeling of
family and heritage and history, and it shows in
the songs they write and the style of music they
have developed. It comes from the Spanish and
Mexicans, Germans and Irish and Native
Americans. It reflects the culture of the rugged
people of the Southwest region of the United
States. It is heartwarming, inspiring, and
thought-provoking.
Ted Ramirez, the group’s founder, was named “Tucson’s official
troubadour” in 2002 and an “Arizona culture
keeper” in 2004. His Arizona roots go back to
the Tucson of the middle 1700s. As a singer he
is blessed with a voice so unique that, heard
once, will always be known and cherished.
Mike Ronstadt is from the famous Ronstadt family of Tucson, with a
superstar sister (Linda Ronstadt) and aunt
(stage name Luisa Espinel, an internationally
known interpreter of Spanish music and dance in
the 1930s), and many other family members who
are professional musicians. His Tucson musical
background can be traced to 1882 when his
grandfather, Federico, migrated from Sonora,
Mexico, at the age of 14, bringing with him the
songs of Sonora, which have stayed in the family
through the decades. Mike Ronstadt does not rest
on his family’s laurels; he had already carved a
special niche for himself in the music world
when he met Ted Ramirez and eventually joined
the band.
Gilbert Brown’s family moved to Arizona from Oklahoma during the
“dust bowl” of the 1930s. They settled in the
mining town of Ajo, where Gilbert was born. His
father encouraged him to play guitar, almost
certainly not knowing the door he was opening
for the gifted young boy. For, while all three
members of the group are outstanding
multi-instrumentalists, it is Brown who has an
absolutely magical touch on the guitar,
mandolin, banjo, requinto, dobro and numerous
other instruments.
This weekend the trio will play tracks from their new CD, “Signal
Fire,” as well as their third CD, “The Mexican
Album,” and earlier releases. Learn more about
the Santa Cruz River Band at their newly revised
Web site,
www.santacruzriverband.com,
and while there be sure to listen to tracks from
the two recent CDs....
|
Sierra Vista Herald,
March 17, 2008
Songs
about railroads, hobos, cowboys
|
 |
Suzanne Cronn Herald/Review
Paula Strong and Walt Richards, lead singers of Trails &
Rails, perform at the Arizona Folklore Preserve on
Sunday. The four-member group sang songs about
cowboys, hobos and the life influenced by the railroad.
|
Trails & Rails entertains guests at Arizona
Folklore Preserve
By Shar Porier
Herald/Review
HEREFORD — When you visit the Arizona Folklore Preserve on a
Sunday afternoon for one of the shows, you’re sure to not only
have a fun time, but get a bit of a history lesson as well.
Trails & Rails, a four-piece group that sings about the days
when the railroad was king, took the standing room only crowd
through brief history of railroads through songs about the
settlers and supplies they brought West and the cattle and
grains it took East, from the 1800s to the 1900s.
“This is one of our favorite groups,” said volunteer emcee and
novice cowboy poet Ernie Buhler, as folks settled in for the
show.
Walt Richards and Paula Strong started as a duo, but added two
more members, Bruce Huntington on bass and Ken Wilcox on vocals,
guitar and autoharp, to add a fullness to their sound.
“The railroads opened up this country, yet, in a way, they also
closed the country,” Strong explained. “The railroad brought
settlers, who fenced in the range.”
Yet, where would America be without its rail lines crossing the
nation from coast to coast? It opened up the interior of the
country and provided a living for those men who found they just
didn’t fit in office jobs. Men like those who worked for
railroads building tracks and running trains on rails that could
lead them to their death.
“There was quite a competition among the railroad companies to
get contracts,” said Wilcox in his lead-in to the song, “Wreck
of the Old 97,” written by Charles Noell. “The engineer would
lose money if he lost time.”
In the quest for those shipping contracts, railroad companies
sometime took chances. They built curves too sharp and banks too
steep, added Strong. Sometimes, making that schedule proved
deadly as is told in the musical ballad of the train that
plunged off of a 75-foot trestle near Danville, Va., killing
nine men.
“ ... Now it’s an awful bad road from Lynchburg to Danville, and
from Lima it’s a four-mile grade,” sang the group.
