Don Edwards



































Don Edwards
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Don Edwards continues to build a recorded legacy enriching our vision of the American West. In its tales of the day-to-day lives and emotions of those who lived it, his ballads paint a sweeping landscape of both the mind and heart, keeping alive the sights, sounds and feelings of this most American contribution to culture and art. The quality of this cowboy balladeer's music stems from the fact that he is so much more than a singer. Bobby Weaver of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, summed Edwards's importance as "...the best purveyor of cowboy music in America today." A historian, author and musicologist, someone well-versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions, Don brings a rare complement of knowledge of and love for his craft. Mostly though, there is the soul of a poet; a man who has never succumbed to any temptation to present a glamorized or romanticized version of the West. Edwards deals with the bad weather and petty motivation, with sadness, nostalgia and longing as parts of the landscape like any other. The son of a vaudeville magician, Don was exposed as a child to a vast cross-section of music from classical to jazz, and blues to western-swing. Many of the those influences enter his own music as they did some of the music of the West. Edwards was drawn to the cowboy life by the books of Will James and B Westerns of the silver screen, particularly those featuring "'sure-' nuff cowboys" like Tom Mix and Ken Maynard. He taught himself guitar starting at age ten, and chased the rodeo and worked ranches in Texas and New Mexico during his teens. In 1961, he got a job as an actor/.singer/stuntman at Six Flags Over Texas and he was to stick with music from then on. He made his first record in 1964. Don became part owner of the White Elephant Saloon in the Fort Worth stockyards and would play acoustic sets on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and with a band on weekends. "Esquire" magazine has named the White Elephant one of America's 100 best bars. Edwards also began playing throughout out Oklahoma and Texas, and with the inception of the Cowboy poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada achieved widespread recognition. He has now entertained throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Europe and the Far East. Don Edwards has two albums, Guitars & Saddle Songs and Songs of the Cowboy, included in the Folklore Archives of the Library of Congress. These anthologies have been re-recorded and expanded as the 32-song double CD/cassette called Saddle Songs. This project took first place the Best Folk/Traditional Album of the year at the annual AFIM INDIE Awards Ceremony held in May of 1998. The collection is on the Western Jubilee Recording Company's label. He has twice received the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's "Wrangler Award" for Outstanding Traditional Western Music, one for his recording Chant of the Wanderer in 1992 and for the second time in 1996 for West of Yesterday. Other projects include a book release by the Gibbs Smith Publishing Co. entitled Classic Cowboy Songs; performing on Nanci Griffith's Grammy-winning video and recording. Other Voices, Other Rooms; co-presenter along with Waddie Mitchell on the network-televised Academy of Country Music Awards and featured performer for the prestigious "Golden Boot Awards". Don has presented educational services at Yale, Rice, Texas Christian and many other Universities. His recordings under the Warner Western label, Goin' Back to Texas, Songs of the Trail and The Bard & the Balladeer have spawned a new audience for his craft. His Warner recording, West of Yesterday (1996) was produced by Jim Rooney and features Don's long-time Ft. Worth-based band, the 7-Bar Cowboys. The summer of 1997 found Don in Livingston, Montana portraying the role of "Smokey" in Robert Redford's film The Horse Whisperer. In addition to this acting/singing role, Don is featured on the MCA soundtrack. In May of 1998, to coincide with The Horse Whisper theater release, Warner Western compiled and released "The Best of Don Edwards" while Western Jubilee offered Don's newest recording "My Hero Gene Autry" recorded live at Mr. Autry's 90th birthday. The richness of Don's voice coupled with his magical stage presentation makes Don Edwards America's number one western singer and concert attraction. The accolades though, have been simply added bonuses for Edwards, who sings what he does out of love and respect for the genre. Don's career continues to blossom, and luckily for all who care about it, he has because of his sincere approach, added much to the literature and music of the West, passing on to the rest of us a legacy rich for his efforts.
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06/19/2009 - Singer to bring 'the working cowboy's' music to Huck Finn Jubilee - Read More
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Average Rating : 5              Total Reviews: 6


Don Edwards  12/25/2006            
Perisoreus
The soudtrack of the documentary film "Grizzly man" made me a Don Edwards fan :o) The "Coyote" song at the end of the movie really moved me. Thank you Don for this beautiful song !!!
Don Edwards  07/16/2006            
JT
I never heard of Edwards till last night. We rented the documentary Grizzly Man and the song "COYOTE" was playing at the end of the movie. I was HOOKED, I had to track it down! Great song!!!
Don Edwards  06/23/2006            
Midlothian, Texas
You have to appreciate the music that Mr. Edwards puts on his albums. He is truely a master at what he does!
Don Edwards  01/13/2006            
Midland, Texas
The Best of Don Edwards is awesome. I love the coyote song. I didn't know who he was til I saw the Grizzly Man documentary and they played the coyote song during the movie. So, I tracked him down.
Don Edwards  09/07/2002            
Coyote 65
Just got thru listening to him perform at a concert. The man is awesome. Reminds me of Marty Robbins, deep rich voice. You won't be disappointed if you purchase a CD
Don Edwards  09/05/2001            
missouri
Don Edwards Is A Classic. Where are all the reviews from the Texans. You Need to find the rest of his cds for your site.
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