The Kansas Music Scene: It Started with the Harlan Brothers Orchestra

Recently I've grown enamored with the song Walking Where the Roses Grow, a nice story of eshewing the lure of the bright city lights for the simplicity and beauty of rural life. It's by the very successful 1980s British rock/pop group Katrina & the Waves, best known for their monster hit Walking on Sunshine among others. What most people don't know is that the lead singer in the band was a Kansas girl, Topeka native Katrina Leskanich. Her journey from the Sunflower State to England, where she still lives and records today, is one worthy of a major studio bio pic.





This Kansas connection has led me to muse on the musical roots of the Sunflower State and its continuing contribution to the national and international music scenes today. And that leads me back to April 1873, when the Kansas music influence was born. That month saw Dr. Brewster Higley show up at the doorstep of Dr. John and Sarah Harlan on their farm near the town of Harlan in Smith County, Kansas. He had brought with him a poem he had written two years before, called My Western Home.





Now the Harlan family were extremely musical, so much so that Dr. John and two of his sons made up the locally popular Harlan Brothers Orchestra along with friend Dan Kelley. Upon reading Higley's poem, the family called Dan over to their place, broke out their instruments and played around with Higley's words. Once Dan Kelley hit upon the right music to go with the words, the song Home on the Range was born. It was debuted at a dance almost immediately afterwards and was an instant hit, and today is the official Kansas state song.





Later another Kansas Harlan family member went on to even greater heights of musical popularity. Byron G. Harlan (1861-1936) recorded over 50 Top Ten hits between 1899 and 1920. In this same period he teamed up with Arthur Collins to create the most popular comedy recording duo in the pre-World War II music era. Some of the songs Byron had a hand in making immortal include: Alexander's Ragtime Band; Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie; In My Merry Oldsmobile; School Days; Hello Central, Give Me Heaven; and The Dark Town Strutters Ball.





In the 20th Century Kansas contributed to several genres of popular music. Coleman Hawkins (Topeka) and Stan Kenton (Wichita) are jazz legends. Big Joe Turner of Kansas City was the first to record the classic Shake, Rattle & Roll in 1954. Bonner Springs native Gene Clark was a founding member of the 1960s legendary group The Byrds. Other Kansas contributors to rock & roll include Melissa Etheridge (Leavenworth), and the groups Kansas (Topeka) and Shooting Star (Overland Park). Country music has seen Chely Wright (Kansas City) and Martina McBride (Sharon) become stars in recent years. Even alternative rock has benefited from a strong Kansas connection, led by groups such as Kill Creek. No doubt there are others out there that deserve recognition as well.

There is a Kansas Music Hall of Fame that has held annual inductions in Lawrence since 2005. But until they acknowledge rock legend Joe Walsh (Wichita) as an inductee you'll not see me mention them again. I mean, c'mon people, we're talking about a member of the Eagles, for heaven's sake!

Photographing Tombstones, Entry 1

Today was another gorgeous day, and of course I was stuck in the house all day. Finally at 8PM I decided that it was high time for a quick break. I got in the Gold Standard and drove seven miles west to the Bloomington Cemetery for a quick foray of photographing tombstones. There are over 50,000 people known buried in what is now Osborne County, Kansas, and I have made it a project to go out and photograph every known tombstone in one year's time.

Why, do you ask?

Simple: (1) it gets me out of the house; (2) you get to see some pretty interesting country as you Dare To Do Dirt tracking down some of these public cemeteries (Osborne County has 41, officially); (3) Genealogists and even the odd historian or two will kiss your feet to discover that there is a photograph available of that long-lost ancestor they are half a continent away from and so cannot come and take the photo themselves.

At any rate, the Bloomington Cemetery is relatively easy to reach, being on rock roads only a mile north and a half mile west of the comforting pavement of U.S. Highway 24. The small cemetery has had a rough time of it over the years; of the over 80 known burials, only 42 tombstones can be now be found.

If you ever have the chance to visit this cemetery, be sure to look for one of the five oldest marked graves in Osborne County. Bryan Frentress was born in November 1860 in Iowa to Thomas and Martha, and when only ten years old he passed away on September 5, 1871. Check out his tombstone - no doubt adding to his parents' sense of loss was the final ignominy that the stonemason spelled his name incorrectly as Byon.

One grave you will not find - that of Delbert Tunison. Delbert was six months married in 1885 when he was shot and killed during a midnight visit to the barn of his wife's parents. The story goes that her family objected strongly to their marriage and after a few months the new Mrs. Tunison began to as well. So one night she convinced her husband to go out at night to her parents' farm and bring back two horses and a buggy that should have been her dowry.

