From the President

Atlantic Stampede 2008 came and went and we came thru with no major injuries (although Beth B. did have an incident with a poncho). Hanna tried to break our spirits, but she didn't win. We pushed two days of rodeo onto Sunday.

In the past several months announcements have been posted in the newsletter that elections for the Board of Directors are coming up. The positions up for election are Vice President, Secretary (both 2-year terms) and IGRA Trustee (3-year term, set by IGRA). Nominations are still being accepted. Please contact our elections chair Lonni L. at and Beth B. at [an error occurred while processing this directive] to submit your nomination. (see bottom of our last newsletter for details)

The date of the elections meeting is Saturday December 13th. Keep an eye on the webpage for the time and location. We will also be voting on the annual budget at this meeting.

At the August meeting of the Board of Directors, we had to make a very tough decision regarding Atlantic Stampede 2009. In looking at the numbers (contestants, ticket sales, sponsorships, etc) we made the decision to not have a rodeo in 2009. In addition to the election of new officers and voting on the budget, this item is also on the agenda for the December 13th meeting. If you would like more information, please make plans to attend this important meeting.

Keep an eye on the calendar for upcoming fundraisers for ASGRA.

Mike S. ASGRA President

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away....

Once a-pun a time there was a little group of cowboys and cowgirls who lived in a little county called ASgra.

One day the Asgroinainas decided to hold a weekend full of fun, so the great Wizard of ASgra declared that they should invite all the people of the land to come and enjoy the festivities.

After lots of planning, it was decided that they should also bring all their four legged friends. They would all play cowboy rodeo. Using ropes, they would tie each other up and wrestle in the dust, dirt and mud, and generally have a great time, except for the Girlhatten Prairie Dogies who just couldn't possibly get their tutus all muddy.

It was all set but the wicked witch of the south east, Hanna, didn't want anyone to have any fun. So Hanna came in on Friday night and huffed and puffed and dumped 5 inches of rain on the little country of ASgra.

Everyone worried whether or not they could pull off the event, so they asked the happy pair-of-medics (or was that gay paramedics?), who decided they could not guarantee the safety of the munch-kids, so they decided to call off the outside events.

The little Asgroinainas retreated into their hotel of brick and glass. While Hanna huffed and puffed and tried in vain to blow their hotel in, the Asgroinainas danced away the afternoon and on into the night.

That evening the good witch of the north east, Hi Presser, (don't all queens need a presser) came along and gently pushed Hanna away. The sky cleared and the land began to dry out.

Sunday morning, the great Wizard of ASgra pulled on his ruby colored rubber hip boots and trudged out into the mud of the arena to assess the damage, (or was that just to slop around and play in the mud). The land was drying so it was decided to hold both days' events on Sunday.

Many Asgroinainas stayed home, thinking the festivities were totally cancelled, but those that "came" had a ball at the ball, not to mention the rodeo. The vendors had lots of sweet candy for the little Asgroinainas, and the rodeo had lots of eye candy for the big Asgroinainas.

While the turnout was low, overall the Asgroinainas really enjoyed the weekend and look forward to another fun rodeo in the future.

And everybody lived happily every after.
May the farse be with you!

I thed vis vuz a thilly thory thiten't I ?

Now if anybody tells you Cowboy Frank wrote this, don't you dare believe it!
See our rodeo gallery for more photos.

Upcoming Events

October 5th at Remington's
639 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington DC
5pm - 8pm
Volunteer Reception and Awards
RSVP to [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Sunday October 19th
Freddie's Beach Bar & Restaurant
555 S. 23rd St., Arlington
9pm
Benefit for ASGRA
Angel M. and Rudy B. (Former ASGRA Royalty Members
If they can raise a minimum of $3,000 ($1,500 each), BOTH will be put in and perform in FEMALE drag. An event not to miss!!

Saturday December 13th
(Location and time TBA)
ASGRA Annual Holiday Party,
Elections and Budget Meeting

Last call for Conventioneers

As a rodeo contestant, have you ever felt that a particular rule needed changed? As a member of the rodeo community, have you ever wondered how rodeo rules are created or modified? Have you wondered how you can become more involved in rodeo at the international level?

If this sounds like you, here's an opportunity to participate as a delegate or alternate at this year's 24th IGRA Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana from October 29 - November 2, 2008.

If you need more information before you decide, check out the IGRA Convention website sponsored by LSGRA at www.lsgra.com/convention.html.

