Don Edwards


Grammy nominated songster Don Edwards continues to build a legacy that enriches our vision of the American West. In tales of the day-to-day lives and emotions of those who have lived it, his ballads paint a sweeping landscape of both mind and heart, bringing to life the sights, sounds and feelings of this most American contribution to culture and art. The quality of this cowboy balladeer's music stems from the fact that he is so much more than a singer. Bobby Weaver of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, summed up Edwards' importance as "... the best purveyor of cowboy music in America today."
An historian, author, and musicologist, unusually well-versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions, Don brings a rare complement of knowing and loving his craft. Mostly though, there is the soul of a poet; a man who has never succumbed to the temptations of presenting a glamorized or romanticized version of the West. Edwards deals with bad weather, petty motivations, sadness, nostalgia and longing as arts of the landscape like any other.

Friday night pajama party & karaoke with the dooley gang

Get ready for the most fun you can have... with your PJ's on! Back by popular demand, the Top of the Riv Ballroom will be the place to be Friday night from 9 PM till Midnight. Join in and enter to win the first ever Pajama Costume Contest with our guest judge, the one and only Peaches O'Day. This is a party you dont want to miss with the return of the entire Dooley Gang spinnin' Karaoke.

silver screen saloon show featuring Peaches o'day, miss tabitha, and river crossing's dancehall darlings

Make a beautiful memory when you spend time with the lovely ladies of River Crossing's Silver Screen Saloon Show! Appearing live and in person at the SASS Convention for the first time, the cast will be available for photographs and autographs, and will perform one time each day on the performance stage in the main hall. The fabulous and incomparable Peaches O'Day will appear "in the flesh," singing her signature songs and amusing you with her famous one-liners and innuendos. Sexy, smart and stunning, she's been called, "The best Mae West since Mae West." Joining her are the high-stepping, high-kicking, split-dropping Dancehall Darlings Can-Can Dancers, and at Friday's performance, Miss Tabitha will join the cast with her unique blend of comedy and charm. Now, you too have the pleasure of enjoying the company of these beautiful ladies, who have performed at END of TRAIL, in Italy at the European End of Trail, and at the Paris Western Show. Don't miss this opportunity!

RIVER CROSSING, INC.
Miss Tabitha and Mad Mountain Mike have 43 years of combined experience in historical research and re-enactment. Mad Mountain Mike’s work has been featured in museums, movies and galleries across the country and in Europe, while Miss Tabitha has focused on historic dance and fashion. Their partnership enables them to cover many eras and topics, ranging from the Revolutionary War to modern day, with a special focus on the American Old West. Mad Mountain Mike and Miss Tabitha enjoy presenting history in an entertaining as well as educational style.

Thursday and Friday morning, enjoy a unique presentation as Miss Tabitha demonstrates for you how a Victorian lady would have dressed from the “inside out”. Beginning with chemise and bloomers, she adds corset, petticoat, bustle, and on and on until at last she is attired in her final outfit -- “properly and decently” dressed to appear in public, not forgetting her headpiece and correct accessories. As each piece is added, she shares entertaining and historical anecdotes about the clothing of the Victorian era. This is a delightfully educational program you won’t want to miss!

In preparation for Saturday night’s Cattle Baron's Ball, on Thursday and Friday afternoon Miss Tabitha will present a lesson on dances of the Victorian era, such as the Grand March, Virginia Reel, and Quadrilles. Topics such as fan flirtations, bows and curtsies, escorting your lady and managing the train of a gown will also be covered. Miss Tabitha has been researching and teaching old-time dance for over 15 years, and she specializes in adapting historic dances for modern-day folks. All dances will be taught, and no previous experience is necessary. Not a stuffy class, you will be pleasantly surprised at the simplicity of many of these elegant dances. Ladies attending are encouraged to bring their trained or bustled petticoat or skirt in which to practice.

On Saturday only, Miss Tabitha and Mad Mountain Mike are pleased to once again present their Old West & Victorian Fashion Show tailored especially for SASS shooters! Practical, beautiful, historical, fanciful – you’ll find it all featured here in a wide range of Wild West, Native American, Victorian and B-Western styles. Miss Tabitha and Mad Mountain Mike provide a historical and humorous commentary with each outfit, giving “inside information” of value to costume buffs and SASS members alike. Don’t miss it!

Syd Masters & The Swing Riders

Syd Masters & The Swing Riders are a talented and humorous musical group specializing in what Syd refers to as Vintage Western Cowboy Swing!

