Living Close To The Land

Every week we bring you stories about the families who work on farms and ranches across the country. And part of that story is told in our theme song on the show, words and music of a commitment to the heartland.

On a late summer afternoon, singer and songwriter Michael Martin Murphey has brought his award winning music to a high mountain meadow in southeast Colorado. It's a performance that taps into his country roots and his admiration for people who make their living on the land. He explains, "I kind of grew up more in the piney woods of Texas and saw people clear the land and work really hard. That piney woods country to get a pasture, you got to really work hard to clear it."

Murphey's rendition of "America's Heartland" has been the show's theme song from its beginning. Performing keeps him on the road, but he works his schedule to spend a significant amount of time in the rolling hills and mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

Off stage, Murphey can often be found in the saddle, keeping horses for himself and his family at their cabin near Red River. Murphey explains, "My granddaddy was a cowboy in east Texas. He was from Kentucky and he moved from the coal mines of Harlan, Kentucky to be a cowboy and that's all he ever wanted to do was run cattle. So he taught me how to ride."

The settings in the mountains of Colorado allow Murphey to perform in some unique venues. The outdoor stage at Bobcat Pass Adventures is a cowboy campfire for his music and others.

Murphey discusses his songs, "A lot of our cowboy songs don't come from people that look like me or look like Clint Eastwood. They come from the Indians, The come from the ex black slaves, the ex slaves from the south. They come from the Spanish people." And Murphey often showcases performers like Native American artist Carpio Water Crow.

But throughout the summer, many of Murphey's shows begin with a train ride. On board the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. The train takes audience members up some 9 thousand feet to Colorado's La Veta Pass. The solar and wind power provide the energy at the high meadow amphitheatre.

With sidemen Gary Roller and Pat Flynn, concert goers are entertained: with music and some tongue in cheek country humor. On stage, Murphey tells a joke, "Boys when you're dating, date anybody that you want and have a good time, but when you get married, you make sure that you marry a woman who can run a bobcat and back a trailer."

There's a theme that runs through the music Murphey's written and the songs he performs. A celebration of those who provide the food, fuel and fiber we enjoy as a nation. Murphey says, "If you can't figure this out, you can't figure out anything and that is: there is no culture without agriculture. Working hard is something that I just really respect and you don't find harder workers that people who work the land."

Murphey goes on, "Every single day that you get to ride in the saddle, and every single day that you get to get out there and work on your tractor on a good day, is a fantastic experience."