Buck "The Big Man"

Artist Information

Biography

Saddle up with Buck”The Big Man”!
“I’m a rootin, tootin, six-gun shootin, yodeling cowhand!”
(courtesy of Wylie Gustafson)
These Lyrics describe Buck”The Big Man” to a T! Singer, Songwriter, Yodeler extraordinaire, Award winning Cowboy Poet, Emcee, Voice-over artist, Humorist and Western Actor. The Big Man brings the Music, History and Romance of the West to life before your very eyes! Whether you’re after historically accurate costumes, and songs of the trail (and the stories behind them) or the Golden age of the B-Westerns, with the great tunes from Roy, and Gene, Tex and Rex, Cowboy Poetry for your next gathering, yodels that’ll blow the roof right off ‘yer bunkhouse, Fall-Down laughing Cowboy Comedy, or a great villain or sidekick for your next production... The Big Man is the one to call!

Born into a musical family (his Mother Judy Beaver was a regular on the Big “D” Jamboree, and Country Picnic TV and radio shows) Buck has been performing since the age of 5. He is featured regularly on Love of the West, and can often be seen on the Texas Country Gospel Hour seen worldwide on Gospel Music Television; Featured on the TV series “Tales from the Trail” on KXVI in OK City, and written up in Texas Highways, Rope Burns, and other Western Publications. Buck is guaranteed to liven up any show, from a small Cowboy Church service, to yodeling in front of thousands of fans in Las Vegas, or bringing a smile to the audience at your Cowboy Poetry gathering. He tours widely throughout Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. His music can be heard on radio stations throughout North America, Australia, and Europe. The Big Man has 10 albums out, and is currently working on a 11’th.
In addition to his other activities, Buck is in wide demand both as an emcee and as a voice over artist, having recorded over 2000 Radio and TV Commercials. Most recently, The Big Man is the host/producer of the Internet radio show “Cowboy Campmeeting” which is webcast on TwangtownUSA.com, and writes the "Golden Nuggets" column for The Western Way magazine. He also heads up the largest online Western Music and Poetry group on Facebook.

Instrumentation

One Big Man, One Guitar - to full band available. All acoustic, acoustic/electric, historic or modern, all tailored to match your event. I can furnish anything from a one man campfire show, a Cowboy trio, an Irish ensemble, to a 6 piece Western Swing band.
Call to discuss your special line up! (214) 875-1421

Discography

Cattle on a Thousand Hills
Best of The West
Songs of the Trail
Two Guitars in Spanish (With Anita Witt)
Wild Places (Cowboy Poetry & Stories)
Buck The Big Man Swings Western
Cowboy Gospel & Christian Country
God & Country kinda man
Oklahoma - A century in song
From the Mountains to the Prairie
You can also find more music samples at my Soundclick page
http://www.soundclick.com/Buckthebigman.
Be sure to connect with me on facebook
www.facebook.com/Buckthebigman

Official Website

http://www.soundclick.com/buckthebigman

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• my youtube channel

Audio

• Whoopi ti yi yo
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• Wild Horses (Cowboy Poetry)
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• San Antonio Rose
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• Approaching hoofbeats
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• Cowpoke (live recording)
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• Molly Malone / My home's in Montana
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• Cattle Call
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• Just a Closer Walk with Thee
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• Happy Trails - Live at Gene Autry, OK
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• misc comments... [+ Show ]
  

  “Whenever I’m booking a show in TX or OK Buck is one of the first ones I call.” ...“Whenever I’m booking a show in TX or OK Buck is one of the first ones I call.”
  Debra Coppinger Hill
  AWA Poet of the year
  Executive Producer “Love of the West”
  
  “Buck makes the fanciest yodels sound effortless; such fun to work with.”
  Devon Dawson
  Grammy Award Winning
  Western Recording Artist
  “You can record anything of mine, anytime you like!”
  Wylie Gustafson
  Wylie & the Wild West
  
  “He’s got a voice like hot fudge; Sweet, rich, and deep.”
  Jinelle Boyd
  Co-Founder
  My Texas Music.com
  
  “I love working with him, such a great voice”
  Ginny Mac
  AWA Western Swing
  Artist of the year 2003
  

• A voice like Hot fudge...sweet, rich and deep! [+ Show ]
  

  Buck "The Big Man" Helton is a true Texas treasure who has been hidden away too long. With a voice ...Buck "The Big Man" Helton is a true Texas treasure who has been hidden away too long. With a voice as true as Johnny Horton and a full baritone delivery as smooth as Tennessee whiskey, Buck will take you on a fabulous journey through the eyes of a Cowboy. Leaning toward a gospel theme at times, The Big Man delivers set after set of exemplary western offerings. Stories, poetry, songs, gospel, country and western music are wrapped up in one tall Texas performer. Helton is one of the finest cowboys I’ve met, and his music is soothing, vibrant, and positive. We need more like him. Each disc is a must-buy for true Texas music fans who enjoy the singing cowboys of the Lone Star state, including the instrument-laden Spanish album, “DOS GUITARRES EN ESPAÑOL” which has a few great surprises. No flash, just great music. Now you have five great albums to choose from. Get ‘em all today!

