Music from Moorcroft

If you grow up in a place where there are only two people per square mile you can sing as loud and often as you want and not really cause much of a stir, except maybe with the cattle. Chancey Williams is singing for crowds now as frontman for Chancey Williams & The Younger Brothers Band. They played the big saloon on Frontier Park every night of the 2009 Cheyenne Frontier Days. A new CD is getting attention and a regular gig in Las Vegas is a far cry from the open country around the town of Moorcroft in northeastern Wyoming’s Crook County.

Like a lot of Wyoming kids, Chancey was raised on rodeo. He rode broncs all of high school, three years at Casper College, and one year at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

The band started in Moorcroft and continued to grow in popularity and skill. Chancey kept up with the books and graduated from UW with a master’s degree in Public Administration. He is definitely administering to the public now in a country-rock sort of way.

We visited with Chancey after a set at the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas last week:



To stay on top of what’s happening with this up and coming group from Wyoming go to: www.theyoungerbrothersband.com


Bull Fight at the WYO Corral

There’s a new posse in town. Wyoming has three bull riders who are in the top ten of the world standings. A bullfighter from Meeteetse has a good shot at being named to work the national finals in December. Quite the foursome – Kanin Asay and Dusty Tuckness from Park County; Bobby “Red Boots” Welsh from Gillette and Clayton Savage of Casper. We had the chance to spend some time with the group before they competed at a special bull riding event at Wyoming’s State Fair in Douglas last week. Mr. Savage won the event, by the way. Our intrepid video-man Mike gives you an inside peek at this gang we’ll call Dusty & the Long Riders:

State Fair Play

The middle of the top ten bull riders in the world standings as of this week all call Wyoming home. Bobby Welsh, Kanin Asay and Clayton Savage are #4, #5 and #6 respectively with winnings ranging from $66,000 to $77,000 thus far. If you are a rodeo fan you know that money has gone to travel, food, and family. The chance to actually show a profit for the year is by placing in a few rounds at the national finals in December. Until then, it’s rodeo to rodeo – paycheck to paycheck.

If you can, plan a visit to the Wyoming State Fair this week to meet these young men and show them your support as they ready for the big dance in Las Vegas. Bobby and Kanin have been a part of our state sponsorship program since their first national finals appearances and we know how proud they are to wear “Wyoming” red. Clay will be joining us, we believe, in short order.

Kanin likes the color purple and even wears a helmet of that shade. Our little “Wyoming” patches adorn that helmet and clashing red/purple aside, Kanin was threatened with a fine for sticking those home patches on his headgear. The Powell, WY man reached a compromise with the PRCA and continues to keep Wyoming on, and in, his noggin.

Bobby and his wife have three kids and boy did they need the cash that Cheyenne Frontier Days brought by Bobby sticking to all three draws. They live near Gillette, WY and are hoping to win enough in Las Vegas to purchase a nice, roomy, motorhome. Near the end of Frontier Days last month I looked in the rough stock riders “ready” area and saw Bobby reading a bible lesson to his fellow riders. He wasn’t preaching. He was proclaiming, and explaining, his beliefs. He is becoming a leader.

We first met Clayton as he was prepping to ride at the Evanston, WY rodeo a few summers back. He was pretty retro 1970s in his look and he clearly had talent in spades. I’ve heard a few of the experts say Clayton’s straight-armed riding style and his get-off (dismount) are liable to lead to injury. My assessment of the world these fellows live in is they know what works best for them. Clay told us he grew up riding the furniture at Mom’s house in Casper and there was no stopping what he was going to do once old enough.

We don’t have a pro football team here in Wyoming. There are no professional sports, at least at the highest level, other than rodeo. I like sports. I like to root for someone who wears my colors. The aforementioned bull riders get on for themselves naturally but I like to believe they’re riding for me too. I clap and holler when they win and feel bad when they buck off early. I worry for them because what they do is so dangerous. I know they are highly skilled and would not be where they are if they didn’t know how to keep themselves as safe as possible. I want them each to one day own a world champion’s buckle – maybe two, or three.

Come out to the state fair early Thursday. The bull riding event starts at 7 p.m. and will feature our young men headed to the national finals. At 3 p.m. we will be set up next to the Pepsi free entertainment stage. There will be freebies galore and a chance to meet the riders. They have free autograph sheets to give you along with a smile and a handshake.

As a special bonus, bullfighter Dusty Tuckness from Meeteetse is going to be with us. He joined the Wyoming team this year and has done numerous public appearances, and press interviews, since winter when he was fighting bulls at the big rodeos in Houston and Fort Worth. He is widely acknowledged as one of the best at his trade. Dusty is very popular with the fans, his rodeo colleagues and dare I say with the ladies. Blush. Dusty was an alternate at the national finals last year and could very well get the votes to make the A-team bullfighting crew in 2009. Of course, Dusty will be working Thursday night in the state fair rodeo arena helping his pals make it safely back to the chutes. Dusty and Kanin are close friends having been reared in the same county and garnering their rodeo chops at the rodeo arena in Cody.

See you in Douglas! Meet the boys. Pick up free DVDs and have fun listening and dancing to Wyoming’s own Chancey Williams and The Younger Brothers Band. Showtime is 3 p.m, Pepsi free entertainment stage, at the Wyoming State Fair.