Columnist Susan Snyder: Gathering resurrects Old West

Monday, Nov. 17, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.

Don Edwards is the reason I bought cowboy boots.

I barely know a cinch strap from a bridle bit, and the only horse I've ever ridden at length is on a merry-go-round.

But Edwards, a world-renowned cowboy singer from Weatherford, Texas, once told me that every time someone buys a hat or a pair of boots, it helps keep the memory of the Old West's cowboys alive.

It's been probably eight years since I spoke with Edwards, who was scheduled to sing at a western life festival in Logan, Utah. I was the music writer at a small Utah newspaper and had moved from the other side of the Mississippi River about a year earlier.

I had no idea what a "cowboy singer" was. But three hours after picking up the telephone that day, I had pretty good picture of a bigger-than-life cowboy hero.

Edwards spoke of growing up as a vaudeville magician's son and of his love for those Saturday cowboy matinee movies and the books of Will James. He taught himself to play guitar and was a rodeo groupie and worked ranches on his way to a western music career.

The guy has spent whole vacations buried in records at the Library of Congress researching old cowboy trail songs.

His declaration that modern country-western music "is neither of either" was incredibly refreshing after having interviewed more than a couple of pop country stars who posed for album portraits holding guitars they had no idea how to play.

So it comes as no wonder that the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering concerts featuring Edwards are among the first to sell out.

The gathering, scheduled to run from Jan. 24 to Jan. 31 in Elko, is celebrating its 20th year.

The U.S. Senate branded the gathering as an official "national" event in 2000. It also has gained attention as one of Rand McNally's "Cool & Unusual Events."

Conducted by the Western Folklife Center, the gathering is designed to help the 23-year-old nonprofit organization to achieve its goal of "preserving, presenting and perpetuating the varied traditions of the American West."

This year's event features not only the sounds of Edwards, but the poetry of Elko resident and nationally acclaimed cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell. A complete listing of the 60 artists scheduled to perform can be found at www.westernfolklife.org.

Workshops are to include instruction on blacksmithing, rawhide braiding, song and poetry writing, western dancing, wilderness packing and cooking for a mess of ranch hands or a group of Basque sheepherders.

A Jan. 28 workshop will attempt to solve the ongoing conflicts between conservationists, farmers and ranchers.

While it's true that a lot of the major shows have been sold out for weeks, there still are tickets to some events available. Information can be obtained on the website listed above or by calling (775) 738-7508.

The day after I interviewed Edwards I blew a good-sized chunk of my paycheck on the boots.

Black with red toes, they look like something Dale Evans would have worn on the big screen rather than something she'd have worn on the ranch.

Was I driven by a totally romantic view of the Old West? Of course. But a little romance never hurt anybody.

This year, for my birthday, I bought the hat.