• Miles of Memories [+ Show ]
  

  A gentle giant who sings and plays a beautiful song, whether it be country, cowboy, bluegrass or sp... A gentle giant who sings and plays a beautiful song, whether it be country, cowboy, bluegrass or spiritual, you'll see Buck at music festivals and cowboy church services across Texas, Oklahoma and beyond. He's one of the best...and, like all our Miles of Memories entertainers, a wonderful person to be around.
  Buck has performed since he was five years old and includes such venues as the Grapevine (TX) Opry, The Jones Family Theatre, The Royalle Theatre, fairs, festivals, cowboy poetry gatherings, ranch gatherings, and the Fort Worth Stock Show as his training grounds.
  His internet-webcast Cowboy Campmeeting show is now in its seventh year, and in years past was involved in radio work of the standard (old-fashioned) kind.
  You'll love his good clean humor, his original material, the historical anecdotes behind the music...and of course, his yodeling

• write up of Miles of Memories workshop [+ Show ]
  

  Shay Burk sburk@hastingstribune.com Play with anyone who will let you, anywhere, anytime. Tha...Shay Burk
  sburk@hastingstribune.com
  
  Play with anyone who will let you, anywhere, anytime.
  That was the advice musicians Buck the Big Man Helton and Fiddlin’ Jake Simpson shared with a group of about 20 fans at the Miles of Memories Country Musicfest Thursday.
  The event, which runs through Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds, features a variety of country and western musicians, who participate in concerts, jam sessions and workshops.
  “The chief thing you need to remember in this is to have fun,” Helton said. “That’s why everybody wants to be in show business because we get paid to have fun.”
  Forty-two-year-old Helton and sixteen-year-old Simpson shared their experiences of getting into the music scene during an afternoon workshop.
  “I come from a musical family,” Helton said. “My mom and aunt were professional entertainers. I’ll be glad to pass along things I’ve learned, although I don’t know exactly how much will apply to you because I literally don’t know any other way of life.”
  Helton said he starting singing before he could talk and made his public debut singing at a bluegrass festival at age five.
  “They let me get up and do “Home on the Range” and I’ve been mixing up styles ever since,” he said.
  The next year he made his television debut becoming a regular on the children’s show “Romper Room.” However, his inappropriate language learned on the road from “hillbilly musicians” almost got him kicked off.
  Helton said the best advice he could give to someone wanting to learn a musical instrument is to not practice.
  “Practice is not fun. Practice is boring,” he said. “You’re sitting here doing scales and trills and music theory, all of which you need but you’ll pick it up as you go along.”
  Instead both Helton and Simpson agreed the best advice for someone starting out is to just play with anyone anywhere. Helton said find places to play like a local steakhouse, church, nursing home or bar.
  Those were the places Simpson said he started performing. He was bitten by the music bug at age 3 after visiting Silver Dollar City, a late-1800’s theme park, in Branson, Mo.
  “There was an old man who played the fiddle, Grandpa Vern. He let me sit on his knee and he’d help me play fiddle,” Simpson said. “I thought it was pretty fun so I begged my parents to get me a fiddle.”
  At first his parents wouldn’t buy him the fiddle, so his mother made him a fake guitar with a cardboard box and rubber bands. Simpson said he would go around singing “Don’t Fence Me In” and “The Bull Frog Song.”
  When he turned five, a family friend bought the boy a fiddle. Simpson immediately started taking lessons from a classically trained violin player. The fiddle and violin are the same instrument with the only difference being the style of music that is played.
  After realizing he still wanted to learn more bluegrass and country music, instead of classical, Simpson said he attended a number of fiddle camps across the country.
  One of the most memorable experiences for Simpson as a beginning fiddle player was when he played in his cousin’s bar around closing time. The house band said he would play anything he wanted.
  “So I started playing “Amazing Grace,” he said. “My cousin said, ‘You can come back and play any time you want, just don’t play them gospel tunes at closing time,’.”
  After his not-so-great experience at the bar, Simpson has gone on to play at numerous music festivals and events across the country. He recently was invited to play as a guest at the Oklahoma Centennial Rodeo Opry. After that event, he became a member of the Oklahoma Opry house band.
  “It also helps that this boy could pick up an exhaust manifold and squeeze music out of it,” Helton said of Simpson’s talent.
  To date, Simpson has released four fiddle music albums, including his latest gospel album, “Down at the Church house.”
  In his short time as a musician, Simpson said he has always loved to play music and he only practices when he has to.
  “I need to know the scales so I do practice but only when I want to,” he said. “If I get tired of it, I put it away because I don’t want to get burnt out on it.”
  “Playing scales is not fun. Jamming is fun,” Helton said just before the two held an impromptu jam session.
  The workshop ended with the two leading the group in singing “Amazing Grace.”
  The music festival runs through Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds. For more information on this event, visit www.texandmary.com.
  

Setlist

This is tailored to the event, but for a solo show, a Generic Western set would include the following as a base...

Western Standards:
Cattle Call, Night Riders Lament, Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere, Back in the Saddle, Round up in the Spring, Cowpoke, Ghost Riders.

Historical songs:
Whoopi ti yi yo, When the works all done this Fall,
Green grow the Lilacs, Roll on little Dogies, Red River Valley, Yellow Rose of Texas.

Irish songs that became Cowboy Music(along with the stories and songs they became):
Bard of Armagh/Streets of Laredo, Annie Laurie/Bad half Hour, Rosin the Beau/Acres of Claims, Molly Malone/My home's in Montana.

Some Cowboy Poetry:
Wild Horses, Keeper of the Fire, and Cookie's Black Iron Skillet.

Interlaced with historical nuggets about Western Music, Movies, and Cowboy life in General.
Example: Who was the very first Singing Cowboy on film?
Ken Maynard in the 1929 film Wagon Master. He did two songs, Lone Star Trail, and Cowboy's Lament.
Solo sets usually Forty Five minutes to an hour, but can go as long as two hours, with a 15 min break between the hours. Duo, trio, or full band sets can run as long as desired. For your special line up, call me at (214) 875-1421.

Basic Requirements

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