SHARITY PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY COWBOY CHRISTMAS SHOW ON DECEMBER 20, 2011 AT THE HISTORIC CRIGHTON THEATRE - CONROE, TEXAS
MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY PRESS RELEASE CONROE,TX
MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY - SHARITY PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
CASEY GRAHAM BIO
The Cowboy Christmas Tradition
The first Cowboys' Christmas Ball was held in 1885 at the Star Hotel in Anson, Texas. M.G. Rhoades, the hotel owner, held the event in honor of a popular local cowboy's recent marriage. Lawrence “Larry” Chittenden, a young reporter for the New York Times, happened to have a room at the Star Hotel at the time, while visiting his uncle who owned a ranch in the area. He composed a whimsical poem about the dance that was eventually published in the local Texas Western newspaper on June 19th , 1890. When Chittenden's uncle died, he left his nephew his Anson ranch. Young Larry took up the ranching life with gusto. His 1893 book of poetry about ranch life, Ranch Verses , included the Cowboys' Christmas Ball poem. The poem eventually became a song, and was included in John Lomax's 1922 book, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads. Chittenden's tribute had made the Cowboys' Christmas Ball famous.
Dancing was frowned upon by some of the straight-laced churches around Anson, almost closing the Christmas Ball down at one point. Thankfully, the tradition was saved by Miss Leonora Barrett, an Anson school teacher. She recognized the event as American and Texas frontier heritage. In 1934, with the help of support raised by Miss Barrett, the Anson ball was presented with 1880's dances, as an alcohol-free, family event. In 1936, a group of Anson dancers presented the tradition in Dallas. In 1937 they were invited to the National Folk Festival in Chicago, and in 1938 they were honored in Washington, D.C., where they danced on the White House lawn.
I discovered “Cowboy Christmas” through the original Chittenden song, which I recorded in the early 1990's on my album, Cowboy Christmas: Cowboy Songs Volume II. I was asked to play in Anson by the Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball Committee shortly after the album was released. I was inspired to develop a musical stage production, including cowboy songs and poetry, American Christmas songs, and traditional Texas dances like the Polka, Schottische, Viennese Waltz, Virginia Reel, Cotton-Eyed Joe, and the Two-Step. My band, the Rio Grande Band, many of whom grew up in the Southwest, know these musical traditions from childhood. As a son of the Lone Star State, it's my “roots”! Thanks mom and dad, for ignoring the advice of the song, and letting me “grow up to be a cowboy”!
Michael Martin Murphey
GUICH KOOCK
Master of Ceremonies
Guich Koock is a Multi Generational Texan, and during high school in Austin, Texas, he was the driver for the famous Texas writer, J. Frank Dobie. He graduated from Texas 
A&M University with a Degree in American Folklore. He collected field recordings from Children of Slaves, and was awarded a Lomax Fellowship from the University of Texas to collect Texas Folklore on ranches in South Texas. For 20 years he was an Ambassador of the Institute of Texas Cultures, where he was also a popular storyteller. In 1969, he and his friend, Hondo Crouch, purchased the Town of Luckenbach, Texas, and he helped put the town on the map with his five World Fair Celebrations. In the mid 1970’s, he was called to Hollywood where he worked in the entertainment industry appearing on numerous game shows and five different television series such as “Carter Country” with Victor French, “Lewis and Clark” with Gabe Kaplan and “She’s the Sheriff” with Suzanne Somers. He also appeared in some twenty movies such as “Sugarland Express”, “North Dallas Forty”, “Square Dance”, “Murder in Texas” and “American Ninja”. He also appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Dinah Shore Show, The John Davidson Show, and the Merv Griffith Show. He has also done many narrations, voiceovers, television commercials and public service announcements; and has been in the stage productions of “Bye Bye Birdie” and the “Rivals”. After ranching in Northern Mexico, for several years, he is currently working in Colorado developing innovative green technology with his partners.
MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY PRESS RELEASE CONROE,TX
MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY - SHARITY PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS