Cream of the Crop
B.J. Jamison
From the Sandhills of southwest Cherry County hails 15 year old, B.J. Jamison. B.J. began experimenting with an electric guitar when he was 13, and taught himself how to play mostly by ear. It wasn’t long before he bought his own electric guitar and his desire to learn intensified. B.J. entered a talent show when he was 14, playing and singing Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”. He is a huge Johnny Cash fan and tends to lean toward traditional country music when he looks for new songs to learn. Brett Burress gave B.J. his first opportunity to play with a band last year when the Cobb Family Band was playing at the Cherry County Fair. A few weeks later Brett invited him to play and sing with the Twin River Band in Cody, and he’s been with them ever since. Brett and B.J. soon started having practice sessions and Brett continues to help B.J. develop his guitar skills, along with the other band members and the Cobb family.
B.J. also enjoys working on challenging projects, so last year he built his own electric guitar, “one piece at a time”. Besides electric guitar, B.J. has also learned to play bass guitar, and is currently experimenting with the fiddle. His interests also include recording and writing songs, and he hopes to someday be a well-known musician.
B.J. is a sophomore at Hyannis High School where he is involved in basketball, track, band, and youth group. He helps on the family ranch where he resides with his parents Monte and Lisa Jamison and his two older sisters, Savanna and Brook.
Chris Douglas
Chris Douglas lives in Kilgore where he operates Welker Manufacturing,the Sandhills’ premier manufacturer of bulk feed storage and handling equipment. Chris began playing the piano at age six when his mother informed him he would take piano lessons and practice on a daily basis. His piano education continued on through college at Texas A&M University – Commerce where he studied math, engineering and some music, and graduated in 2003; B.S. mathematics. Chris’ repertoire includes very few compositions from the Classical era, several from the Romantic and Impressionistic eras and many from popular artists of the last forty years.
Yvonne Hollenbeck
Yvonne Hollenbeck, a Gordon native, has previously appeared with her award-winning cowboy poetry, or accompanying her father, Harry Hanson, and his music partner, Billy Gibbons, on the piano, but this year her presentations will involve quilts and quilting from five generations of her family, all of whom lived on the prairies of Nebraska. Her first show, Patchwork of the Prairie, will be a trunk show of family quilts made on the prairies of Nebraska, beginning in 1875. These quilts will be accompanied by photos of the makers and the homes they lived in accompanied by an original poem or two. The second show, The Fabulous Feedsack Era, will revisit an era in the not-so-long ago, when money was scarce and printed cotton feed and flour sacks were the fabric of choice. This will be an entertaining program where you will see actual unused sacks, historical photos, items and quilts made from sacks, and even a style show of feedsack aprons. Yvonne lives on a cattle ranch in South Central South Dakota, near the tiny village of Clearfield. Her popular programs are presented across America and are on both the South Dakota and Nebraska Humanities roster.
Jim Salestrom
Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley were American Superstars – They were easily the most famous Americans of their time – in the 1880’s and 1890’s
They were more famous than Theodore Roosevelt. The year is 1917. Come with us and experience a celebration of William F. Cody’s life
100 years ago…
Two Years in the making, this tribute to Buffalo Bill is a multi media event (large projected images from archives at the Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum), with original songs from the Emmy award winning song writer Jim Salestrom.
