Voices of the West

Our guest is Banjo the Blacksmith. He practices his trade at Knott's Berry Farm in California, and, he does his smithing they way it was done in the 1880s.

Jaye Wells joins us. He's with the Rillito Park Foundation , which was established to help preserve and protect the historic Rillito Race Track in Tucson. It's the place where Rukin Jelks and partners developed Quarter Horse racing. It's also the place that established the photo finish camera. Fascinating history!

Screenwriter Skip Press joins us for our Movie Saturday program. Skip has written numerous screenplays as well as authored a number of books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting . Skip also mentors would-be writers and screenwriters. Plus, he had some great Hollywood stories to share. Check his website for more.

Western Writers of America author Dwyane Epstein joins us. The 1967 release of The Dirty Dozen broke the rules along with box-office records. The making of the film is covered in Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen , the Most Iconic WWII film All Time. The high-octane cast headed up by Lee Marvin redefined the genre of war films so it's not surprising the veterans cast of actor...

Photographer Kris Kristoffersen joins us to talk about his photographic journey across America. His website captures Americana Photographer Kris Kristoffersen similiar to Ansel Adams. His portfolio includes the West, the South, Nevada and California.

Trick roper and cowboy comedian Bud Edgar joins us from Alberta, Canada. Bud hails from Calgary--home of the Calgary Stampede. He's been an entertainer since 1983 and has performed throughout Canada.

Western Writers of America author Michael F. Blake joins us to talk about the great cavalry movies. He knows the subject quite well. He has a book coming out in early 2024 about the John Ford Cavalry Trilogy series. Plus, we talk about some cavalry movies that might be under your radar but are certainly worth viewing.

It's our Christmas show. History, traditions and movies about cowboys and Christmas.

Joining us for the hour is Robert Redfeather. He's an actor and producer of Native American films and he teaches knife fighting. He has taught U.S. military members the art of knife fighting. He is also a Grand Master in martial arts and a member of the Martial Arts History Museum.

D.T. Christiansen joins us. He's the editor of a website called oldwest.org. The website features bunches of topics related to the Old West. People can also sign up for a weekly newsletter about This Day in Old West History.

Actor Peter Billingsley joins us to kick off the Christmas season! You'll remember him as "Ralphie" from "A Christmas Story" that also starred Darren McGavin. Ralphie is the guy who wanted a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas and finally got one! Peter has gone to appear in a number of films and also working behind the camera as a director and a producer.

Filmmaker Craig Rullman joins us. He's the director of a film called "The Outside Circle: A Movie of the Modern West." It's a collection of interviews with cowboys about their work, their ethic and their lives. Soon to be available on Amazon Prime TV and Tubi TV. Check your local listings.

Joining us is author Victoria Jackson. She's the author of Beyond the West: Stories of the Dying Art of Cowboying . It's a collection of 22 stories of cowboys working on the range. Victoria worked with the cowboys she's profiled in her book, which is available here .

On this edition of the show, we honor our cowboy actors who served in the U.S. Military dating back to the Spanish-American War. From Tom Mix to Tom Selleck, we attempt to cover as many cowboy stars as we can.

On our Movie Saturday show, we talk about the life and career of character actor George Kennedy. He was an actor who could play any part in any genre.

It's all about guns this hour as we talk with Jason Schubert, curator at the J.M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum. This place houses the largest private collection of firearms in the world. The museum is also a state agency with the state of Oklahoma. Check out the website at J.M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum .

We delve into California history and movie history with guests Tony and Susan Piazza. Susan's family helped settle Los Angeles. Her ancestors built what it has become the oldest, still-standing structure in Los Angeles - The Avila House. Tony is a mystery writer, a film historian, and his books are available at all the good book places like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com .

Jennifer Malone joins us for the hour. She's a member of the Wukchumni Tribe of California. She's on a mission to preserve the language of her people with basket weaving. She learned the art of basket weaving from her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is also the Vice-Chair of the California Indian Basketweavers Association. Her tribe and its language are not recognized by the...

It's our end-of-the-month Movie Saturday program. We're talking about two very iconic Western TV series-- High Chaparral and Little House on the Prairie . We're also talking about a new children's book - The Story of Sammy and Zelda , written by our guests, Susan McCray and Stan Ivar. Susan was the casting director of the Little House show while Stan played the blacksmith, John Car...

It's our September Nuggets program--a show in which we talk about a number of things associated with the Old West.

For this edition of the show, we talk about the various jobs behind the camera when making a movie. Perhaps the most important job is that of director. Western Writers of America author Michael F. Blake joins to talk about those roles as well as talk about perhaps the best director of movies in our generation--John Ford.

Cartographer, Sketch Artist and Adventurer Joseph Goldsborough Bruff is our topic. He was involved in the California Gold Rush of 1849. He copied the maps from John Fremont's California expedition for the federal government. Bruff also was a merchant marine sailor. An interesting guy who is rarely talked about in history.

We're talking about Roy Rogers with Joel "Dutch" Dortch. He's the Executive Director of the Happy Trails Children's Foundation , founded by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans to help abused children. The foundation has a great fundraising event called Sizzling Summer Opportunity Drawing. Tickets for the drawing are available at the website with a great grand prize. We talked with Dutch...

It's our Movie Saturday program. On this one we talk about Spaghetti Westerns. 1967 seemed to have been the year they began to make their debut at drive-in theaters. What makes them so watchable? Listen in!

Mark Mejia joins us for the hour. He's the owner of Baron Hats in Los Angeles, a storied hat shop that made hats for a ton of Hollywood movies and stars.