The Playlist

Over 13 hours of music

As exciting as the gunfights and epic battles may be, they’ve never been a focus of The Wild West Extravaganza. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t find them all that interesting.

The Old West was an oftentimes violent era and as you may have noticed, I don’t shy away from sharing tales of violence. However, it’s the stories of the men and women who endured, succumbed to, or overcame these struggles that I find most compelling; their motivations, personalities, their background, and even their inner demons.

In many ways, history is the study of the human condition. And the Old West (maybe I’m biased) perfectly captures this sentiment. I’m drawn to the struggles of survival, the inner strength of men like Elfego Baca or Nat Champion who stood up to overwhelming odds, the pioneers who faced unimaginable hardship, the endurance of the Native Americans, the deeply flawed lawmen just as capable of committing acts of atrocities as they were in protecting and serving. The motivations of the gentlemen bandits and the rank outcasts and exiles and the reasons men could commit murder in one breath, and protect life with another.

This stuff is fascinating and it’s all contained within the dusty confines of the Wild West!

In the same way, I enjoy music that examines, celebrates, and shares the human condition. Music that touches the soul.

This playlist is not just comprised of your stereotypical “cowboy” songs, although I think you’ll find a few familiar favorites within. Some of these tunes are about gunfighters and gamblers; this IS The Wild West Extravaganza playlist, after all. But most of all, I think these songs are real. This is real music, with real lyrics.

Some of these songs are happy, some are sad, some will rip your soul out of your body, others will restore faith in your fellow man, and some of ‘em and just flat-out silly.

Just like life.

All that bullshit and fancy talk aside, I do hope you enjoy and I encourage you to check out more music from any artists you may discover here. Follow them on Spotify and listen to their albums.

This playlist is evolving. I’ll continue to add songs, and I’ll probably take a few off. Please keep the suggestions coming.

A couple of tips: These songs are listed in no particular order, so for the best listening experience, I recommend setting the playlist to shuffle.

One more thing: Spotify has A LOT of ads. I don’t get paid for any advertisements that you may hear on this playlist. I don’t choose what the ads are or when or where they play or anything like that. I’m in no way profiting from this playlist. It’s simply a labor of love, from me to you.

Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/03QIKIgE6Mx6ZgqQGLCssJ?si=201d639306454a8f