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Chisholm Trail Stage

Written by Admin Sunday, 28 June 2009 21:57

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The Chisholm Trail is named for Jesse Chisholm who had built several trading posts in what is now western Oklahoma before the American Civil War. He died in 1868, too soon ever to drive cattle on the trail.

The trail was used in the late 1800s to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail stretched from the Red River, and on to the railhead  of the Kansas Pacific Railway in Abilene, Kansas, where the cattle would be sold and shipped eastward. The Chisholm trail stretched from around San Antonio, Texas to Abilene, Kansas.

The western branch of the Chisholm Trail was known as The Great Western Cattle Trail.  Also known as the Dodge City Trail and the Old Texas Trail and was utilized from 1874 for the movement of cattle to markets East. The trail began at Bandera, Texas and ended, most often, in Dodge City, Kansas. The entire trail extended from southern Texas to the Canadian border. Between 10 and 12 million cattle were driven north from Texas into Dodge City.

At The Old West Festival, The Chisholm Trail Stage is the place to be for period music that will be sure to get you stomping your feet and clapping your hands.

Changing Tymes

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 Changing Tymes
www.myspace.com/changingtymes2
Chisolm Trail Stage: 12:00-1:00 PM, 4:00-5:00 PM
A popular crowd pleaser, Changing Tymes relives American history through traditional folk songs and original ballads. It’s not uncommon for audiences to request old time favorites, and even sing along as the costumed band plays the guitar, upright bass, fiddle and banjo. Listen carefully to the original tunes written by Changing Tymes’ Tommy Lee Pressley as they tell the tales of sailing ships and war veterans. His own personal memories are intertwined in songs of the coal fields and lumber camps of Southwest Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. From the southern cotton mills to the steel industry, the paper mills of Ohio Miami Valley, the times are changing for Changing Tymes.
Gunpowder Creek

Gunpowder Creek
www.ripleybanjoworks.com
Chisolm Trail Stage: 10:00-11:00 AM, 11:00-12:00 PM, 1:00-2:00  PM, 2:00-3:00 PM
Forrest Utley and Ben Pedigo, the talented duo of Gunpowder Creek, combine the down home flavor of the Stanley Brothers with the sounds of contemporary American acoustic music. Visitors to Covington, Kentucky’s Strauss House will remember Forrest. He plays the guitar and harmonica, and sings with a soulful voice reminiscent of the old time flavor of Carter Stanley. Bluegrass fans will remember Ben as a performer on the Julia Belle Swain excursion boat. He has performed and recorded with Norman Blake, and toured with Bill Monroe. Ben's mandolin playing and singing are a great compliment to Forrest's vocals and guitar work. Ben also picks five string banjo.
Raison Detre

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 Raison D’Etre
www.raison3.com
Chisolm Trail Stage: 5:00-6:00 PM
Violet Rae Downey, Vickie Ellis, and Roberta Schultz are three women who live to sing together. A background in musical theater drives Violet's dramatic sense of song and fuels her incredible range as her percussive guitar pounds out the heart beat for the trio. Vickie combines classical piano training, a passion for folk instruments (banjo and banjuke) and her background in radio and theater to add spice and nuance to arrangements and homey chat to performances. Roberta’s finger-picking guitar styles, soulful song writing and Native drums (including a few that she made) craft Raison D’Etre’s Americana feel. Described by one critic as “divinely stirring,” their singing defines Raison D’Etre. According to Mike Breen of Cincinnati CityBeat, this folk trio offers “some of the finest three-part harmony singing you’ll likely ever hear.” Traditional folk songs, a capella swing tunes, and Shaker hymns round out their versatile repertoire, all delivered in their pure Kentucky blend. From 2000-2006, Raison D'Etre hosted the popular COFFEE CUP CONCERT SERIES in Northern Kentucky's Behringer-Crawford Museum, Covington. Outside of Kentucky, this folk trio appears at arts venues and festivals from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. They are MOVA Song Writing Festival (Guntersville, AL) finalists for 2007 for “Legacy” and “This Kind of Rain.” Violet Rae went on to win her category (Children’s/Humor) with “Legacy” while Roberta took third place honors in Folk/Bluegrass with “This Kind of Rain.” “Be True” by Roberta Schultz won an Honor Award from the Great American Song Contest in 2006 and appears on SouthernArtistry.org’s first CD compilation which was distributed at Performing Arts Exchange in Baltimore, 2006.
Ward and Bence
 Kendra Ward and Bob Bence
Chisolm Trail Stage: September 11, 3:00-4:00 PM
Russel Up Some Grub
 Russel Up Some Grub
Chisolm Trail Stage: September 12, 3:00-4:00 PM

