Bob Bovee (Focal Point Friends of Old-Time Music)

Focal Point Friends of Old-Time Music is glad to welcome back Bob Bovee!

Bob is a Nebraska native whose family sang and played the old-time songs. Many of the western and railroad songs he does were learned from his grandmother and uncle. He plays banjo and autoharp, sings and yodels, and can drive a dance band with his guitar and harmonica. Since 1971, Bob Bovee has traveled the country taking old-time music to audiences of all ages at festivals, fairs, coffeehouses, schools, libraries, and radio and TV programs. Bob is well known and loved for his dry and witty stage humor. Along with a repertory including dance tunes, ballads, cowboy songs, humorous and sentimental numbers, blues and rags, Bob spices up his shows with stories, history, and folklore of the western states. He has published numerous articles and reviews for The Old-Time Herald and Inside Bluegrass and been an instructor for a course called “The History of Country Music” for the Honors Division at the University of Minnesota. Bob is also the Artistic Director for the Bluff Country Gathering and the organizing force for the Lanesboro Barn Dance.

“No one handles old-time cowboy and humorous songs better than Bob. His vocals are hauntingly rough. His guitar and harmonica are as good as you will ever hear. Gail is one of the top fiddlers in the country, and her vocals are worth the price of admission. Whether performing in concert, playing for a barn dance, or on a recording, Bob & Gail leave you wanting more.” Don Stevens, All Music Guide

” You are a national treasure!” David McLaughlin, Johnson Mountain Boys

“. . . taste and sensitivity to repertoire, arrangement and execution are unimpeachable.” Bill Hinckley, Buzz Magazine

“. . . bitingly authentic, without ever sounding imitative.” Paul Stamler, Come For To Sing

“I’ve long felt that Bob is one of the great singers of cowboy song alive today.” Kerry Blech, The Old Time Herald

“Have you heard those real old recordings of a cowboy singing a traditional song? The songs have an ‘old’ quality about them, and the singers’ voices seem to belong to a dried up old puncher just in from off the trail. Well, intentional or not, that is exactly how Bob Bovee sounds. His voice isn’t pretty, but it’s darn sure true to the genre . . . he renders these songs with authenticity and affection. It seems as though he belongs to this music and it to him.” Cowboy Magazine