Ranger Doug Keeps 'Em Laughing 'Til The Cows Come Home. By Pam Parrish CIRCLE THE WAGONS and plug in the campfire, buckaroos and buckarettes--Riders In The Sky are rolling into Tucson. And this time the Western musical and comedy group will present a full-fledged concert, their first here in eight years. When last we saw Ranger Doug--the mellow-voiced "Idol of American Youth"--he had just been turned back from the border for trying to bring a stuffed armadillo into the country. (The salesman graciously bought back the hapless armadillo for five bucks less than the original price.) Ranger Doug and compadres were in town for the annual Western Music Festival, an event at which they've performed since its inception seven years ago. Unfortunately, the herd of talent featured at the West fest has meant Riders in the Sky have been able to give only brief performances. For the rest of the year, Tucson fans have had to content themselves with KXCI-FM's radio broadcast of Riders Radio Theater--now in reruns while they look for new sponsorship--and the group's highly rated specials on The Nashville Network. In a recent phone chat, Ranger Doug was still laughing about The Armadillo Incident. But he settled down long enough for some relatively serious talk about topics including the renewed interest in cowboy music. "You live in a great place for it," he said. "It's so well-accepted and understood there. But we're seeing it all over, and not just because of our own exposure on TV or whatever. The cowboy's a wonderful, mythic figure that people are always gonna be fascinated by. It's just something that tugs at our hearts." Riders In The Sky can look with pride at the blossoming of cowboy music over the past several years. Ranger Doug, Too Slim (Man of Many Hats) and Woody Paul (King of the Cowboy Fiddlers) have been making music together for almost two decades, a milestone to be marked in 1998 with a boxed set from Rounder Records. Spurred by childhood memories and encouraged by others with similar dreams (not to mention young 'uns experiencing this music for the first time) they've single-handedly revived and sustained cowboy music through some very lean times. While others dabbled or posed, the trio immersed itself in the image and substance of the singing cowboy--not the nihilistic drifter of the high plains, but the larger-than-life, white-hatted variety that went by the name of Roy or Gene, cheerfully slept under the open sky, and had a meaningful relationship with his cowpony. It wasn't the easy way, but it was The Cowboy Way. It's no wonder the group often refers to itself as "this cast-iron, steam-powered biplane." But when the "new traditionalist" movement started and Americans looked back in longing for simpler times, Riders in the Sky were already well off the ground, airborne against all odds. The concert trail always has been busy for Riders in the Sky, with 180 to 200 dates a year over the past two decades. Ranger Doug wasn't sure of the lineup for their upcoming Tucson concert, as fiddler Woody Paul may be kept away by his wife's illness. In that case, accordion master Joey the Cowpolka King, familiar from the group's records and radio and TV shows, will join the group. Riders In The Sky have purveyed razor-sharp instrumental work, comedic creativity, genre-true songwriting and the most gorgeous harmonies ever to tumble a tumbleweed into their position as the preeminent cowboy-music band. Their legendary live shows feature outrageous costumes, unlikely props and children's sing-a-longs. They were the first Western music group to release an album on a major label in 40 years (they've since returned to Rounder Records), and the first contemporary group inducted into the Western Music Hall of Fame. Typically, Riders in the Sky's comedy garners most of the attention: fake commercials for products like Deadwood Darlene's Udder Butter on a Rope; reckless rope twirling and varmint dancing; serial skits like "Meltdown on the Mesa"; and characters such as Sidemeat the cook (a term used loosely), surfer-dude Freddie La, Sgt. Dudley of the Canadian Mounties, and Elmer and Wynonna, the Fudds. The family-friendly humor took the spotlight on their delightful Saturday morning CBS television show a few years back (usually preempted by Baseball), their cable specials and on their last few albums. But their music provides more subtle, perhaps more rewarding pleasures. Riders in the Sky's love for Western music and facility in performance shine from every rendition. While caught up in laughter, it's easy to forget that Ranger Doug's complex rhythm guitar playing, Woody Paul's supple, jazzy fiddling and Too Slim's skill with the standup bass are a full length ahead of the herd. And then there are those harmonies: Melting together, dipping and soaring, sometimes breaking into a yodel, they turn even chestnuts like "Cattle Call," "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and "Red River Valley" into moving experiences. The emotions that must have driven the originators are born again; as Clichéd as it sounds, it really is like hearing these songs for the first time. Riders in the Sky's most recent album, Always Drink Upstream from the Herd, returns attention to the music while comedy takes a back seat. The album won the Wrangler Award for outstanding Western music of 1995, and includes four of Ranger Doug's original compositions and one from Too Slim (the title track, of course). In addition to the standards, Riders in the Sky delight in showcasing lesser-known songs from Western and related genres. Ranger Doug is a well-known music historian under the alias Douglas B. Green, and a fervent fan of ranchera music. And their own compositions fit seamlessly into the tradition. In addition to comedic gems by one or more Riders, Ranger Doug writes richly romantic, nature-inspired songs. "We always make that joke about it, that it's not about falling off a barstool and hittin' on your neighbor's wife," he said. "That's what appealed to me at the very first: It's music about the outdoors and about the West. There's a real...if I say 'spiritual,' that's a little bit too heavy, but there's just something uplifting about being out-of-doors. And everybody feels it. "It's just a different thing to write about than broken hearts and feeling sorry for yourself. There are plenty of people doing that. There are not too many people doing what I do. "Thank heavens there's a tiny quarter of a percentile sliver in this market for cowboy music." Riders in the Sky perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 30, at the ASDB Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Tickets are $20, with a $1 discount for TFTM members, and are available at Hear's Records, Loco Music, and Zip's on Speedway and Kolb. Proceeds benefit ASDB's fine arts program. All seating is reserved. Call 770-3690 for information.

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