Friends, a few days ago, an artist appeared on my feed that immediately grabbed my attention.
First it was the visuals. You know I love a good cowboy hat, but I’d never seen one quite as tall as this one before. Then I played the video, and I heard a song that seemed to warm the soul and connect me to a land many thousands of miles from where I’m from.
And as one pertinent commenter said after watching the video, “…then I thought the hat wasn’t big enough.” Quite.
It went viral, gathering millions of views overnight on all the platforms. You may have seen it yourself. If not, have a watch/listen below:
The dude’s name is Buddy Mac, who has quite a unique blend of talents. Not only does he play in a country band, he’s also a yodeler and ventriloquist. Based in Washington State and nicknamed the Last Yodeling Cowboy, he follows in the footsteps of country artists from the 50s and 60s who also yodeled and wore similar hats.
Cowpoke
There’s something about the performance and the song that spoke to me, and I had to look into it further. The song was written in 1951 by Stan Jones, and first recorded by Elton Britt around the same time. It had a contemporary release by Colter Wall in 2020.
I’m very glad I heard Buddy’s cover, because it introduced me to a truly beautiful song, with lyrics that tell such a real story of a way of life and the land. I had also never heard the term ‘cowpoke’ before, which is apparently the old slang way of saying cowboy.
As great as those original versions of the song are, I think this one tops them. The way he belts out the howling chorus is haunting.
As a content creator, something else stood out to me. Buddy has been doing this since around the pandemic, and while he has had some success with his music - playing concerts locally around the PNW and with some social media traction - this one video will have no doubt changed everything.
If we go back 10 years, it would have been like a Simon Cowell X Factor moment. Except now, all you need is your talent and a phone to record and hit publish. The people decide.
The story crosses several interests of mine: internet lore, music, America and content. Good on him! He’s on all the social medias, and here’s his Instagram.
With that said, here’s the early release of a new YouTube video i’ve recorded for you from my hometown in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s a day-in-the-life style, walk and talk vlog.
Enjoy! Shaun