Bunkhouse In The Book Store

Mi compadres Mike Biggers and Craig Rullman and I are doing a thing on Sunday, August 17, at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters, Oregon. Craig is finishing up his second documentary film, and, being a truly independent effort, it’s a job to raise the funds required to get it done. We’re doing a house concert style fundraiser built around the story of The California Rose saddle and related music. Join us if you can — there’s a suggested donation of $20, which will be used to record the film’s theme, “The California Rose,” written by Mike Biggers & Jim Cornelius.

If you can’t attend and would like to contribute, drop me a line at FrontierPartisan@gmail.com and I’ll connect you with Craig so you can determine how best to help.

 

This is the story that ran in The Nugget Newspaper:

*

Paulina Springs Books will be transformed into a bunkhouse on Sunday, August 17, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. as documentary filmmaker Craig Rullman and musicians Mike Biggers and Jim Cornelius host a music and storytelling session in support of Rullman’s second film, The California Rose.

“The California Rose” documents the crafting of an exquisite Visalia-style saddle by the elite craftsmen in the field – Cary Schwarz, Troy West, John Willemsma, and Pedro Pedrini. Rullman and Sisters photojournalist and cinematographer Jarod Gatley traveled to Schwarz’s saddle shop in Salmon, Idaho, April 2-5, 2024, to document the build. The saddle was named “The California Rose,” and it was auctioned for $105,000 at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City last September to fund the scholarship program of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (TCAA). Rullman and Cornelius attended the auction gala.

The TCAA describes their mission:

“The Traditional Cowboy Arts Association is dedicated to preserving and promoting the skills of Saddlemaking, Bit and Spur Making, Silversmithing, and Rawhide Braiding and the role of these traditional crafts in the cowboy culture of the North American West. Each year, TCAA provides scholarships to support artists in developing their craft.”

Rullman’s film follows the saddle from the build through its landing in an extensive private collection of functional Western art, placing the art of the cowboy in the broader cultural context as an element that shaped American culture – and still persists in authentic form in the day-to-day operation of ranches across the West, including here in Oregon.

Rullman’s first film, “The Outside Circle: A Movie of the Modern West,” documented buckaroo culture ranging from Paisley, Oregon, into northern Nevada. The film centered around buckaroo and Western artist Len Babb, who has frequently shown his work in Sisters. It is available for viewing through Amazon Prime.

The August 17 event is a fundraiser to support recording original music for The California Rose. Attendees will be asked to contribute a suggested donation of $20. Rullman will also offer framed prints of his Western photography for purchase.

“If you’re a songwriter and somebody hands you an image like a saddle named “The California Rose,’ you know what you need to do,” Cornelius said. “Mike Biggers and I sat down in The Bunkhouse on Mike’s ranch here in Sisters, and got to work. Three hours later, we had us a song – The California Rose.”

The duo will play the song at the August 17 event.

Paisley cowboy and musician Jody Cooper will be joining Biggers and Cornelius with contributions of his own.

Rullman will talk about the filmmaking process, his time spent working as a buckaroo, and why the cowboy culture continues to matter in the 21st Century.

“The culture of the American West has created a tradition of functional art that spans centuries and reaches as far back as the Moorish invasion of Spain,” Rullman said. “The California Rose is a testament to master craftsmanship in the arts of saddlemaking, silversmithing, rawhide braiding, and bit and spurmaking. As a work of art, it is both a direct link to an honored past, and a symbol of promise – that the West endures.”

The storytelling will frame the music – some original, some modern classics from the likes of Ian Tyson, Tom Russell, and Dave Stamey.

“We’ll talk about where the songs come from,” Cornelius said. “And, since we’ll be in a book store, we’ll talk about some of the great books that capture the cowboy way of life – and inspire songs.

“We’re calling the event Bunkhouse in the Book Store,” he continued. “We want it to feel more like a ‘gathering’ than a performance – just a bunch of folks getting together to swap stories and songs and share our love for the West.”

Paulina Springs Books is located at 252 W. Hood Ave.