Echoes of the Trail 2012 Cowboy Gathering

Tickets are $20 per person for the whole weekend, or $10 per person for Friday night only and are available at Country Cupboard in historic downtown Fort Scott as well as through the mail (Echoes of the Trail 2012 Tickets, 2280 Hackberry Rd. Fort Scott, KS 66701) or buy securly online now.

3 Trails West

You won't want to miss this year's Echoes of the Trail Cowboy Gathering at Fort Scott Community College. Friday evening, June 8th at 7 p.m., 3 Trails West will grace the Academic Bldg. Round Room stage. These three cowboys harmonize like the old Sons of the Pioneers, and they want to get to know their neighbors in Fort Scott! They are from Overland Park, Kansas, and they play and sing foot stomping, much loved classic western swing and cowboy music. Their web site, http://www.3trailswest.com tells how the group evolved, and why it chose its name. Brothers Roger and Leo Eilts and Garry Bury make up the base group, which received the 2011 Crescendo Award from the Western Music Association. We are so glad to welcome them to Fort Scott, Kansas!

As usual, our own founders, Johnny Kendrick and Arnold Schofield will open each evening performance with Johnny's haunting “Echoes of the Trail” song and Arnold's reading of Bruce Kiskaddon cowboy poems.

Saturday, June 9th, Bailey Hall Round Room (Tentative)

10 a.m. Del Shields, Steve Porter, Cliff Sexton, and Steven Spalding
11 a.m. Sam Kiefer, D. J. Fry, Richard Dunlap, and Jake White
12 - 1 p.m. lunch at the chuck wagon or snack bar
1 p.m. Del Shields, Sam Kiefer, Johnny Kendrick, and Royce Smithey.
1 p.m. Cowboy songwriting workshop by Steven Spalding
2 p.m. Harold Carpenter, D. J. Fry, Richard Dunlap, and Joe Lester
3 p.m. Kids Cowboy Poetry Winners, then Open Microphone
4 p.m. Harold Carpenter, Joe Lester, Steven Spalding, and Jake White
5 - 7:30 p.m. break for dinner at snack bar or in town, time to sign Silent Auction sheets
7:30 p.m. Evening show opens with Cliff Sexton, Steven Porter, and Royce Smithey
8:15 - 8:30 p.m. Break to finalize Silent Auction purchases
8:30 p.m. Johnny Kendrick and sons

And we are pleased and thankful to the Lord that Harold Carpenter will be performing this year after recovering from a serious head injury.

Steven Porter

Steve Porter

Each year we try to showcase an entertainer new to Echoes of the Trail, and this year we have chosen Steve Porter who is coming all the way from South Carolina to recite traditional cowboy poetry. Steve received the Silver Buckle award in the serious reciter division of the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo. Steve's CD, "The Forgotten," is Number One of the Western Music Association's Top Ten Cowboy Poetry Albums. Visit his website at www.steveportercowboypoet.com.

Those who regularly attend the gathering look forward to a fun-filled weekend. Not only will you laugh, sigh, and even cry at some of these old cowboy tales, but your will have a hard time sitting still to the great guitar and banjo music. Most of our regular performers are members of the Missouri Cowboy Poets Association, and are dedicated to keeping the memory of the American Cowboy alive. These guys have raised cattle, ridden the range, been bucked off bulls, and in general, lived or are still living the cowboy way of life. When you see them and listen to them, you will know they are the real thing.

Johnny Kendrick & Sons

Of course, there will be the usual array of all sorts of tack, saddles, cowboy attire, hand braided things, art, music CDs and DVDs, western jewelry, home décor, and much more to peruse in the Academic Bldg. halls. Buck Rowland will again offer his delicious southwestern cuisine in the snack bar, and our chuck wagon cookies will serve an authentic cowboy meal Saturday afternoon and again Sunday morning after Cowboy Church.

Steven Spalding will again lead Cowboy Church at 9 a.m. June 10, and he will ask some of our performers to join him in inspirational music and words.

So, let yourself be drawn back in time the second weekend of June, and be a part of the Echoes of the Trail.