A Pictoral Posting of Cow Camp Trading Post

Finally the pictures are uploaded and I'm able to sit down and chat about the great time we had in Elko! We saw many familiar faces as well as meeting many new ones. It's so fun to see how people and families grow from year to year. This was my 5th year with Vickie and I finally remembered to take a camera! I thought maybe it would be nice to catch shots of the venue and show you some of the good times we have in Nevada. So without further ado, here is what happened in our little room during the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

Vickie & Lee Mullen
(aka. "The owner" & "spouse of the owner")

Vickie and the mystery man
trying to find her best camera angle and lighting.
By the looks of the rest of these pictures, maybe
I should have practiced longer!

Taking a moment during some down time to
shoot the breeze with the ladies at the
Double H Ranch & Hansen Bit and Spur.
The boss lady indulging me with some
pictures of her with her friends.
Vickie with Red Steagall

Ian wanted his picture taken in front of the slots.

Ernie Sites decided to take a walk across the street
from where he was performing to pay us a little visit.

One of my family's personal favorites,
Dave Stamey, dropped in for a visit.

The hot new man out of Canada, Corb Lund.

Vickie and C.J. Hadley, Editor of "Range Magazine"

Should anyone trust what is said between two artists?
I guess it's a safe bet when it's Todd Hansen
of Hansen Bit & Spur and Mark Dahl.

The Southwest corner of Cow Camp Trading Post
Looking into The Old Frontier Clothing Co. booth

Southeast we see Joelle Smith art and
Rocky Mountain Hat Company

Looking Northeast,
Oh look, Vickie was in the room!
Must have been after 11 a.m. ;)

And now to the Northwest. Yes, I was dizzy
after my twirl around the room!

Thanks to all of you that made this weekend a success! We are looking forward to seeing you all again next year. And for those of you that were not able to be there, you sure missed out on a lot of good times. (and we didn't even have to catch a show or stay up to late to have it. Or at least I didn't, who knows what time Vickie got in!)

Having fun in Elko

Well we are on our 3rd day in Elko. And of course as always Vickie is the belle of the ball! I wish I could be a mouse in her pocket. (sometimes :) ) Here are a few pictures of the setup and venue. We also get some of the performers to stop in and say Hi! I suppose I should get moving it's about 10 minutes to open. Let's see what fun we can create today!!

Double H Saddlery packing it in

Old Frontier Clothing Co. getting 'er done

Leon Gage moving around to much to get a good picture!

Larry Bitterman of Old Frontier Clothing Co.
Actually I'm speechless with this one!

Sorry the pictures are fuzzy. People move so fast sometimes and they don't like to pose till you get a nice shot.

Product Spotlight: Silvertip Halters

This week we would love to introduce you to Silvertip Halters. As they state they are "Hand Tied With Pride" in the Big Sky country of Florence, Montana U.S.A. . Here's what they have to say about their products...

"At Silvertip Halters, we are proud to offer what we believe to be the finest handmade equine rope products available. We strive to support our products with superb, prompt service and customer satisfaction while keeping in mind reasonable cost.
We are continually testing ideas to add new items to our line, so check back often! All of our products are made from strong materials which are resistant to rot, mildew and abrasion. They are available in a multitude of colors, sizes and styles.

As always our products are
"Hand Tied With Pride!"

Many Styles • 7 Sizes • Rot & Mildew Resistant
5 Year Guarantee • Strong One Piece Construction
Preferred by Trainers, Clinicians, Outfitters, Trail riders,
Working Cowboys, and English & Western Riders. "

Hitching Post Supply offers a full line of Silvertip halters, mecates, and leadropes. Head over to the website and pick out your favorite style and color.

Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! Destinae is back and ready to blog. There is so much going on and coming up here at Hitching Post Supply I'm wondering where to begin! How about a hearty Congratulations to HPS's dear friend Ian Tyson for being named Western Horsman's "Horseman of the Year"! Pick up the current issue of Western Horseman to read the full article. Also check out their website to view a slideshow of Ian photos, set to him performing "Blaino's Song" in that new voice that is causing quite a stir.

