Smokey Hills Wranglers

Minnesota's Original
Chuck Wagon Supper Show

The Smokey Hills Wranglers®
Historic Music and Chuckwagon Supper Show

The soft brush of fingers against guitar strings. The glow of the cousies cook fire reflected off a well worn chuckwagon canvas. A trail weary cowboy, riding night hawk, whistling softly to keep the herd bedded down. The occasional howl of a coyote off in the distance. The night sky is studded with a million stars. This is a night in the old west.  This is a night in history.

Join the Smokey Hills Wranglers for an evening of good cowboy entertainment. You and your family or group can experience an evening in the tradition of the
great chuckwagon shows of the west.

Minnesota's original Historic Music & Chuckwagon Supper Show.SM

 

It seems that teachers of history ignore one very important facet of history. Music of the era. Dates, treaties, battles and philosophies are a very important part of our heritage. Major historical figures serve as examples of American patriotism. We find inspiration in their words and actions. In a way they are our national heroes. But there were many common heroes out there too. Cowboys, pioneers, settlers, miners, explorers, and every day folk helped to create this great nation. Their stories and history are told in song.

 

 The musical time machine with the Smokey Hills Wranglers

Nothing comes close to an eras songs for teaching us what life was like in the past. Through music we learn of peoples goals, passions, concerns, thoughts, and most importantly, their humor. How can a person listen to the song “Clementine” and not smile at the tragic dying scene? “Ruby lips above the water, blowing bubbles soft and fine”. Clementine is a song that has endured for 150 years. It still teaches us and entertains us. Songs like “The Gal I Left Behind Me” and “Cowboys Prayer” had melodies that were developed long before the folks in the old west adapted them to fit their situations. In many cases a melody can be traced back hundreds of years and through many variations. Songs are history.

Along with  the Smokey Hills Wranglers you will meet figures from history. Pioneers, settlers, miners, outlaws, ranchers and cowboys. Every song is a small but important lesson about the old west and our heritage.
Media
Click here to see a short film about the Smokey Hills Wranglers Chuck Wagon Supper Show

The History

The history of westward expansion is presented in a conversational manner and meant to be interactive.  Emphasis is placed on everyday life in the old west.  Who were the settlers and cowboys? How did they get to where they were going?  What was it like to live in the 1800s?  Why did people move west?  What about the Native Americans?

Much of the history of the old west can be taught in song.  From the songs of the gold camps, the civil war, the pioneers and cowboys, people learn how music was a common thread in the old west.  The music is presented in a traditional manner, played on acoustic guitar, banjo and mandolin.  In all cases the oldest known lyrics to the songs are used to maintain the accuracy of the music.  Traditional cowboy music is covered in detail with explanations of the vocabulary and humor of the old west cowboy.

 

The Food

  Add an authentic touch of the Old West to your next function.  Traditional cowboy fare of Roast Beef, Taters, Cowboy Beans, Cowboy Biscuits, and Fruit Cobbler are prepared using Dutch Ovens (or by other arrangements) just like on the trail drives in the old west.  You even get coffee that will "float a horseshoe" just like the old timers drank.  Combine these great fixin's with the traditional Cowboy Music and humor of the Wranglers - (known the world over for their stupid cowboy jokes) - and your get together is bound to be a success. 

 
                                                                           *The Smokey Hills Wranglers are a licensed distributor of Arbuckle Coffee Roasters of Tucson Arizona.

 

The Show
Add a traditional western show to your event.
How long has it been since you have heard these songs?

Red River Valley
Clementine
Blackberry Blossom
Sweet Betsy From Pike
Hard Times

The Wranglers perform these traditional songs and others from the 1840's through the 1890's during the Wranglers Musical Time Machine Show. All songs are played on traditional instruments and played in traditional style. The show is patterned after the great chuck wagon shows of the west and includes beautiful harmonies, instrumentation and quite possibly some of the corniest cowboy jokes in existence.

Most of the songs are familiar and the crowd is encouraged to sing along and participate in the show.

 

 

*The Smokey Hills Wranglers are a licensed distributor of Arbuckle Coffee Roasters of Tucson Arizona.

Click here to hear the Lone Hand.

 The Smokey Hills Wranglers Chuckwagon Supper Show / Musical Time Machine is wholly owned by Mark Bridge and is a Lone Hand Production. 
Copyright © 2007, 2008, 2009 2010 Mark Bridge