Reviews and Media Exposure for "Yondering"

In his web site biography, Rich Flanders claims, “I’m not a cowboy, and I don’t own that big spread on the far side of the divide.” But after listening to Yondering: Songs of the American West, some might be convinced otherwise, as Flanders clearly has a deep, intimate relationship with the old west.

His renditions of these Western classics take listeners on a nostalgic journey that conjures images of wide open frontiers and vast horizons. And while the music sticks closely to its heritage, Flanders does a great job toying with creative autonomy. His droning, layered harmonies are meticulously crafted, and are the album’s preeminent attribute. Moreover, Flanders showcases his seasoned vocal chops with wonderful intonation and vibrato, which is a breath of fresh air in a time of unbridled pitch correction.The album is simple, under-produced - yet it has depth and character. In a nutshell: Flanders got the job done, and done right.

From www.nashville95.com , Country CD Reviews, May 13, 2008

"Another favorite of mine is Rick (sic) Flanders. This is a gentleman who has won numerous awards, the most prestigious of which is the Will Rogers Cowboy Award. His album, "Yondering, Songs of the American West" (fantastic!) won the 2008 Album of the Year Award from the Academy of Western Artists. He's the real deal. He is an "earth father" who puts his beautiful heart on his sleeve every time I hear him sing."

Sue Matsuki, from Sue's Views, Reviews & News, CABARET HOTLINE, Online, June 20, 2011,

Flanders wins award Cowboy song "Blue Prairie" tops Academy of Western Artists

BY ROBERT FORD Ulster County Press "And the winner of the 2008 Will Rogers Cowboy Award for his song "Blue Prairie," is local singer/song- writer Rich Flanders. Flanders, whose album of cowboy music, "Yondering," was up for the Will Rogers Cowboy Award for Best Album, said winning the award was a "real thrill." Flanders and his wife, Amy, re- cently traveled to Garland, Texas for The Academy of Western Artists annual awards ceremony. "To have a first album nominat- ed in two categories seemed honor enough," Flanders said. "To receive an award named after someone I've always admired, Will Rogers, makes it even more meaningful." His album, "Yondering," was a compilation of "songs from the American West," including "Cool Water," "Ghost Riders in the Sky," Tumbling Tumbleweeds," and "Blue Prairie," which won the award for Best Song. "I share this statue (a bust of Will Rogers) with my friend, Ken DeAn- gelis - producer, engineer, guitarist, accordionist, and fellow arranger extraordinaire - and Julie Ziavras of JAZ Music Productions, Inc., as well as with bassist Barry Wiesen- feld and violinist Rachel Handman," Flanders said. And while winning the award was something special, Flanders said the "most memorable experi- ence" of the evening was the jam session after the ceremony. "Award winners, together with the runners- up, gathered in the hotel lobby and played and sang together into the wee hours..,.Any guests wandering through got the show of a lifetime." When asked where he has his award displayed, Flanders replied

that it was sitting on his coffee ta- ble. And of his music, he said that "I just want to keep doing what I do. I didn't set out to win an award. "My music expresses something from the heart," Flanders ex- plained. "And this award is a con- firmation of my work." And Flanders isn't sitting on his laurels; he's already back in the studio recording his next album, which is slated to be released next year. And while his first album only had one original song on it, his up- coming album will have "a couple on it." Flanders is a show business vet- eran, having appeared on Broadway in the hit "Shenandoah," and hav- ing performed in a number of mu- sicals, plays and in combos around the country. He is a frequent cast member of the Broadway Concerts Direct Se- ries in Wurtsboro and Manhattan, and he is the voice of "Cowboy Bob" and "Woody Guppie" for Rubber- Chicken Cards, the Internet e-card- toon company. To find out more about Flanders or to get a copy of his CD, go to www. richflanders.com or www.edbaby. com/cd/richfianders.

 

Thompson Ridge's Rich Flanders Wins
"Best Western Album of the Year" Award

By Sandy Tomcho
Times Herald-Record
September 29, 2008
Thompson Ridge resident Rich Flanders wins "Best Western Album of the Year" prize at the Academy of Western Artists Awards. The award was for the song, " Blue Prairie," off his album, "Yondering - Songs of the American West," which was nominated for the "Best Western Album of the Year" award. This is Flanders' first Western album.Flanders is a former Broadway performer who appeared in the musical, "Shenandoah."The Academy of Western Artists was formed to keep the cowboy spirit alive by preserving and promoting its heritage. The award's ceremony was held in Garland, Texas on Sept. 23.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080929/ENTERTAIN/80929026/-1/ENTERTAIN03

Cowboy Jam Session: Western Culture News & Reviews

 

- by Jeri L. Dobrowski

September 2008

Aside from meeting artists at festivals and gatherings, I also meet them at my mailbox. CD shippers and padded envelopes show up every now and then, bearing addresses from across the United States and Canada.

