“I’ve lived a cowboy’s life and I understand it,” says cowboy poet, Chris Isaacs, a performer to appear at the City of Santa Clarita’s 14th annual Cowboy Festival in April, a celebration of cowboy culture. A guest at last year’s festival, Isaacs will return again this year for the five-day festival.
“Great writers write about what they know,” says Isaacs.
Because Isaac grew up on a ranch and more recently worked full-time managing the Nine Cross Ranch with 300 head of cattle until he retired three months ago, his poetry is realistic, rhythmic and visual. In order to write effectively, Isaacs needs certain circumstances to come together.
“The mood has to be right in order to write. I have a notebook with me in my shirt pocket at all times so if an idea comes to me, I write it down to use later,” says Isaacs.
The result says Isaacs is usually more towards the funny or absurd look at the life of a cowboy.
Wanting to keep his macho cowboy mystique, Isaac was once a closet poet for years.
“In high school, I wrote poetry but didn’t want anybody to know what I was doing. Poetry wasn’t in sync with the image of a rough and tough cowboy, so I kept it to myself. Today it is one of the real joys of my life,” says Isaacs.
That makes him the perfect example of someone doing something they love and being very successful at it as is proven with his three Will Rogers awards from the Academy of Western Artists.
Today the 60-year-old cowboy travels the country with his poetry keeping the legend of the cowboy alive, as does the Cowboy Festival.
Other performers scheduled for the event running April 25 through April 29 include comedian Baxter Black, cowboy balladeer Don Edwards, ballads and swing music from Wylie and the Wild West and western melodies from the Sons of the San Joaquin. Besides entertainment, expect plenty of food, fun and frolic.
For further information about the exciting cowboy rundown at the festival, visit www.cowboyfestival.org or call the Cowboy Festival ticket hotline at 1-800-305-0755.