Red Steagall
Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer, for more photos, click on the links below.
One person said to the other, “I didn’t realize Red Steagall was that good a story-teller.” The second person replied, “I didn’t know he was that good a singer.” And therein lies just a couple of the performance strengths of the Gainesville, Texas, native, now 74 years old and going strong.
Steagall and Dallas native Michael Martin Murphey shared billing Thursday night (April 11, 2013) on Choctaw Casino’s CenterStage in Durant, Okla.
Steagall’s stories and songs match his lifestyle and workstyle — a combination of music, cowboy skills, movies and television production, and the history of the Amerian and Texas cowboy life. He brought with him a 9-piece band, complete with fiddle, steel, keyboards, sax, guitars and drums. Not a note was wasted. “Little Joe the Wrangler,” “Lone Star Beer and Bob
Michael Martin Murphey
Wills Music,” and so on the songs came out, interspersed with his poetry and narratives with personality and joy. In the end, the crowd felt as if they had a new friend in Red Steagall.
Michael Martin Murphey’s set followed, and this working cowboy also sang and talked about the life of the cowboy, his life, and the values he’s learned and (apparently) taught over the years. “Apparently,” because when Murphey explained something before breaking out into ballad, his son and a member of the band, Ryan, would nod in agreement.
Murphey took his hat off to the values his dad taught him, when he sang the description, “I Come From A Long Line Of Love,” and Ryan nodded again.
If one tried to add up the charted hits these two men, well, that would be sky-high numbers, and it wouldn’t matter if they sang the hit songs or if other musicians did instead. These cowboy singers/songwriters/poets/story-tellers keep the western music alive… not Nashville’s country music, but cowboy music, and thereby keep the cowboy alive.
Thanks, Choctaw and Overdrive Entertainment for such an incredible night of music.
And check out Steagall’s Cowboy Gathering & Western Swing Festival, Oct. 25-27, in the Fort Worth Stockyards.