Jake Mulhane's Barn Dance

The great Babatunde Olatunji doing what he does best: inspiring us—even with a studio recording.

A beautiful melody by Jean Bosco Mwenda again…

I can’t think of a better way to honor ole Doc than to post these two wonderful films of him at the very beginning of his public career.

I can’t think of a better way to honor ole Doc than to post these two wonderful films of him at the very beginning of his public career.

itsmikerock:

Pure joy. Sure, at first, this 4 min. video is only great. But about 3/4 through, it just gets greater: Bill Monroe & Doc Watson “Sally Goodin” from 1990 Delaware Bluegrass Festival

There’s none better than Red Steagall (and the Coleman County Cowboys) to sing about the cowboy way of life. I would love to have a live film of them in concert—but, so far, haven’t found anything. The cowboys trusted him and he sang about what was really going on with them. Here’s one of my favorites.

Freckles Brown was a 46 year old cowboy who had been rodeoing a long time with some success but nothing special really. One night he drew Tornado—a bull that had been bucked 200 times and had never been ridden. On this night, Freckles Brown, did what no cowboy had ever done and rode ole Tornado.It is an immortal moment in rodeo, and Red immortalized it properly in this wonderful song.

Here’s a post for someone who was asking me about the old rodeo days. You want to see some real rodeo?  Then look at this film. This is the real thing.

When I look at the modern rodeo—with cowboys with protective gear and livestock that buck like machines—to be honest, its not so interesting to me. I honor all those cowboys that get on and ride every day, but it’s just something different than it was.

Take a look at this and tell me this isn’t the toughest thing you’ve ever seen. Look at those horses—all different sizes, all different styles of bucking. And the bulls—the same thing. That’s some real riding! Then find a film of the NFR finals from recent years—that stock is like machines.  You gotta be tough, you gotta be hard—but from where comes the modern Freckles Brown??

The Durbar in Kano this year was something not to be missed if you like horses and horsemanship.

jakemulhanescowboyexplorer:

The Emir of Kano arrives at the Durbar in Kano, Nigeria. 

westerbergology:

Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty (A Private Concert)

You know I love horses and horsemanship wherever you find them. This is a short film called “sukuwar nasawara”. In Hausa, this roughly translates to “Galloping Victory”. It represents an important part of the Durbar festivals that one finds in Nigeria. I am not so familiar with the specific robes of the Emirs of the north, but it looks like this iis the emirate of Kano. The important part of this video is to see that the horsemen charge the emir at a full gallop, only pulling up just before actually hitting him. Although it seems here as if they are charging the main door to the palace of the emir. This may be the symbolic way to charge toward him nowadays. It appears that he arrives later, but one never knows how the video was edited. It is an ancient tradition to race threateningly toward the chief only to pull up at the last minute.