It’s exciting to open a package and see what’s inside. I don’t take it lightly when I receive such a parcel. Whether it’s from a poet or singer, author, publisher, or film maker, I understand the time, effort, and expense that go into producing such a project. Unfortunately, space doesn’t allow me to tell you about them all.

Rich Flanders is one of those artists whom I met down at the mailbox. His album, Yondering: Songs of the American West, arrived with of all things, a New York State address. An address means little to me if the material inside is good, and Yondering is good.

Like Woodson, Flanders (www.richflanders.com) shares an enduring fondness for the Sons of the Pioneers. A former Broadway performer, he too tips his hat to the group in the acknowledgments, commenting that of the many kinds of music he’s performed, the songs on the album are the ones he most often sings to himself. A labor of love he contemplated for years, Flanders provides fresh lead and harmony vocals on the 16 tracks.Songs were selected based upon their universal appeal. You’ll instantly recognize the majority of the songs celebrating the peaks and prairies. Five were penned by Bob Nolan, including “Chant of the Plains” and “Blue Prairie.” Other cowboy/Western classics include “Blue Shadows on the Trail,” “Ridin’ down the Canyon,” “River of No Return,” and “Song of the Trail.” For generous track samples, head over to cdbaby.com/cd/richflanders and take a listen. If you like what you hear, order directly from CDBaby. Yondering sells for $16 plus $2.25 shipping.

RICH FLANDERS doesn't claim to be a cowboy, but, like so many folks, he's got a deep appreciation for the classic Western songs that we all know and love. Flanders has a great tenor voice, and he's backed up by capable performers on accordion, bass fiddle, fiddle, and masterfully blended harmony vocals.

Included in this collection of 16 favorites are "Blue Shadows on the Trail," "The Timber Trail," "Blue Prairie," "Ghost Riders in the Sky," "Ridin' Down the Canyon," "Cool Water," "River of No Return," "Song of the Trail," and "Man Walks Among Us."

We promise this one will get a lot of playing time at your house. Very nicely done. Rich Flanders, 374 County Highway 48, Thompson Ridge, NY 10985 ; www.richflanders.com or www.cdbaby.com/cd/richflanders. CD, 16 tracks, $16 plus postage.

Flanders' CD Nominated for Prestigious Award
Ulster County Press: Arts & Living
Singing cowboy Rich Flanders is hoping to return from a trip to Garland, Texas next month with the Academy of Western Artists (AWA) award for Best Western Album of the Year. Flanders is a former Broadway performer whose first western album, "Yondering - Songs of the American West," has been nominated for the prestigious award that goes to the best of the best in Western Music. I was pretty excited when I heard about the nomination," Flanders said from his Pine Bush home last week. But what made it all even more special was that one of the songs on the album, "Blue Prairie" was nominated for Best Song. The native Californian, who performed in the Broadway hit "Shenandoah," released his CD of cowboy music, including such old timey favorites as "Cool Water,""Ghost Riders in the Sky," "Ridin' Down the Canyon," "Blue Shadows on the Trail," and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds." When he released the CD, Flanders said, "They are all songs about being close to nature and, I hope, will allow people to reconnect with the wilderness." He chose the songs because they each have "universal appeal," and now that he has been nominated for the Best Western Album of the Year award, he said, "I knew we	had something here that was pretty special. One of Flanders' favorite parts of the two nominations is that the winners will be announced at the annual Will Rogers Cowboy Awards. "I'm excited about all of this because Will Roger was such a great folk hero," Flanders added. "When the award nominations were announced, I had a deep sense of satisfaction that we had done something special," Flanders said. "This is an important milestone in  my career." The awards will be presented on Sept. 23 at the Granville Theater in Garland. Joining Flanders on his album were Ken DeAngelis on guitar, accordion and additional vocals; Barry Wiesenfeld on string bass; Rachel Handman on fiddle; and Amy Ober on harp. Julie Ziavras provided harmonies on "River of No Return" and "Man Walks Among Us." In addition to his work on Broadway and his award-nominated album, Flanders is a frequent cast member of the monthly "Broadway Concerts Direct" series in Wurtsboro and in Manhattan, and he is the voice of "Cowboy Bob" and"Woody Guppie" for RubberChicken Cards, the Internet e-cardtoon company. Ulster County Press: Arts & Living Section B, August 27, 2008

Yondering— Songs of the American West
Rich Flanders

Interesting name, and it fits. Interesting talent, and he fits too.

