Celebrating their historic 85th anniversary, the most influential and prolific Western music group the Legendary Sons of the Pioneers will ride into British Columbia for only seven performances in October 2019.
Come celebrate the group’s historic anniversary and meet Tommy Nallie (lead guitar and vocals), Roy Rogers, Jr., (Dusty)* (MC, vocals), Ken Lattimore (vocals, fiddle), John Fullerton (vocals, rhythm guitar), Paul Elliott (fiddle), and Chuck Ervin (bass, vocals).
The Sons of the Pioneers are the gold standard for Western music, delivering thrilling harmonies, iconic yodeling, and poetic images of the West. Signature songs like “Cool Water,” “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” forever rooted in Western lore, are stirring new audiences of all ages. Both “Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water” have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
“No other group had as profound an effect on the history of Western music.” — Ranger Doug of Riders in the Sky
The Pioneers are the most decorated group in Western music, winning honours such as the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Western Music Association Hall of Fame, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Texas Swing Hall of Fame, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, to name a few. The group’s renditions of “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water” have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Smithsonian Institution has named the group one of America’s “National Treasures.”
In celebration of the historic anniversary, the Pioneers have also released their first album in eight years, “85 Years of Harmony,” to wide acclaim.
When Roy Rogers (then Leonard Slye) and gifted songwriters Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer began developing their trademark “Pioneer sound” in the 1930s, little did they realize they were launching a juggernaut that would become one of the most decorated and longest-lived groups in American music history. Since then, 47 official members have rotated through to keep the Pioneers’ musical campfire burning brightly.
“We stay true to the music—so many of these songs are masterpieces—and audiences just get really excited,” says Tommy Nallie, the current leader and only the fourth “trail boss” in the group’s history.
Another development that Rogers—whose storied film, TV, and recording career earned him the sobriquet “King of the Cowboys”—might not have foreseen is the recent addition of his son, Dusty, into the group in 2018. “How many guys get to join their father’s group that their dad started 85 years ago?” says Rogers. “I think it’s almost unheard of.”
The Pioneers’ songs have appeared in more than 100 Western films and continue to be used widely, such as in the Coen brothers’ “The Big Lebowski” (1998) and “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (2018), Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” (2018), and in Ken Burns’ epic “Country Music” TV documentary (2019). A Broadway musical about Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails,” is due out in 2020.
“We are honoured to return to British Columbia,” says Nallie. “Canadians really know and appreciate Western music, and that makes it really fun for us, too.”
* Roy Rogers Jr., “Dusty” is the son of the ‘King Of the Cowboys’- Roy Rogers,Sr.
Roy Rogers Sr. founded the band in 1934 with Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer. Today “Dusty” Rogers is the M.C. for the Sons Of The Pioneers and sings middle harmony in the vocals - like his father did years ago !
Learn more about the band at their website.
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Adult tickets, including Seniors, are $56 and Child/Student tickets are $29.75 including all taxes and fees.
Prsented by For all BC shows: Donations and pledges at the shows will benefit Ronald McDonald Houses in BC & the Yukon.
Photo Standing left to right back; Ken Lattimore, Tommy Nallie, Paul Elliott, Roy Rogers Jr., “Dusty”, and in front left to right; John Fullerton and Chuck Ervin.
Tickets on sale from 12 noon on Friday, July 19.