If you have any additional questions or would like to represent ASGRA at the convention, please email me at .

Come spend Halloween in New Orleans!!

Respectfully,

Mike Benner
ASGRA Trustee

Meet Me at the Fair

Editors note: This article was originally destened for a September newsletter, but due to personal issues (thoes comfort stations are just a bit too far apart, arn't they?) and my hectic schedule preceding the rodo, we didn't end up with a published newsletter for September.

What started out as a rainy and drizzly Sunday evening turned into a cool and cloud free night for the group of five ASGRA folks who made a group trip to the Dave Martin Rodeo at the Prince William County Fair in Manassas, VA. Myself, Wednesday, Glen, Greg and Jay all enjoyed a pleasant evening of fair food, midway games and entertainment.

The evening started out with what appeared to be threatening skies. Lighting flashed between the clouds and the precipitation alternated between a drizzle and a down pour. The five fairgoers took shelter at the entertainment barn where they passed the time watching a grand performance from the Bull Run Cloggers. The Cloggers stomped out their routine to tunes that ranged from traditional folk songs to more pop oriented fare. Greg was so impressed that he just about joined up with the group on the spot.

After watching the dancers it was off to the 4-H barns where the gang gazed upon goats. Glen was especially impressed with goat milking, asking questions of the little lady who was at task on the goats udders. Wednesday happened to make a new friend of one of the goat, causing Patrick to comment "She's found her perfect match." The goat owner commented, ""yeah, but it's [the goat] a girl." Little did she know (grin).

After checking out the animals, the gang was getting hungry. What better way to satisfy those cravings than with some great fair food: corn dogs, burgers, fries and top it all off with some soft serve ice cream or a funnel cake. At this point the sun was starting to peek-a-boo out from behind the clouds which made for ideal weather for walking the midway. Glen was getting ready for rodeo as he stopped at one of the vendors to try on some cowboy hats. The pink number that he donned was the best and funniest of them all. Wednesday, Jay and myself tried our hands at some of the games on the midway. Balloon darts was most successful for us. I won a little stuffed dog and Wednesday won a very soft stuffed frog. I also tried my skills at the skeet-ball, cheered on by our group, but unfortunately fell ten points short of being a winner there.

The Dave Martin Rodeo lived up to its Bullridemania name. The bull ride action was amazing. There were some fierce bucking bulls and some tough riding cowboys with 11 competitors riding in all. Additional rodeo events were Breakaway Roping for the women, Bull-Doggin' and Bronc Riding. The Bronc Riding provided its own level of excitement as one competitor almost bucked clear over the arena fencing. Some quick thinking from the rider and arena crew helped to keep the horse from becoming another midway attraction. Kids competed in the action as well with mutton busting, a sheep scramble and stick horse race. The latter of these events will be something that your little buckaroos will have a chance to compete in at Atlantic Stampede. See our Stampede page for details.

As the sun sunk low in the sky and the rodeo ended, the group took one last leg around the midway; ending their evening by the light of the moon and the lights of the merry-go-round as they took a twirl riding their own, slightly less bucking, horses.

See more photos in this special newsletter Gallery

Patrick Hunter
Trail Ride Coordinator
Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association (ASGRA)

Coosie's Corner

SKILLET CORN BREAD

Ingredients

• 4oz Cornmeal
• 4oz Flour
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp Salt
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 ½ Cups Milk
• 4 Tbsp Oil
• 3oz Cooked Corn Kernels

1. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, then beat in the milk, and oil. Pour this into the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in corn kernels.
3. Lightly oil a deep frying pan, warm it to hot, and pour in the flour mixture.
4. Cover tightly with lid or aluminum foil, if needed, and bake for 25 minutes.

Goes well with honey butter.

• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup honey

In a small bowl, combine butter and honey. Stir with wooden spoon until well blended.