Rich Flanders does what the great Robert Wagoner has done for many years…namely, he multi-tracks his own harmonies. Flanders does it very nicely, too. He doesn’t just render these classic Bob Nolan, Stan Jones, Marty Robbins, Eliot Daniel/Johnny Lange or Lionel Newman/Ken Darby songs. He interprets them, he acts them. And he makes you really feel them as dramatic works. This becomes apparent and very welcome on a song that’s been hammered as often as “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky.” He seems to mean it when he describes it. Also outstanding are Flanders’ treatments of “Trees” and “Sierra Nevada,” but all 16 tracks are superb.

Musically, the overall effect is a mellow Sons of the Pioneers-style trip down memory lane. None do it any better than this cowboy from New York! Vocally, you hear a bit of “Ukelele Ike” Edwards at times, some Rusty Richards at others, but he’s not a copy of either or anyone else. Within a very traditional framing you still hear intelligent invention. It makes this CD a living argument for classic Golden Era Western being viable, alive and well.For what it’s worth, this one gets a nod from me for WMA or AWA nominations for Western Male Vocalist and Traditional Western album. Truly special.

CDs: $16 ppd online from www.cdbaby/cd/richflanders or contact Rich Flanders, 374 County Highway 48, Thompson Ridge, NY 10985 email: [email protected]

Link to original article.

A new CD entitled Yondering. Rich Flanders has been in Broadway musicals (notably Shenandoah) and sings often for John Hiller and Sarah Rice's Broadway Concerts Direct performances in Wurtsboro and Loch Sheldrake. Flanders' lyrical pipes are generally used for singing the great standard songs of the 30s, 40s and 50s: Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. This time around, for his Yondering CD, he offers up "Cowboy Poetry." " My Yondering CD is Songs of the American West" explains Flanders. "I do lead and harmony vocals throughout (16 songs, including one original) with Ken joining me on five of them, and Julie joining us on two. In addition to his engineering talents, Ken also does bangup accordion and guitar, tracks; Barry Wiesenfeld is on bass fiddle, and Rachel Handman is a wonderful fiddler/violinist on half a dozen of the numbers." (Handman recently wowed the audience at Schempfs Bach Festival at which she played unaccompanied Bach for violin solo). Flanders continued, 'the project was in my mind for years and a labor of love. We've been creating it since February, and it all came together as beautifully as I could have hoped. Many of these songs haven't been heard in many years, but are real gems and should find an audience. It also strikes me how timely some of them now are, with the planet in crisis." "Ken co-created the arrangements. He understood what I was trying to translate. And he had wonderful original ideas of his own. It took us from February to July, about six months, two nights a week, picking the timing, tempos, laying down (record and re-record) vocal tracks, adding the instruments, layering steps that end with the final product, listening to each other -- accepting and rejecting-- the sounds were in my head and we worked them out instrumentally, like translating. Ken and I collaborated equally."

What is "Cowboy Poetry"? "Just good lyrics," says Flanders. "For instance, there's Bob Nolan and his songs Cool Water and Tumbling Tumbleweeds. The term started in the 70s or 80s, probably because Americans love to categorize everything. So using the phrase seems to make Western Music more acceptable. We needed permission to record some of the songs. Bob Nolan's grandson has a website and keeps the songs going. He gave us a page on the site. And word of mouth has resulted in the CD already having played on Radio Free Nashville and Western Music Time, an intemet radio show. "Nolan's site is www.bobnolan-sop.net. The 'sop' stands for Sons of the Pioneers and the "Reflections" page of that site has Flanders information."I have known these songs since I was a kid listening to the Sons of Pioneers and watching westerns. They capture the flavor of the wilderness authentically and with great beauty." Cowboy Poetry is not a "new" term, as explained by CANVAS writer and poet, Robert Milby. "Well, from what little I do know, Robert Service, a poet from the late 1800s in America could be construed as a "cowboy poet." There is a poet/storyteller who was discovered by the American folk singer, Ani DiFranco, a few years ago, who was an elderly man who supposedly had gone on tour with her and related the genre. He wrote poems about the frontier, folk tales, stories of hobo life, common folk, romance, etc. There is some kind of movement out west, maybe connected with rodeos and carnivals. I heard about it here and there on NPR." In conclusion, Flanders stated, "I wanted to give back something that I felt I had "discovered" that would appeal to People with the beauty of the songs which are timely because the wilderness still does exist somewhat with its natural beauty. These songs speak to the heart. "You can hear selections on www.richflanders.com.'I'here is a link to ordcr the "soothing" CD and there is historical background on the songs. Artists Collaborate on CD's Derek Leet. Delaware & Hudson CANVAS, October, 2007