Recently they received the 2004 "Best Humorous Song" award for the track "My Dog," as well as the 2003 "Country Song of the Year" MIC Award for Syd's original tune, "Out In The Country." Other accomplishments include winning the Western Music Association "Best Western Swing Band" international nomination during each of the last three years, as well as wrangling in the New Mexico Music Industry's "Best Vocal Performance" award for singing and yodeling on recorded works.

The boys can also be seen on television and on posters throughout the West as the new "Singing Cowboys" for the Powerball Lottery advertising campaign.

Alibi Music magazine named "Cowboys on the Moon" one of it's top ten best albums for 2003. This CD, which was nominated for best album by The Western Music Association, The Academy of Western Artists, and the New Mexico Music Industry, features all original music and is played on the air in at least 15 countries around the world!

Syd's rich lead vocals and unique brand of unspoiled rhythm guitar are complimented by the accomplished finger picking of multi-instrumentalist Uncle Bob.

These boys have been headline performers at the Elko Cowboy Gathering, Western Music Association Awards Show, Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering, Westfest, Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium, Withlacoochee Bluegrass Festival, Rancheros Vistadores Trail Ride, Silver City Cowboy Jamboree, South Texas Ranching Heritage Festival, Carbon County Gathering of Cowboy poets, Gene Autry Museum, Superstition Mountain Cowboy Gathering, and many more events across the United States.

They have also performed as musical ambassadors for over 25 different countries in the Bureau of Diplomatic Affairs Antiterrorism Assistance Cultural Exchange Program. Syndicated Radio show host Rick Huff dubbed these singing cowboys the hardest working band in western music. During one stretch they actually performed over 150 shows in 170 days.

Dr. Buck Montgomery

Dr. Buck, a nickname bestowed upon him by fellow Hollywood Stuntmen, has appeared in such films as, "The Sacketts", "Pale Rider", "The Shadow Riders", "Barbarosa", "The Long Riders", with the late David Carradine, and "Back to the Future III", to name just a few. His Live Stage Show production and script writing skills soon found him working as the General Manager, Entertainment Director & Stunt Show Coordinator at the World Famous "Ponderosa Ranch", home of TV's Bonanza!... and consequently working, performing, and acting in the many Bonanza sequels with such legendary actors as Ben Johnson, Jack Elam, and even Star Trek's very own Leonard Nimoy! Dr. Buck has this to say about being a professional stuntman, "Scars are just Cowboy & Stuntmen Tattoos…with better stories." As the "Trail Boss" of the "Wild West Performing Arts Society" (WWPAS), the newest addition to SASS, Dr. Buck was given the opportunity to help preserve America's Wild West Arts, such as "Trick Roping", "Gun Spinning", "Whip Cracking", "Knife Throwing", "Wild West Show Stunts and Stage Combat", "Trick Riding & Shooting" and more, for generations to come! These Classic Cowboy Skills practiced around the Round-Up campfires, performed in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows, and presented to citified folks by Will Rogers, now have a "New Home with SASS", for everyone wanting to keep this part of America's unique heritage alive! At this year's 10th Anniversary SASS Convention, Wild West Christmas & WWPAS World Championship Competition, you'll will have the opportunity to witness the "Very Best in the Wild West", all competing for coveted World Championship titles!

Jim Dunham

Jim Dunham has spent most of his life pursuing his love of the American West. Although born in Illinois, Dunham grew up influenced by the art of Charles M. Russell, Frederick Remington and the books of Will James.

Jim was a boy when the Westerns dominated both TV and the movies. As a teenager he was active in the sport of Fast Draw and became accomplished at gun spinning and fancy gun handling. He studied acting and Fine Arts at the University of Colorado and began performing a show about the Gunfighters of the Old West for service clubs and church roups. In 1967 Jim took his act to Hollywood and was hired by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation to perform in their Studio Tour Stunt Shows. During the next few decades Jim would teach gun tricks and fast draw to movie actors, speak at conventions, work as a performer in the Chuckwagon Supper Show business, appear as a guest on national TV talk shows and perform at the Winter Olympics. urrently he can be seen as a Western historian on 4 episodes of the series “Tales of the Gun” on the History Channel. Dunham is employed as the Director of Special Projects and Historian for the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA. Jim has recently combined his art skills with his acting ability to create a program where he paints a watercolor painting and tells humorous stories from C.M. Russell’s book Trails Plowed Under. To book a show, please call (770) 607-6362.

