Calling all grownup youngsters nostalgic for the Wild West of yore and the singing cowboys on the silver screen who yodeled their way into their hearts at Saturday matin?es. The Grammy Award-winning Riders in the Sky gallop back into the Birchmere corral after lassoing their three most recent trophies at the 2010 Western Music Association Awards show. Along with being named the Outstanding Entertainer-Group of the Year for the umpteenth time, they trotted off with the Album of the Year and the Collaborative/Composite Album, the latter two for “Lassoed Live at the Schermerhorn” with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
| If you go |
| Riders in the Sky |
| Where: The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria |
| When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday |
| Info: $25; 703-549-7500 or birchmere.com |
During the past 33 years, their imprint on the American psyche has reverberated time and again. Induction into the Grand Ol’ Opry, the Western Music Association’s Hall of Fame, the Country Music Foundation’s Walkway of Stars, the Walk of Western Stars, and five Wrangler Award statuettes from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum are a mere sampling of the dozens of honors they have amassed.
How did a theoretical plasma physicist, a wildlife manager, an English major and a Polka Hall of Fame member morph into America’s favorite singing cowboys?
“We all loved music, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and complex harmonies,” said Ranger Doug, the guitarist/baritone. “All I ever wanted was to be a musician. The singing cowboy is not only old Americana, but the concept was old when we started out in Nashville 33 years ago.
“Woody (fiddle/tenor/rope tricks) is the only one of us from Tennessee. The rest of us Yankees wandered down there looking for audiences to entertain. Joey already had experience playing his accordion in contests, so we started performing together before we had a name. Slim (bass/tenor) was leafing through some record albums when he came upon the song ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky.’ That was it! We bought great big hats and an electric campfire and were on our way.”
Outfitted in Western garb and bursting with yodeling competence, Riders in the Sky strike a chord with singing cowboy fans wherever they perform in this country and throughout the world. They have discovered that people everywhere love to relive the fantasy of the American west. In England, they even ran into some clubs that dress up as cowboys and Indians.
Their 21 albums are jam-packed with their original songs, as well as some traditional favorites that hark back to campfires amid sagebrush and Hollywood sound stages. Each member composes alone, then brings his song to the group for tweaking and harmonizing. When backed by a symphony orchestra, they leave the arrangements to professionals. They will release an album of inspirational tunes before heading to a big festival in the wine country of western Australia.
Although their albums are coveted by record collectors, most agree that nothing beats a live performance mixing harmonious music and hilarity. Ranger Doug calls Slim the wittiest member, the group’s inspiration for cracking even cornier jokes.
“People like to laugh and be entertained to get away from their everyday worries,” he said. “By preserving the spirit of the American West, we pass along the joy and laughter they remember from days gone by.”
