Bar J Wranglers concert brings back childhood memories

By HANNAH ROMERO

Staff Writer

I know this isn’t an especially popular opinion in Wyoming, but country music is probably my least favorite genre of music.

So cowboy music (the old, authentic tunes cowboys actually sang), while not as low on my list as modern country, also isn’t exactly a favorite. You won’t catch me jamming out to “Whoopee Ti Yi Yo” on a regular day.

However, if you were at the sold-out Bar J Wranglers concert at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs last Friday night, you could have caught me in the middle of the crowd, smiling and cheering loudly for every cowboy song.

For those who don’t know, the Bar J Wranglers are a group of cowboy performers from Jackson Hole, where they ran the Bar J Chuckwagon for 44 years, serving dinner and performing a show full of music and jokes.

The first time I saw the Bar J Wranglers was when I was about six and my family went to their show as part of our Yellowstone vacation. I say I have distinct memories of that show, but mostly I remember the little stuffed dog I got there. Still, I remember having fun. My family enjoyed the show so much, my parents bought a couple of the Bar J Wranglers cassette tapes, including “Wyoming Wind.”

I grew up listening to that cassette, especially when my family was traveling and camping. We liked the album so much, we bought the CD version later to keep up with technology.

A few months ago I saw the news — the Bar J Wranglers are retiring.

Although I was able to see them live a second time in 2011, I was so sad to realize I wouldn’t ever have the opportunity to see them again. Then I heard they were going to be doing a farewell tour and performing in Rock Springs. I immediately messaged my mom and told her we needed to go.

She got us tickets as soon as they went on sale.

As we sat in the theater Friday night and the Bar J Wranglers came out onto the stage, I cheered loudly, but thought it was funny I barely recognized them. Then they started singing, and I honestly started crying, because I knew those voices so well. The nostalgia was so strong, it felt surreal.

I do have to admit there were times during the concert I was drawn out of my nostalgia when it became painfully obvious that I am not the typical demographic the cowboy group appeals to. Most of the audience members were my parents’ age or older, and several jokes the audience laughed at and cheered for made me cringe.

Still, despite the few moments I felt out of place, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Nostalgia was obviously the biggest factor, but even aside from that, the Bar J Wranglers are just plain good and fun.

Their voices (which haven’t changed at all in 20 years) are great, their harmonies are incredible, their ability to play so many instruments so well is impressive, their songs are a good variety of fun and beautiful, and their banter and skits are amusing.

A particularly special part of the concert for me was when Babe Humphrey came out on stage. Babe founded the Bar J Wranglers and performed with them for years, including the first time I saw them, but he retired from full-time performing 15 years ago.

I didn’t think he’d make it on the farewell tour, especially since he’s in his mid-80s. But he came out and performed, including some of his classic cowboy poetry — which, yes, I remember from our cassette tapes.

And at the end of Friday’s concert, I know I wasn’t the only one who got choked up at the last song, “This is Where the Cowboy Rides Away.” It was such a bittersweet, genuine farewell.

I’m so thankful I got to see the Bar J Wranglers, who were such a big part of my childhood, perform live one last time.

You still won’t catch me listening to cowboy music regularly, but if my parents pop in that old “Wyoming Wind” CD, despite how much it skips now from all the scratches after years of use, you better believe I’ll be singing along to “Silver Spurs” and “Fiddlin’ Man.”

 

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