FEATURING: Maria Lisa Eastman, Kristyn Harris, Deanna Dickinson McCall, Trinity Seely.

The theme for this show is one that will be familiar to ranch families--ranch things getting done by women with a proclivity toward horses! Join self-proclaimed "horse-crazy" poet Maria Lisa Eastman, trick rider, yodeler and singer Kristyn Harris, writer Deanna Dickinson McCall who has horses in her veins, and "Horse Director" and songstress Trinity Seely for an afternoon of entertainment that never strays far from the equine inspiration. Expect songs and rhymes about the ranch business of keeping the forelocked family members happy.

Hosted by Jon Griggs.

From the 39th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

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PLAYLIST

"Claybank and Silver Belly" - Maria Lisa Eastman
"Get Bank On Again and Ride" - Trinity Seely
"Old Guard" - Deanna Dickinson McCall
"Acres of Nowhere" - Kristyn Harris
"Eohippus" - Maria Lisa Eastman
"Little Things" - Trinity Seely
"I'll Ride Through It" - Deanna Dickinson McCall
"The Mule Song" - Kristyn Harris
"El Dia de Los Muertos" - Maria Lisa Eastman
"Shadow on the Cutbank" - Trinity Seely (words by Joel Nelson + music by Trinity Seely)
"When the Day is Over" - Deanna Dickinson McCall
"Hustle and Hope" - Kristyn Harris
"Family of Yearlings" - Maria Lisa Eastman
"Lessons I've Learned" - Trinity Seely
"His Queen" - Deanna Dickinson McCall
"The Auctioneer" - Kristyn Harris (words + music by Buddy Black + Leroy Van Dyke)
"Air to Earth" - Maria Lisa Eastman
"Indigo" - Trinity Seely
"A Few More Years" - Deanna Dickinson McCall
"Texas Plain" - Kristyn Harris (words + music Stuart Hamblen)

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Maria Lisa Eastman.
Sonoita, AZ
Maria Lisa Eastman and her husband Skip recently retired from their farm and ranch in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin. They now live in Sonoita, located in the high desert grasslands of southeast Arizona. Maria Lisa is really enjoying the softer weather and more time to continue her lifetime work with horses and their people. In 2018, Maria Lisa published a collection of her poetry, Regarding the Others. In 2022, she compiled and edited the anthology A Gathering of Voices: Poems and Stories from the Wyoming Retirement Center written by the participants of her program Ponies and Poetry for Dementia Care. She is currently working on a manuscript entitled Horse Nation.

Kristyn Harris
Burleson, TX
Kristyn Harris is a singer, songwriter, and entertainer known for her western swing spin on original and classic songs of the rural lifestyle. Her music is heavily influenced by her own ranch life experiences and her love for Texas and the West. She has received accolades and recognition for her powerful voice, swing rhythm guitar chops, songwriting, yodeling, and energetic stage presence. Kristyn tours across the United States and internationally, both as a solo artist and fronting various band configurations. When she’s not touring, she’s kept busy with her Black Angus cattle herd or working her newest colt.

Deanna Dickinson McCall
Sickles, OK
Deanna Dickinson McCall writes about the American West, both past and present. Her work ranges from poetry to songs to prose to cookbooks, and has been recognized with numerous awards. Deanna has cows, horses, and a love of the land bred into her, coming from a family that began ranching in Texas in the 1840s. She has ranched in several western states, including 22 years raising her family on a remote Nevada ranch without phones or electricity. She’s also ridden for paychecks, sold feed, and received cattle at sales yards to make ends meet. She now ranches with her husband in western Oklahoma.

Trinity Seely
Ojai, CA
Trinity Seely's life has taken her to many different places, from the Chilcotin of British Columbia to the high deserts of central Wyoming to the Big Belts outside Cascade, Montana. She now lives in Ojai, California, where she is Director of The Thacher School’s Horse Program. Living and working on cattle ranches across the West has given Trinity a personal perspective on and appreciation for a lifestyle that some say is disappearing. As Jennifer Dennison wrote in Western Horseman, "Music and storytelling are as much a part of working on a ranch as a saddle is to riding horses. Trinity Seely embraces the oral traditions of the cowboy life and offers a musical window into her life as a cowgirl and ranch wife."

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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center’s Laurena Moren Theater on Feb. 3, 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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