Rodeo Position Outcome

Chute Dogging (Women): 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 1 Jackie T Jackie T 1 Jackie T 2 Cindy B   Chute Dogging (Men): 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 2 Rudy B 2 Destiny BC 4 Destiny BC 3 Lance H 5 Lance H 5 Lance H 7 Jason K 8 Destiny BC   Calf Roping on Foot: 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 4 Cowboy F 6 Cowboy F   Barrel Race (Men): 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 3 Jason K 2 Jason K 2 Jason K 5 Jim C 5 Jim C 5 Jim C 6 Forrest O 8 Danny B 7 Forrest O 8 Les B   Pole Bending (Men): 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 1 Jason K 3 Jim C 3 Jason K 4 Jim C 4 Jason K 4 Jim C 5 Forrest O 5 Forrest O 5 Forrest O   Flag Race (Men): 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 1 Jason K 1 Jason K 1 Jason K 5 Forrest O 4 Forrest O 4 Forrest O   Steer Deco: 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 1 Rudy B 2 Rudy B 1 Rudy B 1 Destiny BC 2 Destiny BC 1 Destiny BC 4 Anonymous C 3 Regina L 4 Lance H 4 Jackie T 3 Carolyn M 4 Micki-GSGRA 7 Lance H 7 Lance H 7 Micki-GSGRA 7 Micki-GSGRA   Wild Drag: 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 2 Rudy B 1 Rudy B 2 Rudy B 2 Destiny BC 1 Destiny BC 2 Destiny BC 2 Bryn G-ILGRA 1 Bryn G-ILGRA 2 Bryn G-ILGRA 3 Lance H 2 Connie M 3 Les B 3 Bruce H-FGRA 2 Little H-FGRA 3 Mary Lynn L-FGRA 3 Micki-GSGRA 2 Keith H-FGRA 3 Phil L-GSGRA 4 Les B 3 Cowboy M-CCGRA 4 Lance H 4 Mary Lynn L-FGRA 3 Wolf K-FGRA 4 Bruce H-FGRA 4 Phil L-GSGRA 3 Jennifer V-LGRA 4 Micki-GSGRA 5 Jackie T 4 Les B 5 Jackie T 5 Rocky K-MGRA 4 Mary Lynn L-FGRA 5 Rocky K-MGRA 5 Kelly S-MGRA 4 Phil L-GSGRA 5 Kelly S-MGRA 6 Connie M 5 Lance H 6 Connie M 6 Little H-FGRA 5 Bruce H-FGRA 6 Little H-FGRA 6 Keith H-FGRA 5 Micki-GSGRA 6 Keith H-FGRA 6 Jackie T 6 Rocky K-MGRA 6 Kelly S-MGRA   Goat Dressing: 1st Go: 2nd Go: Overall: 2 Rudy B 4 Rudy B 3 Rudy B 2 Destiny BC 4 Destiny BC 3 Destiny BC 5 Lance H 5 Jason K 6 Jason K 5 Micki-GSGRA 5 Ben M 6 Ben M 7 Jason K 7 Les B 7 Les B 7 Ben M 7 Jason V-FGRA 7 Jason V-FGRA

Music Reviews

1 star - Sucks, save you money and buy a beer
2 star - Borrow it from someone
3 star - Wait for it go on sale
4 star - Don't leave Wal*Mart without it
5 star - Stop whatever the heck you're doing right now, and download this puppy

The Lost Trailers
Holler Back

It seems that lately country music is moving toward three areas: Hick-Hop, Country-Rock (both hard and soft), and Country Pop. The latest album from The Lost Trailers straddles the first two. The title track, though it speaks of "having a city folk friend in a hip-hop world" making the singer "feel so doggone out of place", definitely has that Hick-Hop beat to it, where songs like "Blacktop Road" and "Things You Don't Grow Out Of" exemplify the latter.

Unlike, some folks in the music industry, neither of these dabbles in musical style bother me. I enjoy both as much as I do more traditional country that I've come to love over the last decade and a half as well as the more twangy country that those who are in a hip-hop world come to associate with country. Music is meant to make you feel good and in whatever style it does that is okay as long as you don't go too far or stray too much from the branch of the tree from which your musical roots have sprung.

The Lost Trailers manage to do a pretty good job of not growing out on a limb on this album. The afore mentioned "Holler Back" manages to bring in enough of those instruments that you think of with country music -- the pluck of the guitars and the sound of the fiddles - to provide enough of a country feel to the music to balance out the hip-hop rhythm of the lyrics. In addition, the turn of phrases in the song's lyrics help to illustrate the wink-wink point of the mix of country and hip-hop beats:

The only holler back that I know/
Is that holler back in woods/
Where the country folks got it good...
...It's a blast from the past/
all the cowgirls shaking their sassafras/

Where this experimentation goes overboard is in the final track called "Gravy" - which took me a couple of listens to figure out why the song was called that. The word is only mentioned toward the very end though the theme of song revolves around the green gravy that Wall Street and many banks seem to be missing lately. "Gravy" is definitely a Hick-Hop song; one that would turn off even some of the most liberal minded country fans. Do not expect this one to appear on radio stations at all. To hear it you'll have to get the CD to see what I mean.