Hitching Post Supply is also traveling quite a bit this month. Vickie will be at WESA Trade Show in Denver, Colorado, January 15-19th. It's a one stop shop for retailers to look and purchase goods from suppliers. So encourage your local store to carry Ian Tyson and many of the other great cowboy & western singers, they have over 150 titles to choose from! Tell them to stop by booth PB223, say Hi to Vickie and Blaine McIntyre of "Blaino's Song".

While Karrie stays home and mans the post in Snohomish, so all your orders are still filled on time, Vickie, Lee and I hang out in Elko, Nevada at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. This year's Gathering will be held January 23 - 30th. The Gathering opens on the 23rd, with Cowcamp Trading Post opening on the 27th. This will be Vickie's 19th year hosting this venue, so you had better stop in and see us, you never know what she'll be up too! ;) This is also my opportunity to step out from behind this computer and meet all of you. Cowcamp Trading Post is host to a number of the top western artisans and craftsmens from all over the United States, offering everything from custom saddles and tack, to boots, silverwork, artwork, clothing and so much more. And of course HPS will be there with CD's of the performers, tack, and collectables. Stop in and say hi, we'd love to meet those of you that are following us on the web. I'll be bringing the camera with me and quite possibly the laptop, so maybe in some free time we can post updates.

Hitching Post Supply is also adding new products to the store so be watching for featured products in the weeks to come.

Grammy Nominated Albums Make Great Gifts!

Grammy Nomination for Micheal Martin Murphy

"Buckaroo Blue Grass"

nominated for Best Bluegrass Album

Rural Rhythm Records is very proud to announce Michael Martin Murphey’s GRAMMY® nomination for BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM, “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS” released last February. "We are so happy for Murph on his Grammy® Album Nomination! He has worked so hard to get his bluegrass album done right in a way that honors, respects and maintains the integrity of bluegrass music and at the same time presents his classic songs in a new and fresh Buckaroo Blue Grass style. Certainly having some of today's top bluegrass artists performing on the album has helped accomplish Murph's vision for the Buckaroo Blue Grass album,” said Rural Rhythm Records President, Sam Passamano, Jr.

This Billboard™ TOP 50 BLUEGRASS chart album (retail sales) album has received other impressive attention this year including holding the #1 spot on the Roots Music Bluegrass Report (airplay) for three weeks in a row last month. CMT.com recently posted a feature article “Michael Martin Murphey Embraced by Bluegrass”, plus named the album in their Top 10 Independent Releases Worth Checking Out article earlier this year.

“BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS” includes numerous fan favorites including, “Carolina in the Pines,” “Lone Cowboy,” and many more. Another track from the album, “Close to the Land (America’s Heartland),” is now in its fourth year as the theme song for the national hit television show America’s Heartland, and also includes a VIDEO RELEASE. This music video includes images from Paul Mobley’s book, THE AMERICAN FARMER - a recent winner of the Book of the Year Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Murphey was extremely grateful for the nomination and said, “It’s wonderful to be mentioned as a Grammy® nominee in the company of people like Steve Martin who has done so much for the bluegrass genre this year. I am so thankful to the Producer, my son, Ryan Murphey and Patt Flynn who organized the players (Sam Bush, Rob Ickes, Charlie Cushman, Andy Leftwich, Ronnie McCoury, Ryan Murphey, Craig Nelson, Pat Flynn, Tim Stidolph, Clay Riness, Matt Wilkes, David Davidson), Keith Compton (Engineer), and Rhonda Vincent who provided vocals and is also a Grammy® nominee in the same category.”

“I’m very grateful to all of the bluegrass bands that have recorded my songs over the years. I’m so blessed to have the support of my real family including my wife Karen, plus my new adopted family, Rural Rhythm Records that includes all the Passamano family and Penni McDaniel. I’m thankful for my Agent, Mike Drudge who introduced me to the Rural Rhythm family. He keeps us very busy on the road and I appreciate the support from PLA Media as well," he continued.

Murphey's performances were extremely well received during the recent International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass convention held in Nashville. Fans were thrilled when he appeared on stage with #1 bluegrass artist, Carrie Hassler, to perform a duet of “WILDFIRE,” and also “RUNNING GUN” with bluegrass veteran, Audie Blaylock & Redline. Both of these new single releases will appear on “BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS II (Riding Song) set for a February 9, 2010 release.

