Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Sourdough Slim and the Cowboy Festival


We went to the final day of the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival on Sunday. It was formerly the Santa Clarita Cowboy Poetry Festival, for many years, but I guess Poetry sinks the audience-- not sure why that changed. There was actually a signifigant drop in audience size from the year before. So many gray haired guys dress up in their once a year (I'm guessing) cowboy duds for this event and look really great. Far fewer are women in theme clothes. It's held at Melody Ranch, where many Westerns over the years were filmed.

We were absolutely won over by Sourdough Slim, an eccentric vaudeville style cowboy, who created a unique persona with hints of W.C. Fields, Cliff Edwards, Frankie Marvin, and his own nice singing style and great physical comedy. http://www.sourdoughslim.com
I bought his CD, and low and behold my old buddy Robt. Armstrong plays the musical saw and Hawaiian guitar on some of the cuts. Small world.