“It was on this grade that his air brakes failed him. And look
what a jump she made.
“Thirteen falling down this hill at 70 mph, his whistle began to
scream
“He was found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle he had
scalded to death from the steam ... ”
Richards took a few minutes to jokingly explain the difference
between the terms hobo, tramp and bum. “A hobo was a migrant
worker,” he said. “A tramp was a migratory non-worker. And a bum
was a stationary non-worker.”
Many non-paying passengers rode the rails, and for some it was a
dangerous game of riding the rods. The rods, as Strong
explained, were found under the boxcars and hobos would take
wooden planks and run them through the rods making a small
platform on which to ride under the boxcars.
One of the men who sang many songs of the railroad and won the
hearts of working folk everywhere was Jimmie Rodgers, a
Mississippian who learned about the railroad at an early age,
Wilcox said. Rodgers became a brakeman on the New Orleans and
Northeastern Railroad and picked up his musical skills from
other workers and hobos. While still young, his railroad career
ended. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 27.
Though he lost one love, he was able to find another and began a
musical career as the Singing Brakeman. But, that too came to an
abrupt end as the tuberculosis took his life in 1933.
Wilcox sang a soulful song Rodgers wrote before he died, “Hobo’s
Meditation.”
“Will there be any freight trains in heaven?
“Any box cars on which we can ride?
“Will there be any tough cops or brakemen
“In the land that lies hidden up there ...
“Will the hobo chum with the rich man
“Will we always have money to spare
“Will they have respect for the hobo
“In that land that lies hidden up there.”
Every weekend the Preserve presents artists after they are
approved by founder Dolan Ellis. The schedule can be found at
arizonafolklore.com. Or
call the Preserve at 378-6165.
Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or
by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.
|
More information about Trails &
Rails is available at
www.trailsandrails.net.
Sierra Vista Herald
Tempo Magazine,
February 28, 2008
Cowboy artists Bud Strom and Tom Chambers
at the Folklore
Preserve this weekend
  |
|
COURTESY OF ARIZONA FOLKLORE PRESERVE
Bud Strom, left, and Tom Chambers, right, will be in concert this
Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Folklore Preserve. |
The Arizona Folklore Preserve, in partnership with the
University of Arizona South, and Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s official state balladeer,
present Bud Strom and Tom Chambers in concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
This will be a very special Western weekend, featuring two top cowboy artists:
Bud Strom, cowboy poet, and Tom Chambers, Western singer/songwriter/guitarist.
Both Strom and Chambers are genuine
cowboys who also are great entertainers, with the ability to teach their
audiences what it’s like to be an Arizona cowboy.
For Strom, life revolves around his pride in being a rancher and a cowboy, his
background as an educator, his Army career, and his family. All of these come
together in the poetry he writes and in his widely celebrated presentation
skills. Strom’s subject matter ranges from tender topics such as Montana
Angels, the story of survival during a blinding blizzard, to historic topics
such as “Race on the Wind,” which tells the true story of a horse race run in
1959. The contestants in the race were from Douglas and Naco, Sonora, and quarantine laws kept either
from traveling to the other side of the border. As a result, the race was run,
literally, along the border.
“My Hat” is an example of an instructive Bud Strom poem; he uses it effectively
and with some humor to teach why a cowboy hat is different from other hats, and
the many purposes it can serve. A more overtly humorous poem is “On
Memorizing.” “Dry Lightning” is a wonderful poem about a big challenge of
ranching in Hereford, where rainfall is often scarce.
Strom is invited to perform at cowboy gatherings all over the West, and is also
an Arizona ambassador, teaching the Western way
of life in locations to the east, including Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Tom Chambers is a self-taught horse trainer who, while in his early teens,
developed his own gentling techniques, when other trainers were primarily using
force. He has developed a “Harmony with Horses” program that he teaches at the
Tanque Verde Guest Ranch in Tucson, where he also entertains regularly.
Chambers also leads a six-day “Women of the West” travel program at the Bellota
Ranch.