Upon entering the barn Delbert was met by his wife's two brothers, who promptly declared him a trespasser and shot him dead. One brother eventually went to prison for the crime, the other brother received a lesser sentence, the widow got off scot-free, and poor Delbert had only his ten-year old brother William to mourn his passing. Delbert lies to this day somewhere in the northern part of the cemetery in an unmarked grave.

A Great Day to be Out in Osborne County, Kansas

Today started out bright and early for myself and Joe Hubbard, two members of Osborne County Tourism, as we got several locations clean and ready for visitors during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. We urge everyone to come and see for yourselves all there is to see and do in this great county.

Our first stop was at the ghost town of Covert, where as the Covert Street Department we mowed and erected new street signage for the seven streets in the abandoned community, along with moving and cutting any number of limbs that had grown in the way. The Covert Rural High School alumni will be holding their biannual reunion in the nearby Covert Creek Lodge next weekend.

Then it was across the county to the former site of the Kill Creek Store, the starting point for the Rediscovering Sod-House Days Self-Guided Tour. There we mowed and cleaned up the picnic shelter and left it in great shape for future visitors.

After eating the special (chicken-fried steak dinner) and great homemade pie at the Homestead Cafe in Alton, there was one more stop at Bloomington, where we cleaned up the travel information kiosk there.

Then Joe headed back to his day job as co-proprietor of the Riverbend Bed & Breakfast east of Osborne, Kansas, and I went on to an afternoon of helping out at the Carnegie Research Library in Osborne. Three out-of-town travelers with queries about Osborne County history made the day both enjoyable and go fast.

Looking toward the 2010 Kansas Sampler Festival

Recovery from a Kansas Sampler Festival takes a few days. In one weekend you've talked to hundreds of people you know, hundreds more that you don't know but that certainly doesn't stop you, and have eaten a lot of great food from a lot of great Kansas food vendors that seemed like a great idea at the time - and it was! The homemade ice cream stands are a must for me each year, and now I've discovered a new favorite with which I can also replenish my energy.

So one of the food vendors I certainly will look forward to revisiting at the 2010 Festival in Leavenworth will be Capone's Famous Shaved Ice of Garden City, Kansas, the home of Gourmet shaved ice treats. And when they say Gourmet they mean it. I highly recommend that everyone who travels to Leavenworth the first weekend in May next year knuckle down and try Capone's "Frog in A Blender." Don't let the name throw you; it only looks like they put a frog through a blender. In actuality it's one of the tastiest desserts you will find anywhere.

"Frog In A Blender." A Great Kansas Taste Treat! Remember, you read it here first.

2009 Kansas Sampler Festival a Rousing Success

This year marked the 20th year for the staging of the Kansas Sampler Festival. For those not in the know, the "Sampler" is the place to be in terms of how to find out what there is to see and do in the Sunflower State. Sponsored by the Kansas Sampler Foundation, this is currently the only festival of its kind in the world, where towns of less than 30 in population man booths & exhibits next to those of 300,000.

Bill Williams, Laura McClure, & Carolyn Williams of Osborne County Tourism (OCT) can be seen putting the finishing touches on the Festival's Osborne County booth.

Concordia has been an excellent host the past two years for the Sampler. Over 5,000 very curious people attended this year's Sampler on May 2-3. From kolaches and buffalo fat soap for sale to historical reenactors and native Kansans of all kinds everywhere, there was indeed something for the entire family.

OCT had its usual large all-volunteer contingent to let people know what there is to see and do here. This year's volunteers included Bob & Adeline Eickhoff and Betty & Orville Pruter, all of Natoma; Bob & Carolyn Williams, Alton; and Mildred Morgan, Laura McClure, and yours truly, all of Osborne. In all we gave out hundreds of brochures and talked for several hours each day with people both familiar and brandnew when it came to knowing about our region of the state. It was hard on the feet, knees, and vocal chords (it took a few days for everyone to recover afterwards) but well worth the effort. Everyone should be applauded for their work ethic and commitment to promoting tourism in the county.

This was the 2009 version of the Osborne County booth. This year's theme featured the 8 Wonders of Osborne County for people to come see and enjoy. As usual, the main attraction in the booth was The Rock, seen at lower left. Scientifically called a Septarian Concretion, the Rock is an annual hit with both kids and adults alike.

This was my 10th Sampler, and I can tell you that they get better and better every year. Leavenworth County in NE Kansas will be the Festival's host for the next two years, so make your plans now to be in Leavenworth the first weekend of May 2010!