Cowboy Christmas

            Blinn College welcomes back a longtime cowboy friend when singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey returns to the Brenham campus for a campfire friendly evening of Christmas music, cowboy-style. Murphey, who played in Brenham in 2005, is back to perform his historic “Cowboy Christmas” concert Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Blinn’s W.W. O'Donnell Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $15 for students. Tickets for groups of 10 or more are available for $20 per ticket.

           Murphey and his Rio Grande Band promise to once again deliver historic Texas holiday magic to Blinn’s Brenham campus. Called the ”singing cowboy poet,” the Grammy-nominated performer is the number one, best-selling singer-songwriter of American cowboy music and one of the world's most respected singer-songwriters in the pop and country-western field.

Murphey’s holiday event, known as “Cowboy Christmas,” is rooted in the original Texas Cowboys’ Christmas Ball held in 1885 at the Star Hotel in Anson, Texas.

In 1885 M.G. Rhoades, a hotel owner in Anson, held the original event in honor of a local cowboy’s marriage. Lawrence “Larry” Chittenden, a young reporter for The New York Times, had a room at the Star Hotel at the time. He composed a whimsical poem about the dance that was eventually published in the local Texas Western newspaper on June 19, 1890. The poem eventually became a song, and was included in John Lomax’s 1922 book, “Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads.” Chittenden’s tribute has made the original Cowboys’ Christmas Ball world famous.

Murphey made a hit out of the original Chittenden song through his album, “Cowboy Christmas: Cowboy Songs Volume II.”After being invited to perform by the leaders of the ball in Anson, Murphey was inspired to create a show that included his original cowboy songs and poetry, material drawn from classic and contemporary cowboy songwriters and poets, traditional American Christmas songs and traditional frontier dance tunes.

 “Cowboy Christmas” is sponsored by: Blinn College, Bank of Brenham, Blue Bell Creameries, Boehm Clinic, Del Sol Food Company/Briannas Fine Salad Dressings, Allyne and Hal Machat, Moeller Electric/Countryside Lighting, Reginia A. O’Donnell, and Mary and Larry Whigham.