A Tom Chambers show will include guitar, vocals, harmonica, songs, poetry,
storytelling and some of the best yodeling to be heard anywhere, with never a
dull moment. Expect some humor: he may sing the story of how the yodel was
born, recite his own famous poem, “The Elevator,” or recite the Baxter Black
poem, “Cow Attack.” He fights back against the people who claim cattle are
responsible for the holes in the ozone layer in his song “Ode to Tofu.”
There are other sides to Chambers, however. He can be romantic, as in his
original song, “La Luna de Sonora” or the ultimate love song about an Arizona cowboy and his Sonoran sweetheart,
“A Border Affair.” “Thunder Across the Desert” is a
powerful song from his Emmy-winning score for the documentary, “A Warning to
Beware.” Chambers has performed with both the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and
the Tucson Pops Orchestra.
Both Strom and Chambers have worked to keep the cowboy culture alive through
means other than their own performances. Strom served as co-chair of the
Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering for 10 years, signing on in the
second year of the gathering and developing the curriculum for a “poetry in the
schools” program for grades third through 12th — for all 20 of Cochise County’s schools.
The Gathering is now a huge event for Sierra Vista and Cochise Country, drawing dozens
of talented poets and musicians and thousands of visitors.
Chambers is the founding president of the Western Music Association, which was
formed with the mission: “to preserve and promote the traditional and
contemporary music of the American West and the American Cowboy.” He continues
to serve on the advisory board for the organization.
Strom will be offering two cowboy poetry books for sale: “Dry Lightning and
Cowboys & Angels.” He also will offer his CD of cowboy poetry, “Lighting
and Angels.”
Chambers will offer three CDs: “Southern Range,” “Ranch Requests” and “Horse
Laughs.” ....
|
For more information about Bud Strom,
click here
For more information about Tom Chambers,
click here
Sierra Vista Herald
,
January 21, 2008
BOOST FOR FOLKLORE PRESERVE
 |
|
SUZANNE
CRONN-HERALD/REVIEW
Dolan Ellis,
Arizona’s official
balladeer, on the far right, shares the spotlight with Jackie Miller
Davidson
and Randy Sparks at
Buena
Performing
Arts
Center. The New Christy
Minstrels, a
folksingers group originally formed 45 years ago, gave a show on
Sunday for the benefit of the
Arizona Folklore Preserve.
|
New Christy Minstrels provide benefit
By Shar Porier
Herald/Review
SIERRA
VISTA — “A million tomorrows shall all pass away, ’ere I forget all the joy
that is mine today ...”
It was obvious that the members of the New Christy Minstrels singing “Today” on
stage were feeling joy, as were the 600-plus people in the audience at Buena
High School Sunday afternoon for the Minstrels’ first-ever show in Sierra
Vista.
Dolan
Ellis, Arizona’s
official balladeer, and four other original members, founder Randy Sparks, Art
Podell, Clarence Treat and Jackie Miller Davidson joined with new members
Buffalo Bill Boycott and Becky Jo Benson for a concert to benefit the Arizona
Folklore Preserve. Since the Minstrels were on an Arizona tour,
the group agreed to add in the extra date and give a helping hand to the
Preserve. They also dropped their booking fees so 100 percent of the ticket
cost goes to the preserve.
The board of directors of the preserve were hoping for
a sellout, and they got it. There were just a few empty seats scattered here
and there. That’s the way it has been, Sparks said,
since they went back on tour a few years ago.
Sparks began
the show solo and joked, “I’m the opening act — I’m good at that. See, the
opening act takes up time and leaves the audience wanting.”
Sparks’
career included working with Burl Ives, Bob Hope and Tennessee Ernie Ford more
than 45 years ago. But he said he always thought it would be better to have a
bigger sound and more people. So, he started the New Christy Minstrels.
Now, after 45 years of performers joining and leaving the folk group, Sparks
thinks they would form a group of 300.
He said, “All of my life I’ve been in the middle of the world’s greatest talent
show.”
In the Minstrels, everyone is required to perform solo, whether they’ve done it
before or not, whether they think they can sing or not. The format was devised
in 1961 and pulled together in 1962 with the first Minstrels show.
Boycott, who plays guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin, as well as yodeling, was
an old fan who learned to play guitar, he said, by listening to the Minstrels’
album over and over.
“I sent him one of my CDs and started playing with them in Prescott, and
I’ve been with them ever since,” he said.