Hotshot Johnny mincks

Hotshot Johnny Mincks has been thrilling audiences with his unique blend of extraordinary theatrics and amazing skills since childhood. An incredible entertainer who brings belief and vitality to even the most outlandish characters, he has developed his presentation ability to the height of audience enjoyment. Whether on screen, stage or street, Mincks captivates audiences with his beguiling presence and razor sharp wit. He is at once cool, charming and a complete numbskull whose charm is only rivaled by his incredible skills and physical mastery. His trick and fancy gun handling is rivaled by only a handful of professional gunslingers today.

Sourdoh Slim

A performance by Sourdough Slim is a hoot to say the very least. This savvy performer with a seasoned gift for connecting with audiences transports us to a whimsical world where vaudevillian camp intermingles with cowboy lore, producing grins galore. Since 1988 he has gained national recognition performing at events across the country including; The National Cowboy Gathering in Elko, Nevada, The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and Carnegie Hall and The Lincoln Center in New York. His fast-paced stage show combines cowboy singing, award winning yodeling, timeless humor, accompaniment on accordion, guitar, ukulele and harmonica and a keen knowledge of the traditional Western repertoire. Audiences step back in time with an authentic vaudeville style cowboy show in the Will Rogers tradition. Sourdough Slim is a veritable "One Man Western Extravaganza", crooning Western classics, playing accordion, guitar and harmonica, dancing a jig, twirling a lariat, dishing out hilarious comedic sketches and letting loose with award winning Yippie-Ti-Yi-Yodeling. You will deem yourself Lucky and Fortunate to witness such an on stage spectacle, here at the annual SASS Convention… definitely a One-Of-A-Kind entertainer! Might we suggest you request the classic Cowboy Tune, "Mule Train" or the rarely heard "Big Bad Buck from the Badlands"… he will not disappoint!

Adam "Crack" Winrich

Get ready to witness some amazing whip cracking skills, dangerous stunts and tricks performed by this Wild West Wizard of the Whip. When Adam takes to the Stage to perform his unique, sophisticated, and high energy whip routines, you'll quickly see why and how he claimed the title of 2010 SASS-WWPAS All-Around World Champion Performer at the SASS Convention. Add Bullwhip and Knife Throwing World Championship buckles to his collection along with the 7 Guinness World Records: the longest whip ever cracked, fastest whip for 10 targets, most stock whip cracks in a minute, most two handed whip cracks in a minute, most candles extinguished in one minute with a whip, most bullwhip cracks in one minute, and the most drink cans broken with a whip in three minutes... I think you'll agree that Adam is definitely one of the Best in the West! Granted, you may "Hear" Adam before you see him, even if you're standing in the Hotel Casino… because there is nothing quite like a Bull Whip cracking and breaking the sound barrier to get an audience's attention!

JACK DAGGER

Long before Todd Abrams became the World renowned Knife Throwing Performer Jack Dagger, he made a back-yard hobby out of throwing screwdrivers into the dirt back in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. From there he progressed to pocket knives and Boy Scout camping axes. Eventually he obtained his first real throwing knife from the master designer Harry K. McEvoy, and it was off to the races. Jack's first television commercial in 1995 had him throwing a tomahawk at a Louisiana-shaped target covered in bacon; a bizarre ad for a local lawyer's campaign for Lieutenant Governor. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2003, Jack has performed in over a thousand shows, made several television appearances (including Japanese and Greek television), won several World Championships, been recognized by the International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame, and invented the Knife Catch, the Tomahawk Catch, the Unicorn Catch, and the Jack Knife - Cucumber Slice. Jack, one of the most respected Performers in the Wild West Arts, will also be one of the Judges for WWPAS World Championship Performance competition , and will be conducting the "Hands On" Knife & Hawk workshops at this years Convention.

Various WWPAS Performers

Get ready for the "Wild West Arts Ride of your Life", when a virtual buffet of Wild West Performers take to the stage and demonstrate the various Wild West Arts skills, all with their own unique presentations and interpretations. It might be the Southern Gentleman, Bruce "Southpaw" Brannen, 2009 World Champion, Pistol Packin' Paula, Charlie "The Lone Wisconsin Cowboy" Keyes, Big Dan Minks, Kowboy "Woo Hoo" Kal, or maybe even a few 2010 WWPAS World Champions like Rider Kiesner and Tombstone Tony… If there's a empty spot on the Pavilion Stage, you can bet that it'll be fair game for a WWPAS member!