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Cowboy culture and barn dance boot scootin’

What: 3rd Annual Pemberton Country Jamboree Where: Pemberton Stables When: Friday to Sunday, July 25-27 If your idea of country music is Shania Twain and Garth Brooks, you might need to wind back the clock a few more years and see where the country t

What: 3rd Annual Pemberton Country Jamboree

Where: Pemberton Stables

When: Friday to Sunday, July 25-27

If your idea of country music is Shania Twain and Garth Brooks, you might need to wind back the clock a few more years and see where the country twangs really started.

Before midriff tops and slick music videos, the law of the land and the music that followed involved real cowboys and cowgirls, who roamed the dusty land for days with nothing but a horse, a guitar, and perhaps pen and paper – ready to record the stories that nobody would believe.

The Pemberton Country Jamboree is bringing these nostalgic types together with the best traditional cowboy and country artists B.C. and Alberta have to offer all weekend long.

Canada’s most successful cowboy poet, Mike Puhallo, is one of the many Stetson-wearing performers who’ll be saddling up for the big event. The author of five books and two CDs won the 2002 Will Rogers Award for excellence in cowboy poetry and is one of the few real life cowboys who attempts to make a living out of his craft. Mike has been a saddle-bronco rider, a packer and horse trainer, and continues to run a ranch with his brother. We caught up with him recently on his way back from Forth Worth, Texas.

Pique:

Why Cowboy poetry?

MP:

I can't sing worth a lick. I have been writing poetry as long as I can remember because a cowboy is what I've been. I guess that's where it fits, although Western Folklife Poetry might be a more accurate term for what I do. This genre is leading the way in the resurgence in popularity of lyric poetry. The growth over the last 20 years has been phenomenal.

Pique:

How do you stay so passionate about it for so many years?

MP:

The audience response to my poetry is what keeps me performing. I guess the passion for story telling is pretty deep-rooted. I see a real need for rural artists to work at bridging the gap between urban and rural cultures. I also have a lot of fun doing it!

Pique:

For people who have never been to cowboy country, what would they need to know to have a good appreciation of what it's like out there?

MP:

Anyone that comes with an open mind and a sense of humour, can’t help but have a good time.

Pique:

Can you give us a quick poem about the Pemberton Jamboree?

MP:

Friends are pulling into Town,

to swaps some yarns and rhymes;

Sing some songs and reminisce,

about the "good ol' cowboy times"!

The misery of pulling calves

when it's thirty-five below,

The rain soaked trails, summer heat,

cold winds and driftin’ snow.

Gosh it sounds romantic,

when ranch life’s put to rhyme.

Then there’s all them funny stories,

that weren't so funny at the time.

All things being equal,

right down to the slim paycheques,

I'd rather tell the stories,

and let my brother have the wrecks!

Other performers over the weekend include the first Canadian woman to ever sing at the Grand Ol’ Opry, Shirley Fields. She’s been yodelling for more than 55 years and was inducted into the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2000.

Tammy Gislason, a performer since the age of five, just won this year’s Rising Star Award at the Academy of Western Artists Awards – a big coup in the country music world. Her new CD, Sunshine Cowgirl, also had her nominated for song of the year and female vocalist of the year.

Other acts to check out include Matt. E. Johnston, Frank Gleeson and Kraig Jodrey, who are all making waves in American cowboy circles after successful careers in Canada’s west.

The Sue Stearns Band will also be doing a special set on the Friday evening. The Still Smokin’ singer and guitarist will be playing country theme songs and some rockin' dance tunes to close the night right.

Enjoy all of these acts each day of the jamboree from the stage or in the cool comfort of the beer garden. Show times are Friday, 6 p.m. to late, Saturday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday’s Barn Dance is always a good time with 1,000 people doing the two step in the Copperdome Roothouse. The Shark Bites will be performing old and new country, R&B and swing well into the wee hours. Tickets are $20 with shuttles running from the Canadian Legion all night long.

The kids will be well catered for too, with games, rides, races and special entertainment just for them at every turn.

Daily tickets for the Jamboree are available on site at Pemberton Stables, on Meadows Road in Pemberton. All day tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for kids. There’s loads of free parking and dry camping is available.