How did the mythic western cowboy learn to yodel?
The unlikely history of voice breaking in American music, and what it says about us.
The final episode of The Wind Year 1
Dom Flemons • Website • Black Cowboys
Sourdough Slim • Website
Tim Wise • Yodeling and Meaning in American Music
“Yodeling, with its function of being a being a field holler that can communicate from long distances, it’s a natural fit for the Cowboys.” - Dom Flemons
A huge thanks to Tim Wise, Dom Flemons, Sourdough Slim, The Western Folklife Center, The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Andy Hedges of Cowboy Crossroads, KWNK, The JT in Gardnerville Nevada, and to Joey Lovato, Emily Pratt, Erica Wirthlin, Sam Greenspan, Eleanor Tullock, Anjeanette Damon, Mike Corbitt, Rose McMackin, Anton Anger, Em Jiang, Riley Harrison, Luka Starmer, Sierra Jickling, Sydney Martinez, Robin Amer, Ray Pang, Ashlea Goff, everybody who howled into the phone for “coyote”, Daniel Rothberg, Tim Lenard, Evan at Podcast Delivery, James Cridland at Podnews, Lauren Passell from Podcast The Newsletter, Nevada Humanities, and everybody else who reached out or just listened this first year.
Tags, Topics and Mentions: Dom Flemons, Sourdough Slim, Tim Wise, Yodeling and Meaning in American Music, Yodeling, Yodel, Cowboy Yodel, Western Yodel, why do cowboys yodel, swiss yodeling, swiss american singers, german folk singing groups, minstrel shows, vaudeville, black vaudeville, the blues, early american music, jimmie rodgers, yodel hole, history of yodeling, singing cowboys, charles anderson, musical theater, vocal technique, shouting across the valley, livestock, field hollers, yips, yaps, yeehaw, vast landscapes, keening, yodle, gene autry, dezurik sisters, cowboy music, national cowboy poetry gathering, elko nevada, elko, winters california, accordion