Sounds on the Range

Story by Melanie Jones

Every year on the last weekend of September, cowboys scoot into the city of Winnsboro. They’re not there to round up cattle or ride in a rodeo. They come to share stories from the range through poetry and music.

In the days when cattle and cowboys roamed the plains of the Southwest, life could get monotonous and lonely. When the stars came out and cowboys circled round the fire for the night, they’d make up poems and songs to keep each other company and entertain the group. The open range is long gone in most of the American West, but those cowboy traditions live on through events like the Winnsboro Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering.

Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell organized the first gathering in 1984 in Elko, Nevada, attracting a crowd of 2,000. He pulled together ranchers who told stories. “Once they came together––there were about 40 cowboy poets there––it was clear from the beginning that they had really discovered an artistic community that hadn’t been realized before,” Winnsboro Center for the Arts President Mary White says. “They call it a gathering because they wanted to emphasize that they were sharing their stories. It wasn’t a competition.”

From those early days, the gatherings have grown. “There are cowboy poets all over the country,” Mary says. “Of course, there are still far more out in the West and Southwest, but it’s getting to be more and more popular.” Winnsboro held its first gathering in 2019. It’s one of three major cowboy poetry gatherings in Texas, and the only one in East Texas, Mary says. The cowboy footprint in East Texas is smaller than out west, but Mary says, “There’s still plenty of stories to share.”

The cowboy culture in Winnsboro isn’t limited to the gathering. Three years ago, the arts center started holding open mic nights on the second Thursday of each month on the Bowery Stage. “It’s really for anyone interested in sharing songs or poetry,” she says. “But I think what’s happened is that the majority of people who participate are really cowboys. It’s been really exciting for us because they’re not the people that you might expect to walk into an arts center, and yet here they’re coming from as far away Longview and Tyler to participate.”

The open mic nights have drawn good crowds, too. “Many of the townspeople come because it’s free entertainment and good music,” Mary says. The open mic nights have been so successful, the arts center has split off a poetry session. “So, a lot of our local performers for our cowboy poetry gathering come out of that open mic night.”

There is also an economic benefit to the gathering. “These professionals, they have some loyal followers. For example, we have one family from Pennsylvania who comes every year just because they follow Andy Hedges,” Mary says, referring to one of the performers. “So, it’s very interesting to meet the people who are drawn in by all of this.”

The annual Winnsboro Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering, set for Sept. 26-27, offers plenty of free entertainment outside of the paid concerts and presentations in the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. Activities on the Bowery—the pedestrian area in front of the arts center—and the lot on Elm Street include square dancing, roping and corn husk doll-making demonstrations, as well as mule rides. There will also be face painting and miniature golf for the kids.

In addition to selections from local vendors, a chili dinner will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday. Visitors on Saturday can enjoy a sampling from an authentic chuckwagon. The chuckwagon will be parked on Elm Street and will serve from 11 a.m. until the food runs out. New this year is a reenactment on Saturday by Los Diablo Tejanos, the Texas Rangers from 1823 to 1880. Local musicians will take the outside stage from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Saturday. All those activities are free.

The paid action is inside, with three performances each Friday and Saturday. At 1 p.m. Friday, Andy Hedges and Pipp Gillette take the stage for “Cowboy Culture Conversations.” Jay Snider, Teresa Burleson and Bob Campbell will perform cowboy poetry at 4 p.m., and the evening concert at 7:30 will feature Pipp Gillette, Andy Wilkinson and Kristyn Harris. Saturday’s entertainment starts with regional poets and singers at a free show from 10-11:30 a.m. “We’ve had poets come to the stage all the way from Wyoming,” says Delyse Hart, chair of the Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering. “And they come for free. It’s very impressive because they’ve heard about this, and they want to be a part of it.” The paid performances on Saturday begin at 1 p.m. with more “Cowboy Conversations.”

This time, Andy Wilkinson joins Andy Hedges. Western swing music gets underway at 4 p.m. with the Krystyn Harris Trio. The weekend wraps up with Carnegie Cowboys Concert with Andy Hedges, Rod Taylor and Joel Nelson at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, prices and menus for meals and tickets to the top performances, go to winnsborocenterforthearts.com.