Lyle Metzler
The Western Folklife Center
The link to "About Us" states: The Western Folklife
Center is a regional nonprofit folk arts organization
dedicated to preserving, perpetuating, and presenting
the folk arts of the West."
There are six links from the homepage. One of these is
to the recorded proceeding of the 18th National Cowboy
Poetry Gathering that was held Jan-Feb 2002. With the
use of RealPlayer, one can hear the actual readings. I
was disappointed that I could not hear the presentation
by Baxter Black, a veterinary, self-described at the
"Cowboy Poet," during his session.
I believe this to be a helpful site to learn more about
this particular type of poetry/storytelling/song. There
were e-mail and toll free numbers available, along with
membership information and a store.
Anyone who is interested in the tales of the west,
whether old or new, would do well to check this site
out.