Cowboy Singer, Cowboy Entertainer, Jim Reader

Shows of any length for Corporate & Community Events

Mixed-media presentations up to 2 hours, or down to half/hour after dinner Cowboy shows of cowboy music, humour & wisdom!

THE SHOW!
The Old West Lives! is the most "nearly true" cowboy show in Canada. Through dialogue, stories, songs and visual enhancements, Jim illustrates that the Canadian Cowboy played a key role in the early development of our great land. Event Organizers, Tour Directors, and Community Organizations will agree The Old West Lives! is a refreshing change from routine speaker or concert venues. Jim provides an extremely unique style of entertainment and education --- it's an edu-tainment concept!.

The descriptions of the land, the people, the animals, and all their interrelationships are so vivid you'll smell the sage and taste the traildust. There's usually a little cowboy in most folks ... and after you've seen, heard and felt The Last Best West, you'll know exactly where that cowboy-in-you is.

THE SET!
The Last Best West has a simple, yet effective "set": an almost-real simulated campfire and horse tack inside a half/moon corral fence complete with sagebrush, tumbleweed and horned cattle skulls! The set is completely self-contained and can be adapted to any area inside or out, in large or small venues.

THE MUSIC!
Jim picks up his guitar to perform some familiar western tunes, and many of his own original songs that the audience'll be hummin' for a while afterwards.

The Story-lines are 'mostly' historically correct, but ya can't blame a poke for enhancin' the truth a tad! As the Settlers moved in and the land closed in, and when barbed wire began to stretch across the West, the cowboy changed only a few things with the times. The Cowboy remained true to the "Code" and kept much of the life and work skills that originated in Mexico, Texas and points north before being implanted in Canada.

THE VISUALS!
The history that Jim has compiled is extensive and developed and honed for The Last Best West. The real kicker to all of this is the visual augmentation of Jim's show. There are over 150 historical slides and graphics that really helps the audience "in tune" with what is being said and sung throughout the show. (lap top computer generated via LCD projector to a big screen).

The Last Best West presentation can be customized to include any aspects
from a saddle bag of topics (below) that you feel will best fit your desired mood, needs and timing.

.The Last Best West Program Outline / Agenda

* sections contain either songs, poems and/or stories to simultaneously educate and entertain*
* every section is augmented with visual slides when the mixed media "Edu-tainment show is chosen

A chronological look at settlements, people, and activities in the vast land that would eventually become Alberta, focusing on the Golden Age of Ranching and Cowboys --1867-1907.

1. from the Ice Age and Woolly Mammoths to “first peoples”
2.    the fur traders, their forts, and integration with the Native Indians
3.    the hayday and doomsday of the buffalo
4.    acquiring Rupert’s Land from Hudson’s Bay Co, and “National Policy” for its settlement
5.    the need for, and the formation of the NWMP
6.    the bravery, respectability and credibility of the NWMP in early years
7.    the Dominion Lands Act and the unbelievable prices for leased and purchased land
8.    the New Life & Lifestyles:   for Indian people, and for Ranchers and Settlers
9.    The Real Cowboy Modules: from the Open Range to the building of fences
      10. the first cowboys, traditions, who they were, what they did
        11. the first cattle and first huge sprawling ranches:   hardships, losses and successes
        12. all about the big Cattle Drives:   how, why, who, where and when
        13. all about the big Roundups: how, why, who, where and when
14. the markets for cattle over the years
15. the formation of ‘groups” and “commuinities that helped people with similar interests
16. the “Last Best West” and “Land of Opportunity” ad programs to entice people to the west
17. the influx of setters/homesteaders and the proportionate downsizing of the large ranches
18. differences and struggles between ranchers and homesteaders
19. the devasting winter of 1906/07 and it’s effect on cattle herds and the future of ranching
20. getting agricultural product to market: transportation/collection systems for stock and grain
21. the end of the old cowboy ways, formation of Calgary Stampede brought end to the era
22. the influence of technology:      integrating ‘old’ traditions into today’s western lifestyle
23. the integrity, work and re-shaping of real cowboys
24. having fun around the ranch
25. the future and maintenance of a long-standing and traditional way of life

Pick from the above and we can provide the EDUtainment that will suit you