Prairie Rose Band performs cowboy songs in Menlo Park on Saturday, July 12
The public is invited to enjoy cowboy songs of the old west and of the west that never was, during a free performance of the Prairie Rose Band to be presented by the Menlo Park Library on Saturday, July 12 at 11:00 am.
Wearing colorful cowboy outfits that Gene Autry or Roy Rogers might well have worn, Prairie Rose delights audiences with a wide-ranging repertoire that begins with songs that were popular during the Civil War, and then packs in folk and camp songs, 1930s and ’40s western swing, country hits from Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Carter Family & Jimmie Rodgers, a Cole Porter tune or two, some Stephen Foster, and even audience requests.
“People often come up to us and exclaim, ‘I haven’t heard that song since I was a child,’” says George Martin, the band’s banjo player. “Hearing tunes that people have almost forgotten they knew brings them a lot of pleasure.”
The Prairie Rose Band is made up of Martin on banjo & vocals, Paula Scholten on guitar & vocals, Gene Tortora on eight-string Dobro (acoustic slide guitar) & vocals, and Mark Hedin on bass.
The concert is part of the Menlo Park Library’s Adult Summer Reading program, which runs through August 9 and is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
