'Open Range' kicks off 2012 season

The Kootenai Heritage Council kicks off its fall season with a performance by “Open Range,” at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“The Kootenai Heritage Council is proud to present this opening act to the Libby Memorial Event Center’s 2012~2013 season of entertainment,” said Kootenai Heritage Council Board Member Patty Rambo.

Open Range’s music is defined as “Music that captures the spirit of the West,”  and features Ric Steinke and Linda Hausler, of Livingston, Mont.

The pair is said to weave a musical blend of tight vocal harmonies with outstanding instrumentation. They perform music from the old western standards, to swing tunes of the ’40s, to western music being written today, including their own original compositions. 

“Their music is high-energy, and will definitely make you feel good, and get your toes a tappin’, writes the Steinke and Hausler.

The instrumentation of Open Range includes guitars, eight-string dobro, mandolin, native American flute and vocals.

They have three recordings, which include “Swingtime in the Rockies,” “High Country Cookout,” and “Yellowstone Winds.”

Some of their headline acts include; Cowboy Songs and Range Ballads, Cody, Wyoming; Heber City Cowboy Poetry, Heber, Utah; Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Lewistown, Montana; Old West Days, Valentine, Nebraska; Badger Clark Days, Hot Springs, South Dakota; Cut Bank Storytellers, Cut Bank, Montana.

Open Range has shared the stage with Ian Tyson, Don Edwards, Michael Martin Murphey, Leon Russell, Lee Greenwood, Stephanie Davis, Paul Zarzyski and humorist/poet Wally McCrae, among others. They are also featured on the PBS Kids’ program Postcards From Buster, Buster’s Buffalo Roundup.

This year is Steinke’s 17th season working in Yellowstone National Park as a cowboy singer for the chuck wagon cookout at Roosevelt, and as a stagecoach driver for the Yellowstone Park Stagecoach line. 

In the winter, he maintains his teamster skills by working with the draft horses giving sleigh rides to the North Fork cabin dinner at the Lone Mountain Guest Ranch in Big Sky, Mont. 

Open Range also performs at Montana dude ranches, bringing western music to guests from around the world, at festivals-large & small, concert halls, horse pack trips, corporate events, horse events, barbeques, weddings, and more. 

Tickets are available at Cabinet Books, Homesteaders & Last Straw Café, Rivermist, The Western News and Mountain Meadows.  

Presale tickets are $12, but will be available at the door for $15. Children’s tickets are still only $5.