I would be fibbing if I said I haven't been looking forward to this night for a straight up year. I was counting down minutes, hours, days, weeks, and whatever else I could count, for this double-header at the Musco Center for the Arts on the campus of Chapman University.
What? Does it bother you I'm almost ALWAYS on campus? They aren't rid of me that easily. I was just there recently for Homecoming, as a matter of fact (which I was going to blog about because there was excellent chili involved, but I missed my deadline), but I digress.
First up, were the talented, ever-incredible Quebe Sisters from Dallas, Texas. I've said this before, so I'll say it again: I've said this before. Triple fiddling is tragically underrepresented in any genre, but especially old time country music where it really has a chance to shine. These three girls do a beautiful job bringing everything triple fiddling has to offer on the stage.
From stage left to right, Hulda, Grace, and Sophia, stood in a row, and synchronized their bowing and harmonies to absolute perfection. I'll bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player too, and I'll tell you in my fiddle-playing-opinion that the hardest part of fiddling is nailing down the bowing. To have even TWO fiddlers bow in synchronization is a feat of pure magic. But to have THREE! You have to be absolutely perfect to be able to accomplish that.
Just behind the sisters stood Daniel Parr on Bass, and Simon Stipp on guitar. The sisters sang some of the old classics, songs like "Navajo Trail" which they originally recorded with Asleep at the Wheel and Willie Nelson, "Sally Goodin", (which is one of the first fiddle tunes ever recorded back in 1922 by Eck Robertson, but I digress again), Wayfaring Stranger, Leavin' and Sayin' Goodbye, Every Which A-Way, and an original that Sophia wrote called "My Life, My Love, My Friend".
You can't beat that tight sibling harmony. The Quebe Sisters kept the audience captivated until it was time for intermission. But the fun was only beginning.
At the conclusion of intermission, a projection screen began playing old clips of the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers. Those who know me know that Roy Rogers is one of my biggest childhood heroes right alongside Davy Crockett. It was such a blast reliving my childhood through those old movie clips.
Then along came the Riders in the Sky for their seven thousand and something somethingth appearance. Celebrating their 39 year and 50 week anniversary (the 40th anniversary celebration is in two weeks), the Riders brought nothing but high energy straight from Harmony Ranch, to the Musco Center. On stage left, there was Too Slim, master of the bunkhouse bass and expert with the beautiful antique face. Standing next to him was the Idol of the American Youth, Governor of the Great State of Rhythm, Ranger Doug on the archtop guitar. Next was the King of Cowboy Fiddlers Woody Paul. That man makes fiddling look as effortless as blinking. Last, but by no means the least was the prodigy of the Stomach Steinway, Joey the Cowpolka King.
The Riders sang songs that turned back the pages of time to the days before barbed wire fences and railroads crossed the western plains to bring an end to the cattle drives. Every single Buckaroo and Buckarette in attendance felt as if they, too, were back in a Town Hall in the early days of the West. The Riders delighted the audience by telling them how yodeling started (in song, of course), with Ranger Doug, Woody Paul, and Too Slim demonstrating a classic "tag team" style of yodeling. The Riders also sang some of my absolute favorites like "Blue Shadows on the Trail", "Pecos Bill", "Rawhide", "Wahoo, Wahoo, Wahoo", and some more, dipping in to the Roy Rogers portfolio.
Then, the projection screen played a tribute to Roy's memorable sidekicks: Trigger, Dale, and Gabby. Another fun time of reliving my childhood.
It just so happens, the Riders in the Sky brought their official sidekick with them, too! After an impressive introduction by Ranger Doug, Side Meat came shambling from backstage to greet the audience. Besides being a former Yukon miner and a bass player, Side Meat is fluent in GSL (Gibberish as a Second Language). He demonstrated these bilingual talents in a cowboy poem he wrote called "Let's All Praise Gabby Hayes".
After Side Meat shambled away and Too Slim reappeared on the other side of the stage, the Riders recounted their two Grammy wins. Too Slim remembered how he got to meet Eminem and assured him that he was Too Slim, the real Too Slim, all the other Too Slims are not the same as him, so would the real Too Slim please stand up, please stand up...
The Disney medley was another blast from my childhood. "Woody's Roundup" has always been a favorite of mine, along with "You Got a Friend in Me".
With Woody Paul fiddling and dancing, Joey the Cowpolka King playing only the best accordion riffs imaginable, Ranger Doug yodeling and story telling, and Too Slim singing and joking, the experience can only be described as purely magical as they entertained us in the Cowboy Way.
For the encore performance, the Quebe Sisters and the Riders in the Sky sang "So Long to the Red River Valley" together, and brought a delighted audience to their feet. All in all, it was one of the most entertaining concerts I've ever attended. I sang til I couldn't sing, I laughed until I was crying, I marveled at the musicianship, and I suddenly realized I should probably start practicing my fiddle again.
At the autograph table and Too Slim's Mercantile, I got to meet my heroes (Ranger Doug for the second time). I leaned down to Too Slim and Joey the Cowpolka King and confessed that I wanted to be Ranger Doug when I grew up.
"Well you gotta pick one," Too Slim counseled me.
"Yeah, you can't have both," Joey the Cowpolka King agreed.
So after a night of tossing and turning and thinking about it, I realized there was no contest. I've decided to forfeit growing up. Now I just need to order a Ranger Doug cowboy hat in the mail.
Then we got to meet the Quebe sisters. Besides being absolute top-notch musicians, they're Texans. Can it get any better? My siblings and I have been following them for the better part of 8 years, ever since people would send us videos of them, saying things like "Hey look, more siblings who sing in harmony! One day you might be as good as them, but don't count on anything." The love and support is unreal.
Hulda Quebe heard our last name and confessed "Hey, I totally know you."
Let's not kid ourselves. She knows us obviously because she reads this blog of mine. She knows what's up. Never mind that she was pointing at my sister Danielle who has been Facebook friends with her for umpteen years. It's definitely this blog she was talking about. Be cool like Hulda. Read my blogs.
But, it was time to say "happy trails until we meet again", to them all as another unbelievably awesome night of music and entertainment was wrapped up at the Musco Center for the Arts. The Riders went on the never ending trail to bring good beef to hungry people, and the Quebe Sisters continued moving up through California to astonish more audiences. As for me and my siblings, we went home with two new albums to add to our collection, and the next morning were still excited about the epic-ness of the show.
This will forever go down in history as another Magical Musco Center moment. I can't wait to be there for the next one!