There is one on-stage member who does not have to sing or play an instrument.
That is Vecca the stage dog.
“She doesn’t sing, she sleeps,” Benson said with a laugh. “She doesn’t miss a
performance. Vecca is our mascot.”
One night when the audience didn’t give the group a standing ovation like
normally occurs, Vecca got up and stared at them, said Benson. And
occasionally, when she hears some of the animal sounds that go with one of the
songs, she barks.
In regard to being just a bit older now than back then and the physical
exertion of the stage, Sparks
replied, “We have to use it or lose it. We have sung and played every day of
our lives for the past 40-some years. We never did drugs, didn’t abuse our
bodies. We’ve stayed healthy.”
They sang many of their old songs off the 1962 Grammy-winning album “Presenting
The New Christy Minstrels” — “Today,” “Denver” and, of course, “This Land Is
Your Land” — as well as some new songs written by the various members and
Sparks. The whole show was a witty, entertaining blast from the past, and the
crowd loved them.
Ellis said, “I’m having the time of my life. It’s great to be back with my
friends ... And it’s fantastic to be doing the old songs. How many people get a
chance to relive their lives?”
When asked if groupies follow them around, he replied with a laugh, “Yes, but
we can outrun them these days.”
Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or
shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.
|
More information about the New
Christy Minstrels is available at
www.thenewchristyminstrels.com
Tombstone
Times,
January, 2008
By Janice Hendricks
There is a place
nearby that beckons you with incredible majestic beauty and tops it off with an
entertainment opportunity second to none.
Nestled in the foothills of the Huachuca
Mountains in Ramsey
Canyon the Arizona Folklore
Preserve is the place to spend a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon
surrounded by the splendor of nature and echo of extraordinary music.
There are a few
places in Cochise County
that without a doubt are considered favorites of mine. Places I long to go to and just spend some
time relaxing and reflecting and Ramsey
Canyon is just one of those
places. I can begin the drive into the
canyon and immediately start feeling the decompressing process start. Mother Nature was certainly in a good mood
when this canyon was sculpted. Looking
up there is a sheer cliff that is illuminated with the sun’s rays shining
brilliantly upon its golden copper colored rock walls and the surrounding
colors of late fall stand out against the white snow remaining from the early
winter’s dusting. It was a glorious day
to visit the canyon, but I have never found a day that wasn’t perfect for a
visit. Greeting us as we enter the forested part of the canyon was a doe alongside
the road. She was taking her time nibbling
on the green grasses appearing unconcerned about our imposing moving vehicle
heading her way. Looking up she acknowledges our presence and casually moves on
down the slope. The deer reside here in
the canyon, the deer and many other wild animals like turkeys, bears, coati mundis, raccoons, fox and many others. A haven that is so close to
the city and yet so close to nature.
It was in this
canyon, this place of beauty, that Arizona’s
Official Balladeer, Dolan Ellis saw his dream come true. He had desired to locate to a place where the
beloved stories told through song and word could be performed and preserved
honoring the western heritage and culture that he loved so much. A visit to Cochise
County in 1990 found Dolan in the
incredible Huachuca Mountains
and it was there that he purchased 15 acres and eventually founded the Arizona
Folklore Preserve. He had found his
place or had the place found him. It was
from a small ranch house, the Moffett House located on his property that he
first started performing and entertaining drawing intimate crowds who delighted
not only in his smooth baritone voice but also with the majestic scenery that
enveloped them.
Dolan Ellis
partnered with the University of Arizona
South in 2000 ensuring that the Arizona Folklore
Preserve will continue in the future and allowing the opportunity to build his
dream location – the current Folklore
Center that hosts a splendid
repertoire of entertainers ranging from cowboy poets to crooning balladeers and
from historical character interpretation to extraordinary instrumentalists and
vocalists.
Arizona’s
Official Balladeer had a dream of establishing a performing arts center where
the chronicles of the past could be brought together and shared in an intimate
setting. It was important that the stories, the folk tales and the heritage of
his western roots not only be preserved but also shared and repeated and what a
gift to be able to do so from such an incredible location. This new center
captures the spirit of the canyon with its splendid architecture that
compliments the landscape while inviting you to feel the atmosphere of its
surroundings. Pine and Sycamore trees
loom tall overhead and the rushing creek meanders its way right through the
property. This idyllic setting captures
our attention before we even enter the building and prepares us for the cozy
setting where we will be entertained.