Many fans have been curious about the spelling of “BLUE GRASS” on the CD instead of “bluegrass” so record label President, Sam Passamano previously explained, "When Murph and I were developing the cover art for ‘BUCKAROO BLUE GRASS’, I mentioned that it would be cool if we used the old school alternative spelling for Blue Grass that can be found on many classic albums by our Bluegrass Legends and many of our Rural Rhythm titles released in the 60's that almost always used this ‘Blue Grass alternative spelling. Murph thought that this would be a nice touch to connect something from the genres past to the present as he delivers his own Bluegrass style to many of the well known and loved, Michael Martin Murphey classic songs.”

Rural Rythm Records

Find Micheal Martin Murphy's Grammy nominated album at Hitching Post Supply. It's a great addition to anyones Bluegrass collection.

Featured Craftsman!

Today we'd like to introduce you to craftsman, Refugio Morales (Reef). Reef is the talented maker of the Hand Turned Wood Pens that we are carrying at Hitching Post Supply. We asked Reef to tell us a little about himself and his work and this is what he had to share...

"Coming from a hard working migrant family, I was exposed to a great deal of woodworking items made by my father. Some of which included hand carved wood spoons, knick-knack shelves, bookcases and more. To this day he still enjoys working with wood when he has the chance. As for myself, my first exposure to woodworking came in the sixth grade when I was tasked with making a stagecoach for history class. Needless to say, at this young age, it was primarily built by my father. The first "real" project I can claim as being built by me was a rustic foot stool in shop class during high school. After a couple smaller projects later, I basically took a hiadus from woodworking until I built my own house several years later.

The hobby became a craft when my wife and I built a new home. I took on the task of building all the cabinetry, which included a kitchen, dry bar, coffee bar, and cabinets in our master suite and upstairs bath. Along with the cabinetry, I also took on the finish work, and to this day I still don't know why they call it finish work, it took me 6 years to "finish".

In the summer of 2006, workforce reduction gave me the opportunity to decide to further develop my woodworking skills. I was introduced to pen turning by a business supply owner and set forth to equip my shop with the neccessary tooling. My previous employment duties consisted of designing precision equipment and the transition to the lower tolerances of the art of woodworking made for some projects taking longer than they should. My wife would shake her head when I would sit at my PC to make a graphic model of a bookcase or shelf, but I believe it's that attention to detail that gives me the satisfaction of finishing a piece of work whether it's a pen or a bookcase. I recently read the following quote on a suppliers website; "Quality is when a customer comes back, not the product" and I intend on making my products with that philosophy in mind."

Refugio Morales Jr.

Check out Refugio's hand turned pens on the Hitching Post Supply website. They make a great gift for that special person on your Christmas list!

Oh What A Night!

Wow!! Corb Lund played the Sunset Tavern in Ballard, Washington, on Sunday night, November 15th and the joint was rocking. He is a great entertainer. The energy was amazing from his band, the Hurtin' Albertans, himself and the audience.

Imagine a cold, wet, miserable night with Seattle big-drop rain and wind. That means it was not just the mist that keeps us wrinkle free and just slightly damp; but the pouring down rain that we natives refer to as "wet rain."

Other bands had been playing and Corb was scheduled at 10:30 pm. With a new CD out I wanted to see him perform and hear some of his new songs as well as old favorites. He came out and did not disappoint his fans - playing for 2 hours and treating us to an "Every Night is Friday Night" attitude.

The crowd was extremely diverse; every size, shape, color and walk of life was represented. There were cowboy hats, fedoras, wool caps, a King Ropes cap, cowboy boots, packers, tennis shoes and flip flops. It was really eye opening for me to see his fans and who they brought. In listening to them talk to Corb after the show, some had followed him down from his previous nights show in Vancouver, B.C. Others were headed to Portland for the next night's show. One thing was certain: this young man has started a loyal and adoring fan base.

Go see him and experience it for yourself. From ages 21 to 70, everyone was singing along, laughing and whooping it up, clapping, dancing and just having FUN. Now as I listen to his CD's it brings a smile to know I have seen Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans turn a miserable cold night into a warm memory. Vickie Mullen

Hitching Post Supply carries several Corb Lund CD's. Head on over to the website and pick up your copies today!