<\/p>\n
A trio of yodeling, crooning, guitar-picking music artists will pay Montezuma County a visit this weekend. They bring a distinct brand of Western flair that has its roots in Texas, but that should resonate with anyone familiar with rural life on the range. And those who simply enjoy rollicking, upbeat rhythms.<\/p>\n
Kristyn Harris, Janet McBride, and the dynamic duo Miss Devon and the Outlaw are putting on three separate events: a concert in the Montezuma-Cortez High School auditorium Saturday night, a yodeling and guitar workshop in Dolores on Sunday afternoon, and a potluck\/concert at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center on Monday evening.<\/p>\n
Tickets for the M-CHS concert are $10 at the door, but children 12 and under get in free.<\/p>\n
For more information, call Mark Baker at 882-1433.<\/p>\n
MISS DEVON<\/p>\n
AND THE OUTLAW<\/p>\n
Devon Dawson \u2013 \u201cMiss Devon\u201d \u2013 and the Outlaw, Jessie Robertson, met in 2006 while performing at a stock show in Fort Worth, Tex.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been looking for a music partner. (Jessie) had natural ability to perform and entertain. I noticed we clicked with the harmonies on stage. And I liked the variety of male and female voices,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n
Western swing, their specialty, is distinct from country and bluegrass. Dawson describes the tone as lively and upbeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s influenced by Chicago-style jazz and New Orleans blues. But (Western) swing isn\u2019t as introspective as jazz, and not as simple or pedantic as country music. It has more spark and verve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
One of Dawson\u2019s passions is transferring her love of Western swing to the next generation. With McBride, she established the \u201cBuckaroo Club\u201d at the Cowtown Opry in 1998 to mentor and train youth up to age 18.<\/p>\n
Another connection to children \u2013 an experience she calls the highlight of her career \u2013 was being the singing voice of Jessie, the red-headed cowgirl doll in Disney\u2019s Toy Story 2. Dawson does not feature in the film itself, but she voiced two songs on the soundtrack released several months after the movie.<\/p>\n
A fortuitous sequence of events preceded her landing the role of Jessie. Whether it was blind luck or divine intervention \u2013 as a devout Christian, Dawson believes she was \u201csupposed to be there that day\u201d \u2013 she certainly didn\u2019t plan it.<\/p>\n
While at a music festival in Okla., she started yodeling during an impromptu jam session. Riders in the Sky, the band headlining the festival, was involved with the Toy Story soundtrack, and they took notice of her voice, thinking it had the right girlish qualities to fit the character of Jessie. But, before they could catch her name, they lost track of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a Cinderella story. The started a search for the girl who fit the glass boot. They called everyone they knew and eventually found me through a (mutual friend).\u201d<\/p>\n
The film producers flew her to Nashville, Tenn. to record the songs, which she did despite a nagging head cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drank a lot of hot ginger tea with honey and lemon,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
KRISTYN HARRIS<\/p>\n
Harris is a relative newcomer to the Western swing scene at age 18. She only picked up a guitar four years ago, when she enrolled in Dawson and McBride\u2019s Buckaroo program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first joined, I had only performed once, at an open mic event in my small hometown. I knew a few chords and simple songs, but I was very shy and timid, and didn\u2019t know my instrument well,\u201d she said. \u201cWith their help I learned fancier songs and increased my repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris admits that learning to yodel has its growing pains. The first attempts are an unpleasant listening experience for all involved, so she quarantined herself, out of earshot, to try it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI practiced where no one could hear: out on the pasture, on my horse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But she caught on quickly.<\/p>\n
Harris is spending a lot of time on the road these days. After Cortez, she\u2019s off to California and Arizona. Later this year she\u2019ll make stops in Ohio, Missouri, Colorado (again) and New Mexico.<\/p>\n
While Harris loves making music \u2013 \u201cwhen I\u2019m on stage, I can\u2019t stop smiling,\u201d she says \u2013 she doesn\u2019t want to rely solely on it as a career. The music business is unpredictable and demanding, as many aspiring artists discover the hard way. So she\u2019s taking online college classes as a backup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to take (life) as it comes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
JANET McBRIDE<\/p>\n
When Harris and McBride appear together, the old and new worlds of Western music meet. At age 79, McBride \u2013 nicknamed the \u201cYodeling Queen\u201d \u2013 has seven decades of experience under her belt buckle. She said her inseparable attraction to yodeling is \u201chard to explain,\u201d but it happened early in life. She got hooked while listening to local radio as a girl in the 1940s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned by osmosis. I heard it and couldn\u2019t get it out of my head,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cMy family lived in rural Maine. (Yodeling) was really all I did in my youth!\u201d<\/p>\n
The trick to successful yodeling is learning to \u201charmonize with yourself,\u201d McBride said. \u201cYou\u2019re alternating between your regular singing voice and your falsetto voice, kind of like the Tarzan yell. But it\u2019s not down in your throat \u2013 it\u2019s not gargling. It\u2019s more refined than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yodeling has connotations with Western music now, but it originated in the Central Alps, she explained. When Swiss and other European immigrants came to U.S. shores, they brought their traditions along. It then spread through the Appalachians and into the south. Artists like Jimmy Rogers, Gene Autry, Patsy Montana and Hank Williams integrated it into their songs.<\/p>\n
McBride is still involved with the Fort Worth Buckaroo program.<\/p>\n