REVIEWS

Western & Country Music and Book Reviews

Horseman, Roughstock & Rawhide
By Kevin McNiven
Rocking Double D Productions
Lander, Wyoming
Approx. 46 minutes
$15.00 compact disk, $10.00 cassette

Not every western singer is a cowboy, but I’ve seen Kevin McNiven ride and can assure you he is one— in every inch of his body. His newest offering, Horseman, Roughstock & Rawhide, is a tribute to cowboys —indeed, to true horsemen.

The song “The Horseman,” penned by McNiven with his son Tyler (also quite a cowboy), is a tribute to the men who ride for a living, but it’s about much more than forking a horse. As the lyrics go, “There’s more to a horseman than the way that he rides / What makes him a man are deeds that often hide. / His word is a bond, a shoulder to lean on, / His lifestyle is a code of days bygone.”

“Cowboy Lullaby,” co-written with his mother Dorothy McNiven, is a poignant portrait of a cowboy caring for a baby, knowing that the child will change the cowboy’s life, and yet also be a continuation of the cowboy legacy: “As I sat swinging the baby, I dreamed of days gone by, of days riding under a wide sky… Your tiny hands have untied my heart, you’re the fulfillment of my dreams.

”I had the rare privilege of watching Kevin ride one day near Cody, Wyo., and listening to him sing at the same time. I can say that the words of his songs truly came to life as he casually crossed the North Fork of the Shoshone River and took an almost vertical path up to an open ranch meadow. He brought new life to the words “singing cowboy.” —Candy Moulton

Kin to the Wind: Memories of Marty Robbins
By Don Edwards
Western Jubilee Recording
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Approx. 40 minutes
$15.00 compact disk

“Kin to the Wind,” the title cut on Don Edwards’ tribute album to Marty Robbins, is a haunting song that becomes better with every playing. Penned by Ronny Robbins, it’s destined to become a classic.

Don Edwards, known to many by his nickname of “The Balladeer,” notes that early in his career “I always thought that if I could… sing like Marty Robbins that would be as good as it gets. As strange as it may seem, I never consciously tried to sound like Marty. I was searching for my own sound almost from the start, but subconsciously Marty was always there.”

His newest album reflects that influence, with Marty Robbins songs including “Saddle Tramp,” “Begging To You,” “San Angelo,” “Old Red,” and that powerful piece, “Man Walks Among Us.” But it is “Kin to the Wind” that bridges the songs of Marty Robbins to Don Edwards and of course, Ronny Robbins. Edwards delivers these songs in his usual, heartfelt way, making this album one of his best.
— CM

Cowpuncher
By Kurt Markus
Wild Horse Island Press
Kalispell, Montana
112 pages, with photos
$85.00 postpaid, hardcover

It’ll be enough, for much of the cattle ranch crowd, just to know that another Kurt Markus book has at last been published. For the rest, there’s this writeup, plus our article on his work on pp. 34-37.

Cowpuncher is a keeper. The Markuses—Kurt and Maria—spared no expense on this self-published work, brought out in a limited edition run of 5,000 copies. The heavy, high quality paper makes the reproductions remarkably rich and detailed. This big (14" by 11") lavish volume is largely visual, filled mostly with images reproduced in sepia-toned duotones, but it is a fine read as well.

Markus’ photography is well known, his prose less so. Yet the writing, executed in a put-yourself-into-the-milieu, New Journalism sort of style, is distinctive and evocative. Consider this bit: “He wore a black hat, shaped in the region’s accepted style, and when he tipped his head down, which he often did, you could see the red dirt of the Texas panhandle caked around the sweatband and in the crease on top. When he talked, he talked in jerks, and even when he just sat, his body shuddered, as if he’d just thought of something something to say, but instead of saying anything, his body twitched instead. I asked what kind of cowboys the Matador had working for them. ‘They’re not cowboys,’ he replied with complete disgust, ‘they’re just people.’”

And there’s this: “I learned how to load film horseback, at a trot or lope, in driving snow. I learned that some horses, no matter how gentle, had never been ‘Velcro Broke,’ and I took care to slowly peel my camera cases and pockets open. I learned how to be ready, to stay out of the way, ‘to keep my mouth closed and let my knowledge accumulate.’ ” Cowpuncher is Markus at his best. This book will be remembered around campfires for many years hence.
—Jesse Mullins, Jr.

Eighteen Miles from Earth
By Wayne Bristow
Professional Press
Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Distributed by Total Life International Ministries
Edmond, Oklahoma
305 pp., $18.00 paperback

Wayne Bristow, founder and president of Total Life International Ministries, is a crusading Baptist evangelist. This largely autobiographical collection of anecdotes and observations from his youth in Muleshoe, Texas, serves up a generous slice of humor, nostalgia, gentle reminiscing, and small town America. The charm of the book lies in its easygoing simplicity.

Here are recollections of clod fights, Nu-Grape, aggie jokes, Hot Ralston cereal, “the marvel of holding a baby horned toad” in one’s hand, Saturday western matinees, Red Ryder comic strips, and hometown Friday nights. It is a book of images and moments: An aging, ailing Babe Ruth, standing on the platform of a departing railroad car, waving to residents of Muleshoe; the smell of barber shop hair tonic; the sights and sounds of a bygone time.

Bristow skillfully weaves some tall tales and leg-pulling asides into the mix. It’s a recipe as fine as the downhome cooking he describes in such appetizing detail. See cowboy.com for the website for his e-zine, Total Life Journal, which often carries a sample chapter from the book.
—JFM

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