Waddie remembers a cowboy who influenced his youth and beyond. Waddie Mitchell recites "Shorty" during the "Paying Tribute" show at the 39th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Waddie Mitchell
Jiggs, NV
Waddie Mitchell was immersed in the cowboy way of entertaining as a boy on the Nevada ranches where his father worked. The art of spinning tales in rhyme and meter about a rich lifestyle of pushing cows and living off the land came to be called cowboy poetry. Waddie recites the older classics as well as his own works, eloquently expressing moments grand and common, humorous and tragic. In 1985, Waddie helped organize Elko’s first Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Waddie has been inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and has received the Nevada Heritage Award from the Nevada Arts Council. In 2017, he released Cohorts & Collaborators, an album featuring nine top western artists who have co-written songs with Waddie. He keeps busy writing, publishing, and recording.

"Shorty"

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Filmed in front of a live audience with help from the E. L. Wiegand Foundation at the Western Folklife Center’s G Three Bar Theater on Feb. 2, 2024.

Made possible by the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

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