We locate our
parking place with the kind assistance of volunteers and as we walk towards the
Center we watch a family of deer enjoying the afternoon meal. The scenery has captured me and the
tranquility is encompassing with a sense of peace and harmony. We cross the narrow walk bridge that spans
the width of the creek and leads towards the beautiful wooden deck that surrounds
the center’s entrance. A huge Sycamore
tree holds residence in the center of the deck with its limbs spread wide
across the beautiful blue sky. The
modern building the deck surrounds blends gracefully into the backdrop of the
canyon walls with the landscape rich with hues of green, gold and brown
offering a sense of rustic coziness and home-style comfort to all who
enter.
Again a pleasant
staff of volunteers sees to it that we are greeted and welcomed. We are shown to our seats in the intimate
theater where we find the chairs around the cozy round tables already filling
up fast. This is a small theater with 16 round tables that could accommodate
around 60 or 70 as well as a balcony that could hold 8 or 10 people. This is definitely an improvement over the
original Moffett House that could hold maybe 30 people.
The platform in
the front of the theater that serves as the stage is up close and personal and
crafted in such a way as to offer the feel of the rustic old west where the
entertainment came from campfire songs and tall tales told and told again. It is all so intimate and comfortable and
welcoming. I am sure that all in the
room were anxiously anticipating the afternoon’s entertainment.
Dolan Ellis
performs at the Center one weekend a month and a variety of other entertainers
share their talents throughout the year on the stage. This weekend we were treated to the
incomparable talents of Tim Weed who shared the stage with mandolin virtuoso
Mark Robertson-Tessi and vocalist Debbie
Daley. To state that Tim Weed is a great
instrumentalist and vocalist would be understating the talents this man brought
to the performance and what a gift his talents were to all who spent the
afternoon at the Folklore Preserve
Center. A few hours of incomparable
instrumental and vocal performances offered in such an intimate setting was the
perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
And when the afternoon’s performance came to a conclusion we took our
leave and enjoyed the last of the day’s sunshine as it crested over the
mountain top enveloping the canyon in a radiant beauty that bid us
farewell.
There are a
variety of performers booked to entertain at this delightful location this
coming year. Each weekend is planned to
bring the dream of preserving the western heritage in word and song to the
public and offers the incredible cultural entertainment in the natural setting
so deserving of it. It truly is a day
trip that combines the beauty of nature with the versatility of the human
talent.
A visit to the AFP’s
website will help you choose which weekend you want to reserve your seat. Be sure and bring your binoculars, as the
sights are incredible with Ramsey Canyon
being the hummingbird capital of the world.
Plan a picnic that can be shared on the grounds and bring your camera so
you can capture the beauty of this scenic and melodic day trip in southeastern Arizona.
This wonderful site offers a unique combination of country charm and nearby
convenience. The facility can be used
for many events and offers a picturesque place to hold your upcoming special
occasion, seminar or retreat. For more information contact the Arizona Folklore
Preserve at
www.arizonafolklore.com
or call (520) 378-6165.
The month of
January 2008 is a special month for the foundation, as the New Christie
Minstrels will be performing a benefit concert for the Arizona Folklore
Preserve. This one time special
performance will be held at the Buena Performing Arts Center at Buena
High School in Sierra
Vista on Saturday January 20th at 3:00 pm.
Dolan Ellis was an original member of this 1960’s folk group and this
special performance should bring back some fond memories of days gone by for
both the Christies and the audience. Tickets are $30 per person and can be
obtained through the Arizona Folklore Preserve’s website or purchased at the
Spur Western Wear locations in Benson and Sierra Vista. See you there!!!
|
Home Map, Directions,
Information Contact Us Performance
Calendar
Reservations
About Us Dolan Ellis
Newsletter
Meetings, Retreats & Private Parties
Guest Artists Ramsey Canyon Photo Gallery Links University of
Arizona South
visitors since 1/3/08
|
