It's only fitting that a Hi-Line cowboy performs at the upcoming Western Heritage Artists Association show.
    Chinook native Ken Over- cast plays in the Holiday Inn lobby Saturday, March 20, starting a 7p.m.
    "I did it last year and it just worked out really good," says Overcast, a Montana cattle rancher for more than 30 years. "It's a perfect match, really."
    The 51-year-old singer- songwriter performs solo at the Holiday Inn, accompany- ing himself with acoustic guitar.
    Overcast's songs are based on personal experience and provide a perspective of the ups and downs of ranching life in the style of traditional western song.
    He has recorded five albums and a video on his own Bear Valley Records label. His first album, "Silver and Gold," was released in 1993 and featured original gospel songs.
    His latest album, "Prairie Poetry," is a collection of original cowboy poems, some recorded with a music or sound effects background, some straight up with no embellishment. "I just got it done in the last couple of weeks," says Overcast.
    He started working cowboy poetry into his musical act four years ago "just to break up the show."
    Overcast's poetry ranges from humorous to philos- ophical. "Cowboy poetry for the most part is wholesome entertainment that you wou- ldn't be afraid to take your

daughter to," he says, explain- ing his attraction to the increasingly popular art form.
    Overcast's daughter, Karlie Halingstad, can be heard contributing vocally on all of his albums. His fourth album, "Ken and Karlie," showcases Halingstad as an equal partner in the producing and songwrit- ing process.
    True to cowboy tradition, yodeling is a cornerstone of Overcast's musical expression. "I been doin' it since I was a kid," he says. "I got started out alone on the tractor or on horseback." Two years ago Overcast won the International Cowboy Yodeling Champion- ship at the Western Musical Association Festival in Tucson, Ariz.
    Overcast was born and raised on a cattle ranch near Chinook. His musical career began at 9 years old when he sang Hank Williams Sr.'s "Lonesome Whistle" at the

Farmer's Union Youth Camp. "The girls loved it so I decided I better keep doing it," he recalls with a chuckle.
    He learned the song from a 78 RPM record his folks owned. He later played '50s rock 'n' roll for dances while in high school. Then he started a family, "I married my high school sweet heart and we live within 10 miles of where be both grew up," he boasts.
    After 20 years playing honky-tonks and clubs, Overcast now selectively works about 100 engagements a year, mostly cowboy and music festival and conven- tions. He's glad to see a resurgence of traditional cowboy music and unabash- edly embraces it wholesome quality and message as "kind of mission to clean up America."
    Visit Overcast's Web page at www.kenovercast.com