Shootin' The Breeze - Book Reviews

Shootin’ The Breeze
Cowboy Style

by Ken Overcast

Book Reviews

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Hey, Overcast fans….

“Savor the dusty flavors of the Old West, with a large dollop of “therapeutic B.S.” in this new chuckle-full collection of stories by Chinook singer, cowboy and storyteller Ken Overcast.

In his own words, Overcast believes it’s his “duty to mankind to spread as much baloney as possible,” and these 50 tall tales certainly help him fulfill that mission.

Cowpokes and farmers figure prominently in these stories, which start off with “Grandad’s Double Uddered Cow,” the story of some youthful hijinks and an inebriated ranch hand; followed by the woeful tale titled “Southern Snake Bite,” about a farmer’s wife who believes she was bitten by a snake while using the outhouse, only to discover that a “crotchety old settin’ hen” did the dirty deed.

As a song-maker and performer, Overcast has applied himself to preserving the western traditions that he’s steeped in. His syndicated radio program, “The Cowboy Show” airs nationally and he’s won several national awards, including the Will Rogers Award from the Academy of Western Artists.”

January/February 2007 Issue - Montana State of the Arts

     “Wishing for more than the weekly dose of Ken Overcast you get from Agri-News? Then fix that itch with Ken’s book, Shootin’ the Breeze, Cowboy Style, a collection of 50 of his funniest, laugh-‘til-you-snort stories. With chapters like ‘Grandad’s Double Uddered Cow,” “Longhorn-Harley Davidson Cross,” “The Eye Patch Story,” and “Skunk Trappin’,” I promise you won’t be able to read just one.

     Get a signed copy of “Shootin’” just like mine! Write to Bear Valley Records, PO Box 1542, Chinook, MT 59523 or call 406-357-3824 or visit www.kenovercast.com

     And while you’re orderin’, did you know that Ken is not only a humor columnist, but a singer and songwriter too? Hear his CD Montana In My Soul and you’ll believe it. Produced by Russ Ragsdale and recorded in Nashville, Ken’s music combines old-timey cowboy music with a 1970’s country feel. Complete with a saloon piano tinkering in the background, the CD incorporates banjo, steel guitar, accordion, and harmonica with Ken’s down-to-earth voice.

     Eight of the songs on the album… like Kid Curry, and Too Far Back To Texas are written or arranged by Ken, and they’re mixed in with some best-loved cowboy originals like The Cowboy Blues and Lilly Dale (a duet with Joni Harms).

     The right-out-of-the-1920’s Five Foot Two , complete with clarinet, will bring you to your feet! The sad, slow Mama Called Her Praise tells of how Ken’s daughter lost a baby. Ghost of Little Joe will make you shiver with its haunting final note. And Dancin’ and Dreamin’ will remind you how lucky you are to have someone to grow old with.

     As Ken sings the title song: “If this ain’t cowboy heaven, boy it looks that way to me. They’ll never bury me back in Texas. This cowboy’s found his home. Jack rode back to Abilene, and Billy’s huntin’ gold, but I’ve got Montana in my soul.”

Tami Jo Blake, Agri-News editor

"Ken Overcast’s Shootin’ the Breeze Cowboy Style is a compilation of fifty stories that are like potato chips…you can’t read just one. This is a book you’ll want to keep next to your bed, in the outhouse (no paperwork here) or in your pick-up for that time you have a few moments to read and are looking for a smile on your face and chuckle in your soul.

Watch out that you don’t adopt some of Ken's stories as part of your own heritage."

Dakota Livesay, Chronicle of the Old West

“It’s easy to see why Ken Overcast has won the Academy of Western Artist’s Will Rogers Award, and why he’s a syndicated columnist and radio show host. Take for example, Chapter 38 in Shootin’ the Breeze, Cowboy Style, Overcast’s yarn about an “uncorralable renegade” stallion in North Dakota.

The horse finally was bested by a savvy, auction-ring cowboy, who avowed, “… we can get him. We’ve got a tranquilizer gun and a Volkswagen.” If that isn’t a hook to sucker cowboy-oriented thinkers into a tall tale, nothing is.

