An intimate gathering with soulful music and light-hearted poetry brought a smile to the audience’s faces at Vilna Cowboy Fest.
As the rain poured outside on Friday night, a ‘campfire’ of sorts burned inside, bringing a close and personal feeling to the evening as the musicians ad-libbed and performed alongside each other, with those listening tapping their feet and nodding in time to the music, appreciating the sounds of guitars alternately duelling and complementing each other.
This is the fifth year that the Vilna Cowboy Fest has taken place, and each time, people come callin’ from as far as Calgary, Stettler, and even Saskatchewan and British Columbia, says organizer Jackson Mackenzie.
“It’s the kind of thing that has a following,” he said. And the event never fails to disappoint, he says, adding, “Beginning to end, it’s just a good time.”
This year, Mackenzie said he wanted to focus on the cowgirl, saying, “Who doesn’t like a cowgirl? They ought to be honoured, because they were part of the west. Still are, you bet.” In that vein, there were several female performers at this year’s event, which Mackenzie notes brings its own stamp to the event. He pointed out one number, a female rendition of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, as totally changing the tone of the song and saying that it “puts a refreshing new light on it.”
Mackenzie also noted the event brought out “our foremost female cowboy poet” in Doris Daley, whose expressive writing and oratory skills had the audience grinning widely as she used her hands, sounds and audience participation to bring her poetry to life.
Sam and Bonny-Lynne made the trip from Edmonton for Vilna’s Cowboy Fest with Sam explaining that it was well worth the trip, the second year they have come out to camp at the event. “It’s fantastic stuff.”
“It comes from realistic life,” said Sam, noting the music and poetry has its roots in the life of people who worked with cattle and horses, who withstood the tests of drought and rain, of good times and bad times. The performers evoke all those scenes while telling their stories, he said.
“And the poetry rhymes!” adds Bonny-Lynne with a smile.
As the pair settle in to listen to the next set of performances after the intermission, MacKenzie picks up his guitar and strums a few bars. He mentions Willie Nelson, and then asks those gathered, “Did you hear the news of Willie Nelson’s passing?”
A small rumble of no’s comes from the audience, responding tentatively as though they are unsure whether to be upset by the news or if this is the start of a joke.
“Yup, he was run over by a truck,” MacKenzie says matter-of-factly. “He was playing on the road again.” As the audience’s tension breaks and they laugh, he launches into On the Road Again, saying with a smile, “Works every time.”
