Riders in the Sky

Riders in the Sky gallop into Alva to put their brand on concert series

09/26/07 Alva Review/Courier Online PHOTO: Riders in the Sky—(from left) the Cowpolka King, Woody Paul, Too Slim and Ranger Doug—will make a return appearance with the Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. The group first appeared in Alva in 1996, also as part of the concert series. The quirky and amusing Riders in the Sky will open the 2007-2008 season of the Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series with a “Centennial Salute to Gene Autry.” The group will perform at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 2, in Herod Hall Auditorium at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva. The group was a big hit with the local audience when they first appeared here in 1996, also as part of the Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series. Season tickets are still available at $30 for adults and $15 for students. The tickets are good for performances by the Riders, Oklahoma’s premier songwriter Jimmy Webb, the rich-sounding Ambassadors’ Concert Choir and the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra. Tickets for individual events are $10 and $5, respectively. Tickets are available at the door or by calling Dr. Mike Knedler, series coordinator, at (580) 327-8590. Beginning each performance with their trademark greeting, “Mighty fine and a great big western ‘Howdy’ to all you buckaroos and buckarettes,” Riders in the Sky simultaneously pay tribute to and poke gentle fun at the classic cowboy songs of the 1930s and 1940s, particularly the work of Autry, the Sons of the Pioneers and Roy Rogers. The Riders will come to Alva fresh from an appearance at the Gene Autry Film & Music Festival in Gene Autry, Okla., on Sept. 29, an event that celebrates the 100th birthday of the famous cowboy singer. Dubbed “Oklahoma’s Yodeling Cowboy” by KVOO radio in Tulsa, Autry went on to make 640 recordings, write more than 300 songs and star in movies and on television. Riders in the Sky zigzagged across the nation during the Gene Autry tour, including special performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in July. Those performances drew more than 45,000 fans. The three original Riders—Ranger Doug (baritone lead singer), Woody Paul (fiddle and vocals) and Too Slim (string bass and guitar)—came together in 1977 and made their first recording in 1979. They were joined in the 1990s by the Cowpolka King (accordion). The group has won two Grammy Awards. The first was Best Musical Album for Children in 2001 for “Woody’s Roundup featuring Riders in the Sky,” a companion album for the soundtrack of the animated movie Toy Story 2. In 2003, they received the same award for their Walt Disney Records release “Monster’s Inc.—Scream Factory Favorites,” another animated film tie-in. The members composed the original score for the Academy Award-winning short film “For the Birds,” have written the theme for a new Internet cartoon and appeared as animated characters in an episode of “Duck Dodgers,” a cartoon series on the Cartoon Network, and in episodes of “Stanley” on the Disney network. As real-life characters, the Riders record seasonal episodes of Riders Radio Theatre, a radio program that’s been broadcast by more than 170 public and commercial stations since 1989. They starred in their own Saturday morning children’s series for CBS, hosted “Tumbleweed Theater” for TNN, appeared regularly on “Austin City Limits” and served as spokesmen for a number of entities ranging from the National Park Service to Taco Bell. In 1982, Riders in the Sky became the first exclusively Western music artist to join the Grand Ole Opry and recently was inducted into the Walk of Western Stars in Newhall, Calif. The group has released nearly 30 albums and, in conjunction with the Gene Autry tour, re-released their 1996 album “Public Cowboy #1: The Music of Gene Autry.” The album was re-mastered and expanded with four bonus cuts and liner notes by Ranger Doug. The next concert series performance will be Jimmy Webb, Oklahoma’s own stellar songwriter and singer, at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 12, also in Herod Hall Auditorium. The Northwest Oklahoma Concert Series is made possible through grants from the Oklahoma Arts Council, the National Endowment for Fine Arts and the Share Trust of Alva.