In terms of the rock aspects of this CD, it's a comfortable listen, but not so much what I expect when I buy a country album. Part of what really helps the rock tunes to float is the raspy voice of lead singer Ryder Lee. He's got the voice that fits perfectly with these songs and calls to mind some of those rock singers of the not so distant past; think Bruce Springsteen without so much strain or Bob Seger. Not to mention that Lee is one handsome man. He's got a beautiful face; want to gaze into them eyes and some nice looking biceps; the kind that show some bulge, but aren't crazy defined. It's definitely worth taking a trip to Google to search images on this group for that, since, alas, the CD came sans more pictures than I would have liked, which happens to be the only real negative of this CD.

Jessica Simpson
Do You Know

I was ready to dismiss Jessica Simpson's country album solely on the fact that she was Jessica Simpson. But then I thought that I was being prejudice and that if I were really to be an open minded music listener that I needed to give her a shot. I do not regret doing that and was actually pleasantly surprised, but by no means blown away.

I tried very hard to get past the fact that it was Jessica Simpson that I was listening to and treat her as I would any other country artist with a new album, but you just can't get passed the sound of the voice. The rhythm and quality that's in it is clearly Jessica Simpson. By that I mean that Jessica has a very pop oriented sound to her voice through most of the CD. It sounds as if someone had taken a pop tune and just underlay country music with it. Despite all that the album does have its merits.

The title track, though cheesy in its drop everything your doing and let's get together provided in list format lyrics, i.e. "leave your ice cubes in your drink", it's actually has a pleasantly fast two-steppable melody. "Pray Out Loud" is actually a great and upbeat inspirational tune and "Remember That" is a very respectable shot at a Martina McBride or Reba McEntire-esque "battered-woman-get-yourself-together" tune told through the eyes of a friend. This tune is also told in list format, but it works much better than the first outing:

Remember how he pushed you in the hallway/
Just enough to hurt a little bit/
Remember the whiskey in his whispers/
and the lies that fell so easily from his lips...
When it's 3am and he's at your door...
...begging for forgiveness/
Remember That

The problem with the album is that Jessica is trying to be too many country things at once. In the three songs that I have just mentioned, you have a dance tune, a religious song and a battered woman song. "You're My Sunday" adds to this list. It recalls a little bit of those many Sunday songs that we have heard lately; i.e. "Raining on Sunday" and "Sunday Morning in America", plus on this tune, she tries too hard to be the country Diva. She belts it out in Martina style when the song would be much better off with a softer vocal turn to it. This problem carries over through a lot of the album. The next tune "Sipping on History" could be a great looking-back-on-our- life song when we're and old couple, but Jessica even manages to push the diva sound on that one toward the end, which lessens the impact of the tune.

This vocalization doesn't fail her completely. "Still Beautiful" uses her vocal abilities to good effect. Singing the song with heart in her voice just enough to provide that impact that country people look for in their music. "When You Loved Me Like That" is another good example of putting her voice to good effect. This is the perfect example of what Jessica Simpson should be striving for with her foray into country music. The only thing that ruins it is the very end tag line of "go home and make love to her and picture me, picture me, yeah, picture me." which gives what would be a good song a cheesy ending; especially with the way Simpson emphasizes it.

So with all of the above is Jessica Simpson someone who is good for country music? Not just yet, but she could be. On this first try she threw in too many kitchen sink items and it feels like songs were chosen based on what a country album should include rather than what Jessica likes as country. On this CD she is like that awkward teenager who hasn't grown into their full potential, but believe you me the potential is definitely there and I look forward to and hope for that growth; as a singer Jessica has it vocally, but just needs to make smarter choices about how, when and where to use those vocal abilities.

Darius Rucker
Learn to Live

When I mention that Darius Rucker has also moved to country music, you may be saying "Who?" Rucker was the front man for Hootie and Blowfish, and no that isn't an offering from Catalina Video with Cameron Steel. Unlike the afore mentioned Jessica Simpson, Rucker seems to make his transition from that rock band to modern country with much more ease, though "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" definitely has a Blowfish rock feel to it. Part of what makes the album so successful is Rucker's voice.

Rucker is another rough edged sounding kind of guy with a little more wear in his voice than Ryder Lee. It sounds like he actually lived some of the songs that he's singing about. His voice sounds life worn. The other thing that makes the album is that it has a lot more of what you have come to expect from modern country music. It's got the guitars and fiddles with it much more so than Do You Know.