Rich Flanders of Thompson Ridge, NY, who appeared in the long-running Broadway hit, Shenandoah, and is a frequent cast member of the monthly Broadway Concerts Direct series in Wurtsboro, has just completed a CD of classic cowboy songs entitled Yondering. Created at JAZ Music Productions in Middletown, the alburn includes Cool Water, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Ridin' Down the Canyon, Blue Shadows on the Trail, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and ten other favorite songs of the West, as well as an original composition, Midnight Skies. Five of the numbers were penned'by the late Bob Nolan, regarded as the greatest of the "cowboy poets" and a founding member of the legendary singing cowboy group, The Sons of the Pioneers. Nolan's archivist, Elizabeth Drake McDonald, author of Lyrics: The Song Poems of Bob Nolan, has said of the album, *'I loved every minute of it. I was determined to just listen to it critically but then I'd find myself singing along so I couldn't be objective at all. He's kept the spirit of the Sons of the Pioneers, that's for sure. It's an excellent CD." Barry Plaxen of the Delaware & Hudson Valley Canvas describes the album as "absolutely gorgeous." The CD is available through www.richflanders.com or through www.cdbaby.com/cd/richflanders.

Warwick Valley Dispatch, October 17, 2007

UNDER THE WESTERN SKIES
RICH FLANDERS: YONDERING

Il n’est pas necessaire de vivre dans l’Ouest pour le chanter de fort belle facon et Rich le prouve sur ses reprises de classiques du western. Rien de tres suprenant, simplement du beau travail, en particulier sur les ballades qui conviennent bien a son vocal, comme Blue Shadows On The Trail, Sierra Nevada, Cool Water, All Wild Things ou Man Walks Among Us. Le vieil Ouest survit encore grace a des gens comme lui. (BB)

Bernard Boyat: Le Cri Du Coyote. Revue de Musique Americaines, Issue # 103

For our readers of a "certain age," hip-hop is just something that happens to their hip after the replacement surgery. But ask that same person about The Sons of the Pioneers, they think Roy Rogers or Frankie Laine, and all of the great cowboy singers that have long since passed. But Rich Flanders, a Pine Bush resident who once appeared in the Broadway hit "Shenadoah," wants to bring back the classic cowboy songs such as "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" on his new CD - "Yondering - Songs of the American West." "These songs have been part of my life for a long time," said Flanders, who grew up in Northern California before going to Broadway and then settling in the northern Orange County town of Pine Bush. "'They are songs about being close to nature and, I hope, will abow people to reconnect to the wilderness." All of the songs were chosen by Flanders with an eye towards classics that "have universal appeal ."

And while he has received a good response from older listeners, he has also received acclaim from a much younger audience. Flanders said a seventh grade teacher in San Diego played the album for her students and they have all written him telling him how much they enjoyed the music. Flanders attributes the youngsters' interest in the songs, to the growing love for the environment that students are learning at home and at school. "These songs deal with nature themes and carry a powerful message and are timely," Flanders said "This CD was really a labor of love." To learn more about Flanders and his music, go to his Web site www.richflanders.com. A Singing Cowboy Returns. Orange County Resident Releases CD of Classic Tunes. Robert Ford. The Ulster County Press. Wednesday, October 17, 20

Yondering - Songs of the American West -
Rich Flanders

 

Celebrating earth, sky, and the great lone places, the music of Yondering reaches deep into the heart, bringing a sense of peace in an unsettling world. In the tradition of the great cowboy singers - The Sons of the Pioneers, Rex Allen and Roy Rogers - these are fresh, authentic, lushly textured renderings of the most beautiful songs of the wide open spaces. Great for commutes, after a long day, doing housework!

For more on the album, and how to order, visit: http://www.richflanders.com/

Musical Medicine Newsletter: Inner Harmony Health Center- www.InnerHarmonyHealthCenter.com