Come and get it!  The Russell Up Some Grub String Band serves up hot old-time mountain tunes cooked with a fiddle, stirred with a banjo, seasoned with a doghouse bass, and spiced with a dash of ukejo. Save some room--there’s bound to be songs and bad jokes for dessert!  Russ Childers, fiddle, banjo, vocals; Barb Childers, ukejo, vocals; Mark Alexander, banjo, guitar, vocals; Rob Krantz, bass.
Hills of Kentucky Dulcimers
 Hills of Kentucky Dulcimers
Chisolm Trail Stage: September 18, 3:00-4:00 PM and October 9, 3:00-4:00 PM
Hills of Kentucky Dulcimers entertain their neighbors and communities with the beautiful music of the mountain dulcimers and traditional mountain insturments.
Rabbit Hash Rabbit Hash
Chisolm Trail Stage: September 19, 3:00-4:00 PM
"Just two hops and a jump" from the Ohio River in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, and
not a "fur piece" from Cincinnati, the Rabbit Hash String Band has been
pickin' tunes together for over a decade. The band features fine fiddling
from Warren Waldron paired to clawhammer banjo playing of Russ Childers,
with Judy Waldron and Barb Childers driving the tempo on guitar and banjo
uke. All members, without warning, have been known to belt out a song that
will take you "home" again. Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, is where I long to be;
cornbread, and 'lasses, and sassafras tea...
Second Wind
 Second Wind
www.secondwindgrass.com
Chisolm Trail Stage: September 25, 3:00-4:00 PM
Second Wind Bluegrass Duet formed two years ago out of a shared love for mountain music. Raven is the rhythm guitarist, harmony singer, autoharpist, and aspiring fiddler. Wolf is the lead guitarist, autoharpist, and tenor banjo player who sings lead and occasional harmony. Both are native central Ohio women as well as having been in other bands playing other types of music in the past, thus giving name to their second wind as musicians.
Waldrons
 Waldrons
Chisolm Trail Stage: September 26, 3:00-4:00 PM
The Waldrons will take you back in time … back to when folks got together on the porch when the work was done to sing the old songs and play the old tunes.  Everyone moved by horse or foot, so things were slow to change but sometimes a new song would come in from a traveler.  Beginning with the Frontier Trail at Cedar Point, Warren and Judy have been taking their fiddle and guitar to porches all across the state and delighting listeners with their old-time music.
KY Myle Duo KY Myle Duo
Chisolm Trail Stage: October 2, 3:00-4:00 PM and October 10, 3:00-4:00 PM
Ky Myle was the first Country band to perform at The Old West Festival.  In 2010 the dynamic duo of Pam Kelly and Rick (help me out here) from Ky Myle will leave behind their electric instruments and modern attire to perform the music that lead to thier passion. They will be performing originals and period tunes that will have the audience asking for more!
Ohio River Minstrels
 Ohio River Minstrels
Chisolm Trail Stage: October 3, 3:00-4:00 PM
Ohio River Minstrels celebrate our American heritage in story and song.  As musicians, singers, historians and composers, they highlight the persons, events and experiences that have helped shape our country's history and its culture. 

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A Kid Again

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Greater Cincinnati Donatos will be selling coupon booklets for the Old West Festival from Sept 1 through October 9 for $1. The booklets contain 4 free children admissions for 1 paying adult admission to the Old West Festival and one free individual one topping Donatos pizza coupons.

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