Hal Cannon
The founding Director of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada, and its famous child, the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Hal has published a dozen books and recordings on the folk arts of the West including his bestselling anthology, Cowboy Poetry, A Gathering.More recently Cannon has been producing public television and radio features on the culture and folklife of the American West. Voices of the West was a six-part series of one-hour documentaries on holiday folk traditions; the episode "A Cowboy Christmas" won a bronze medal at the New York International Radio Festival. With his wife, author Teresa Jordan, he created the series The Open Road: Exploring America's Favorite Places featured on The Savvy Traveler, public radio's most popular travel show. Cannon and producer Taki Telonidis produce the Folk Economy series heard on Public Radio International's Marketplace and features for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. Their recent documentary, Why the Cowboy Sings will air on PBS in summer 2003. It has garnered several awards including a Rocky Mountain Emmy and a Special Jury Award at the Houston Film Festival. A 16-minute high-definition Music Video version has been produced as part of the permanent exhibit at the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada.
Cannon has been awarded three Wrangler Awards from the Cowboy Hall of Fame; received the 1998 Will Rogers Lifetime Achievement Award; was given the Utah Governor's Award in the Arts in 1999; was presented the distinguished alumni award from the University of Utah Communications Department in 1999; and was presented the Governor's Award in the Humanities in 2002.
He was the founding Folk Arts Coordinator for the Utah Arts Council from 1976 through 1985, where he was best known for being curator of the Grand Beehive Exhibit and the Utah Folk Art Exhibit.
As a musician, Hal and his band, the Deseret String Band (a.k.a. The Bunkhouse Orchestra), made a specialty of researching and performing 19th-century music from the West. Together since 1972, the band released several recordings, including their most recent, "Roundup," a collection of their greatest hits. They toured extensively in Europe and the United States, having been the official band for the America/3 yacht team that won the America's Cup. They also performed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Hal left the group in 2002 and is now playing with a new band and working on a recording of his own songs.
Hal and Teresa live in a wonderful Craftsman home near the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Hal's daughter, Anneliese, is currently a graduate student at Harvard University.
Hal's literary work as well as speaking engagements are managed by Joanna Hurley Marketing and Literary Services, 300 E. Marcy St., Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501; 505.982.4006. The Deseret String Band is managed by Leonard Coulson, Intermountain Guitar and Banjo, Salt Lake City, UT 84102; 801.322.4682.
Hal's 2002 Governor's Award Acceptance Speech Hal's Music The Deseret String Band Selected Radio Programs Ruby the Radio Dog More Photos
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