Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie on the Tohono O'odham Reservation in Sells, AZ. with fiddles made by Ken. (Courtesy Photo)On March 21, from noon to 1pm, in the Silver City Museum courtyard, renowned local music duo Bayou Seco will present a boot-stompin’ program of cowboy songs and western dance tunes learned from cowboy friends across the state, and some from old collections of cowboy songs and from the Lewis Family in Crow Flats, NM.
Bayou Seco, a.k.a. Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie, have been entertaining New Mexico and many parts of the world since 1980. Bayou Seco's roots are in the southwest, but their branches reach around the globe. In addition to performing professionally they have a long history in the research and preservation of American roots music.
This program ties into the Silver City Museum’s exploration of Ranching in Grant County, the title of our nearly year-long exhibit on display in the Dodge Gallery.
As part of Bayou Seco’s continuing effort to document traditional musicians in the Southwest, Ken presented several New Mexican cowboy musicians at the 1993 Folk Life Festival in Washington DC, hosted by The Smithsonian Institution. Ken has a degree in American studies from the University of New Mexico.
In 2010-2011 Ken and Jeanie were chosen as the State Scholars for the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition Music on Main Street: New Harmonies, celebrating American roots music. They helped curate concerts and exhibits in six New Mexican small towns.
Recipients of the 2017 NM Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, Ken and Jeanie have learned from a number of the old treasured musicians, not only in New Mexico, but also in Louisiana and Arizona.
The work that they did while working with the New Mexico Artists in Residence Program from 1981-1993 allowed them to not only pass on what they had learned, but to give students a different perspective on the music in their own families and communities. They have also taught traditional southwestern music and dance to participants at Festivals, workshops, camps in the USA, Ireland, the UK, Europe, Canada and Mexico.
This program of wonderful New Mexico musicians playing New Mexico music is sure to be memorable. In the event of unpleasant weather, it will be held in the Museum Annex.
The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand, and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting the region's unique history. Admission is free; a suggested donation of $5 helps support the museum’s education programs, collections care and exhibitions. For more information, please contact the museum at (575) 589-5921 info@silvercitymuseum.org , or visit the museum's website: www.silvercitymuseum.org