Generations of youth over the last century grew up with the images of cowpokes, rustlers, bad guys, and ranching through dime novels, radio, television and, of course, the music. In this episode of Deeper Roots, we focus on the legacy of the ‘cowboy crooners’ and country balladeers who sang about life on the trail alongside the grub wagon on the lone prairie where the imagination could take you anywhere it pleased...and often did. We’ll hear the earliest ‘cowboy songs’ by Vernon Dalhart and Carl Sprague; and we'll also find ourselves being serenaded (quite gently) by Tex Ritter and Gene Autry who reached out for the generic, mass appeal. The music was full of tradition as well and we’ll hear some contemporary reflections from David Wilkie And Cowboy Celtic, Jim Lauderdale, and (of course) Waylon, Willie, Merle, and Johnny.