But you don’t have to read that far to get hooked. Overcast throws out his lure and reels you in right from the start. In the introduction he describes his approach as “creative truth enhancement,” which also is his mission in life. He further confirms “…. Only a real sissy would allow mere threats of bodily harm stand in the way of telling a good story…..”

Obviously, Overcast is no sissy. Shootin’ the Breeze Cowboy Style includes 50 prime tales addressing everything from “Grandad’s Double-Uddered Cow” and “Skunk Trappin’” to “My Little Barnyard Barbie.” Each is just short enough to fill the odd moment, yet long enough to change your perspective.

December 2005, Western Horseman Magazine

“What a delight to read Shootin’ the Breeze. My kids joined in the fun and we all had lots of laughs. It was a great way to share with them a little of the culture (albeit, somewhat embellished) of the area where I spent my childhood! The family favorite was Grandad's Double Uddered Cow. My eleven year-old laughed until I thought he'd split. I'm sure he saw himself on that same old cow.

Interspersed in all the fun of the book, the cowboy "wisdom" reminds us what's really important - an honest way of life and a straight-forward approach to it. We'll enjoy using it as an educational resource for our museum programs. Kids of every age will really enjoy it.”

Patricia Boyle, Director of Education & Programming, C.M. Russell Museum

“Ken Overcast's wit, style and precise translation of Montana cowboy culture make his Shootin' the Breeze, Cowboy Style a hoot to read.

He hits the hammer on the head in his humorous descriptions of a cowboy culture vanishing from the Montana landscape, but Overcast helps preserve that culture in this special book about cowboys' daily meanderings. Montanans — or people just wanting to be like them — will delight in Overcast's writing.”

David Reese, Editor & Publisher of Montana Living Magazine

“As a boy growing up in the deserts, mountains, canyons, and cattle country of Arizona, I spent many an evening listening to tales told around the campfire. Some were true (so the teller swore), some were exaggerated (so my maturing sense of credulity told me) and some were creative fiction at its most delightful (so my sore sides told me after hours of laughter).

Ken Overcast’s stories in Shootin’ The Breeze Cowboy Style take me back to those days and remind me how crucial the story-telling tradition is to our cultural memories and, indeed, to our very identities as Westerners. The stories capture the flavor of life in the West: the challenges of working livestock, the strength and tenacity – and sense of humor – it takes to create a life, the vagaries of human beings, who are the most unpredictable of animals, and the ups, downs, successes, failures, and everything in between. All of which make life exciting, interesting, funny, and anything but ordinary, but that give us all a reason to love our lives in the West.

Such a collection is a delight to have in part because it doesn’t require a straight-through read. One story at a time, or even a page at a time, will provide a chuckle or a knowing nod of recognition. Or even a brief escape from the present, an escape that’s more like a vacation because you return from the sojourn refreshed. I’d say it’s a great bathroom book, and I say that with the intention of offering the highest praise. Whether the plumbing is indoors or out, Shootin’ The Breeze is a fine companion.”

Lee Haines, Director of Public Relations, Buffalo Bill Historical Center

“There are two things about cowboy life it is hard work and it is often funny. It seems that cattle, horses, cow dogs, weather, windmills, bureaucrats, ranch wives, and God himself all conspire to make sure nothin’ ever goes as planned.

Anyway, all that laughin’ keeps cowboy life tolerable and interesting. Now any gifted cowboy who can relate that humor to the rest of the world is somebody to be valued. Ken Overcast is a gifted man-- gifted at singing, gifted at yarnin’, and gifted and payin’ attention to his fellow cowboys.

In Shootin’ the Breeze, Ken’s second volume of (mostly) true cowboy and ranch tales, Ken once again entertains us with cowboy stories…. ¬ stories about stuff that happened to him, and stories about stuff that he heard about that happened to other big-hatted men. If you like laughin’ at cowboys, and I can¹t think of anybody who doesn’t, you’ll love Ken¹s new book. Don’t pass it up.”

Darrell Arnold, Publisher & Editor, Cowboy Magazine

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