Top row, L to R: Johnny, Barbara, Miss Devon, Micaela, Charlie; Middle Row, L to R: Myka, Kristyn, Joseph, Jessica, Candice, Janet McBride, Pam Minick, Caroline, Michael, Brooks; Front row, L to R: Sarah, Hannah, Ella, Grant, Megan, Arianna
The Buckaroo Club program was established February 1998 as a way of mentoring youth under 18 years old to learn and perform
the Texas heritage music deriving from the cattle ranching culture. The Buckaroo Club is coordinated by "Yodeling Queen" Janet McBride, assisted by Devon Dawson (Talent Coordinator) and other adult Saddle Pal instrumentalists. The Club meets for several hours on the 2nd Sunday of each month. Beginning at 1 pm, Club members have the opportunity to meet (by appointment) with Janet McBride at the Cowtown Opry office (131 East Exchange Ave. Suite 140, Fort Worth, Texas) for personalized yodeling instruction. Janet also provides copies, from her extensive private collection of old recordings, of the great old cowboy music unfamiliar to many of the Buckaroos. At 2 pm, the Club, dressed in specific western attire, gathers to rehearse inside the lobby of the Livestock Exchange Building. Janet, Devon and other Saddle Pal members provide a western music and Texas history lesson, and guidance, advice and practice on acoustic performance. At 3 pm, the Club will then perform "cowboy style' in front of the Livestock Exchange Building (weather permitting), singing traditional and contemporary cowboy/western and western swing (THE official music of Texas!) music, providing a free concert for the tourists coming to the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. Our songs are always wholesome and age appropriate. Requirements are: 1. Buckaroos must be willing to learn cowboy/western/Texas music and lore. Songs must be wholesome, age-appropriate, and have a “Texas connection”. 2. Buckaroos must wear western attire for CTO functions, as follows: -long-sleeve white shirt -blue denims -red bandana -western boots & hat (no ball caps, T-shirts, athletic shoes, sandals etc.) 3. Buckaroos must join* the Cowtown Opry $25 per year for individual $40 for group or family *a first time visitor is exempt from dues 4. Buckaroos have fun! Our heritage is a God-given gift, meant to teach, challenge and inspire. Each year Cowtown Opry presents a music scholastic scholarship to one or more buckaroos. Qualified Buckaroos may apply for the Scholarship in January of each new year. Requirements include participation in a minimum of 12 Opry events during the previous year. BUCKAROO SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION (click here). For more information about the Buckaroo Club, please call Janet McBride (214) 803-0829 Devon Dawson (817) 521-4969 Buckaroo photograph by Lori Faith Merritt, www.photographybyfaith.com Click the image to enlarge |
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