From the BBHC in Cody:Versatile entertainer Hank Cramer brings his talents to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center July 5-9 with three daily performances of cowboy music, 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3 p.m. in the Coe Auditorium. The shows are included with the price of regular admission to the Historical Center.
Cramer is known for his booming bass voice, a wry sense of humor, and his smooth picking on a vintage flat-top guitar. A folksinger whose broad repertoire includes original, traditional, and contemporary music, Cramer performs everything from cowboy songs and folk ballads to Celtic airs, fishing tunes, and sea shanties. Among other occupations, he’s worked as an underground miner, a radio deejay, a professional soldier, a wrangler for a high-country outfitter, a “shanty-man” on a sailing ship, and a world traveler, and his varied experiences lend authenticity to his music.
Now based in Washington state, Cramer was born in North Carolina and started singing and performing while still in high school. He pursued music as a hobby through college as well as during his active military career as an army officer, paratrooper, and Green Beret. He left active military service in 1990 but returned to serve as a Senior Military Advisor to the Afghan army in 2004. He retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel after 28 years of service, and now enjoys a full-time music career.
Cramer has won awards for his music: Heartland Public Radio named his rendition of My Sweet Wyoming Home the fifth best cowboy song of 2007, and Northwest Public Radio chose his Songs from Maurie’s Porch CD as one of the top ten folk albums for 2006. Cramer’s most recent album, titled Loosely Celtic, was released in December 2009 and joins his nearly 20 other offerings.
Cramer’s appearance at the Historical Center is funded in part through a private donation. For more information on him, his music, and his performance schedule, visit to Cramer’s Web site at http://www.hankcramer.com/. Information on the Historical Center and its programs can be found at http://www.bbhc.org/.
Committed to connecting people with the Spirit of the American West, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center weaves the varied threads of the western experience—history and myth, art and Native culture, firearms technology and the nature of Yellowstone—into the rich panorama that is the American West. The Center, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is now operating its summer schedule, open daily 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. For general information, call 307.587.4771 or visit http://www.bbhc.org/.