I have to admit that this was a late entry for me and I have not listened to it as extensively as I would with reviewing a CD, but the time that I have spent with it - about four or five runs through the CD over the past 24 hours -- I can tell ya the CD is a great listen. Rucker's voice and the music make a great combination. Each song flows easily into another without sounding so alike that you can differentiate between one tune and another. He provides enough of a mix of styles from slower songs to more upbeat tunes that give the CD a nice overall feel. Making what a first album from an artist of another genre should be.

Keith Anderson
C'Mon

The former Mr. Oklahoma Hunk turned country singer packs a wallop as big as nicely formed biceps with his sophomore offering. C'Mon may even eclipse Keith's first album Three Cord Country and American Rock and Roll as the better of the two, which is what an artist and album should do. C'Mon definitely does live up to the title of that first CD; mixing country music and American rock and roll to make for one rocking (had to say it) CD.

The title track which is the first song on the CD tricks you by letting you think that it will be a slow touching ballad along the lines of "I Still Miss You" before it wallops you with its hard rocking melody. This first song is the fastest and hardest of the entire CD, though, it is followed closely by "Sunday Morning in America", which, despite its title is neither a gospel song nor a slow ode to bright relaxing mornings of bacon and eggs.

The rest of C'Mon is filled with a mix of what you could call smooth rock songs or along with two swing offerings and a more traditional country sounding "Adaliene", not to be confused with Adilada by George Straight, though both songs give reverence to the impact attraction can have. Adaliene leaning much more to the sentimental side, though, it does not get bogged down in the sentimental melody that usually accompanies such songs.

My favorite of this entire album is "Somebody Needs a Hug." I have heard Keith Anderson recently quote in Country Weekly, "I am big on hugs. My family was big on hugs and I carry on that tradition." So, this song I can definitely relate to. My family is a family of huggers as well. Plus, the idea of big, husky, hunky Keith wrapping me up in a "Big Ol' Teddy Bear Squeeze" definitely has its appeal. In addition to that, the song is one of the afore mentioned swing sounding songs that you could truly have fun on the dance floor.

Keith also covers on this album "Lost In This Moment" which was written in part by him and was a hit for Big and Rich. I have to say, unbiased by John Rich's views on marriage and its status among heterosexuals, that Big and Rich's cover is the better of the two. Rich's voice has a different quality to it that give the song more of an impact for me. Keith's version is more quiet and more personal, so it doesn't have that sweeping-you-up-and-along quality that the song had when done by Big and Rich. But by no means is it a clunker with Keith at the vocal wheel.

My only disappointment in this CD comes, as I have often mentioned about other CDs before this one, with the booklet. I had actually hopped to have more pictures of this former body builder to satisfy my country hunk fix. This booklet includes a whopping (that's my adjective of the day) three photos total - and one of them's the cover! BIG disappointment! Though, I have to say the one pic on the back of the booklet is, as Jada Pinket Smith states in the trailer for the upcoming The Women movie, fwine! Luckily, when I purchased this CD, I did it as a deal through Keith Anderson's Website which also got me signed up as a member of his fan club. This allows me access to photos as well as some video blogs that he has created. The blogs are great not only because good looking Podunk Hunk is in them, but they are actually a better way to keep in touch with the fans. It seems much more personal than just the written updates on most artist's website. Proving again, that Keith Anderson isn't just someone great to look at but also someone great to listen to as well.

Jamey Johnson
That Lonesome Song

The title is truly an appropriate one for this CD. The sound of the album is that of one continuous lonesome sounding melody after another accentuated by Jamey Johnson's low smooth voice. Unfortunately, that makes one song sound like the next on this album. It took me at least four listens to it to really be able to distinguish from one song to the next. Gone are any inklings of upbeat tunes such as "Rebelicious" and the Jamey penned/Trace Adkins Sung "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk". The whole CD sounds of a man who has been pissed off by his disillusion of the Nashville Music Scene and thus chooses to drown his sorrows in sad songs, the way some folks drown their sorrows with whiskey. "That Lonesome Song" may be the best tune on this album that exemplifies this:

I took a trip across country from Montgomery/
discovered I'd been wrong for so long/
I thought it was the fame and the glory and the money/
but all I've got to show is a damn song

but it is by no means alone in the bring ya down category. "Mowing Down the Roses" tells of bitterly getting rid of your ex's remnants that are left in your home. "Mary Go Round" is a tale of a straying gal who got that way by being let down by her man. "High Cost of Living" covers what you lose when you lose yourself in drugs. I must say this last song does have a great turn of phrase:

The High cost of living/
Ain't nothing to the cost of living high

Even the one slightly upbeat tune, "Women" still can't shake the bitterness in Jamie's voice, though the tone is meant to be tongue and cheek (and trust me folks, this song, as wink-wink as it is, sure won't get Jamey invited to any NOW functions in the near future). So, with all that going on, why even give the CD four stars? Because if you are looking for something you can put on when you have those days where all you want to do is draw the shade, remain unshaven, sit around in your boxers, smoke cigarettes, down your Jack Daniels and have a good old country pity party, there is just no better CD for that. Everything that is a negative about this CD, makes it a positive for what it is. There is not any other country singer to my mind that can pull off such a sad sounding album the way that Jamey Johnson has so perfectly done it.

Heidi Newfield
What Am I Waiting For

I tried real, real hard to listen to this CD as though I didn't know Heidi Newfield from a shot glass on a bar, but, try as I might, one thought came back to my mind over and over again. 'She left Trick Pony for this?!'

For those of you who remember the bang up trio of Heidi, Keith Burns (woof!) and Ira Dean, Heidi has lost none of her vocal qualities from going group to solo, but she hasn't really gained anything that I can tell.

The CD is filled with her unique, just-got-enough-gravel-in-it-to-show-you-I've-lived voice, but the arrangements and backup vocals on a good part of the CD still sound like Trick Pony. I thought that her branching out on her own for a solo career was in part to find some new sound for herself; you know, those "creative differences" that you hear artists mention from time to time. But there is not too much that is creatively different from this CD, except the booklet is missing Keith and Ira. It's like physically, she left Trick Pony, but mentally she seems, but this albums account, to still be choosing the same quality of songs.

"Johnny and June" is the best of them all. Though, its title sounds like the many tribute songs that are going around eulogizing in verse and chorus the late "Man in Black" Johnny Cash, the tune Johnny and June actually does have some merit to it. It's a good song; professing in verse the singers desire to have a love like Johnny and June.

I want to walk the line/
walk the line/
Till the end of time...
And when you're gone/
I want to go, too.

I think that there are many of us who recognize that the love that Johnny and June did share was really something special, and we all hope for a love like that. We all want to find that person who is just our whole world and life. That message in song is what keeps this from degenerating into just a throw-a-way tune that mentions the famous (see "Johnny Cash" on Jason Aldean's Relentless)

The worst of them all is the shouldn't-see-the-light-of-demo song "Knocked Up." I'm sure that it is Heidi's attempt to sing humor like that which Brad Paisley is so well know for, but, it just doesn't work at all. It's due to a combination of the lyrics and Heidi's in ability to pull their wink-wink humor off in her voice. You can't hear her laugh in her vocals like you can in Brad Paisley's "Ticks" or "I'm Going to Miss Her (the Fishing Song)". That all said, take note local comedy performing drag queens, this song is perfect for you to take and do something up with some trailer park back woods drag and great props.

All in all it isn't a bad CD. It is just that when an artist goes solo from a group, I expect to hear something fresh and different. I didn't get that with this CD. Unfortunately, I felt gypped. Though Heidi is a four star quality voice, she loses one star on this album do to not letting the music live up to her voice.

Patrick Hunter
Trail Ride Coordinator
Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association (ASGRA)

Cowboy Music

Album: Dear Mama, I'm A Cowboy (external link)

Dear Mama, I'm a cowboy
And I know that breaks your heart
All the things they wrote about me
Must'a torn your world apart
So Mama please, forgive me
Though I drove you near insane
I never killed nobody
'n' I never robbed that train

We found him in the springtime
At the table where he died
Tears had stained the paper
When he bowed his head and cried
We all just bawled like babies
As we read it one by one
And thought of our own Mammas
And all the things we left undone

Then we rolled him in his blanket
And as the boys all gathered round
I read his letter one more time
As we placed him in the ground

Dear Mama, I'm a cowboy
And I know that breakes your heart
All the things they wrote about me
Must have torn your world apart
So Mama please forgive me
Though I drove you near insane
I never killed nobody
'n' I never robbed that train

I never killed nobody
'n' I never robbed that train

The November newsletter deadline is October 27. Send your articles to [an error occurred while processing this directive]