Western music fans shouldn’t be terribly surprised if the 2017 Cowboy Festival marks the last time they can catch the three-part harmonies of Sons of the San Joaquin in Santa Clarita.
The Sons released their final album, “One More Ride,” late last year, and they just don’t get around much anymore.
“We’ve been down this road a long time,” singer-songwriter Jack Hannah told SCVNews Saturday.
The Sons will perform Friday, April 21, at the Canyon Theatre Guild along with Kristyn Harris, who is no stranger to the OutWest concert stage in Newhall and who, at 22, is the youngest person ever to be named Performer of the Year by the Western Music Association. (Order tickets here.)
Jack Hannah appears on SCVTV’s “Newsmaker of the Week” show, taped in William S. Hart’s living room in 2008.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Jack Hannah is 83, his brother Joe is 85, and Joe’s son Lon just turned 60, if you can believe that.
“Lonnie doesn’t age,” Jack said. But “we just feel like it’s very difficult for Joe to travel.”
Jack stopped short of saying they’ll never be back in Santa Clarita. “As long as we can get on the stage, we’ll keep singing,” he said. But he agreed it would not be wise to bet the farm on it.
“If we were millionaire Country singers, we’d have all sorts of people along to carry things for us,” he said.
Western music doesn’t work that way. If your wife left you and your dog died, you get on Country radio. If you sing about the land and the cattle and the hardships and the joy, you hop into your motorhome and hit the road.
For the Sons, it’s been quite a ride. Anchors of the city of Santa Clarita’s Cowboy Festival since 1994, their 30-year singing career has taken them from Visalia to Carnegie Hall to Switzerland and back again, with countless stops in between. They’ve got trophy cases full of awards to show for it, along with a bronze saddle plaque on Newhall’s Walk of Western Stars, some great memories and a passel of diehard fans.
It was actually a second career for all three of the “Sons.” They had been high school teachers and counselors in the Fresno school system and worked cattle on nearby ranches in their off-hours. They’d always sung separately in church and at family gatherings; then in 1987 all three sang together for Lon’s grandfather’s birthday, and a trio was born. They took early retirement from teaching in 1992 and went full-time.
Two years later, the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival came along. Jack had been then-Assistant Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Pulskamp’s high school baseball coach in Visalia.
The Sons continued to work cattle in their off-hours and wove a unique brand of California history into Jack’s songwriting.
“California is a cowboy state,” Jack said Saturday. “People don’t realize it, but it is. California in its heyday was nothing but cattle. Livestock was king.”
Even today, California is No. 4 in cattle behind Texas, Nebraska and Kansas, with 5.15 million head as of 2015. Oklahoma comes in fifth at 4.6 million.
Within a 50-mile radius of Jack’s home in Fresno are numerous cattle ranches with anywhere from hundreds to several thousand head, he noted.
“Did you know that in California, cowboy boots are second in sales to tennis shoes? Yeah.”
The trio will continue to put on the Sons of the San Joaquin & Friends Christmas Celebration at the Visalia Fox Theatre, and “we will sing at the Heart of the Horse (Therapy Ranch fundraiser) until we drop dead,” Jack said.
Located in Clovis, Heart of the Horse is a therapeutic riding ranch that serves people with disabilities, not unlike Carousel Ranch in the Santa Clarita Valley.
It’s important now for Jack to spend quality time with his grandchildren – playing ball, teaching them, being there.
“You’re only a grandpa once,” he said. “I want to do those things.”
Meanwhile nephew Lon has started a new 5-member group, San Joaquin Junction. If Lon sticks with the “Sons” tradition or goes off in his own direction, Jack says he is OK with that.
The final album, “One More Ride,” features “several of my originals that have never been published,” Jack said. It includes new material recorded in 2016 in Fresno with a few cuts the group had recorded in Nashville.
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We’ll certainly miss them at the SCV Cowboy Festival. They’ve always been my favorite performing group, and I’ve never missed their show when it was part of the Festival.
I’ve been following these guys since the early 90’s and I can honestly say, they are the best I’ve ever heard. Not only is their sound and music writing talent the best, they are also the nicest and most down to earth people I have ever met.
I am half way between Jack’s and Lon’s ages and have loved these guys like brothers, admired them as extremely talented artists, and held them and their families in high esteem as great Christian examples for us all. God bless Jack, Joe, and Lon for the impact you have made in my life. I love you guys!
I’ve love these guys for many many years. Living in Kentucky, I’ve never had the honor of hearing them perform live, but I’ve listened, dreamed, and loved the lifestyle they so eloquently put to harmony. While it saddens me that I may never get to hear their wonderful harmony in person, I wish nothing g but the best to Jack, Joe, and Lon. Thank you for many years of dedicating yourselves to preserve g the cowboy way.
We discovered The Sons in about 2002 when they had a show I Merced. I had seen Joe play for the 1956 Los Angeles Angels minor league baseball team and was eager to see him, but not necessarily see The Sons. When we heard them sing we fell in love with them. We began full-time RVing in 2006 and have seen them in 12 different states. Needless to say, we love them– as singers and as terrific people.
I met you in Raleigh, NC, when you performed under
Western Film Preservation Society. You are a very
good group. Loved your harmony and appreciation
for the old time Son of the Pioneer songs. More
than that, your testimony for Christ. Happy Trails
to all of you.
After a more than a two-year wait, the Free to Be Me Music Festival will make its much-anticipated debut at the Canyon Country Community Center, located at 18410 Sierra Highway, on Sunday, June 12, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
"Something Rotten: The Broadway Musical (Rated PG) opens this weekend at Canyon Theatre Guild in Old Town Newhall. Opening night is Saturday May 14 at 8 p.m. with a free champagne and wine reception for ticket holders. It will run every weekend, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, until its scheduled closing on June 18.
The Santa Clarita City Council will hold a regular meeting Tuesday, May 24, beginning with a special/closed session at 5 p.m., followed immediately by open session at 6 p.m.
With school ending and summer break just around the corner, the Santa Clarita Public Library has everything you need to keep your family busy and engaged with reading, crafts and outdoor programs.
Feeling the need to act, members of the Santa Clarita Human Relations Roundtable, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Congregation Beth Shalom, NAACP Santa Clarita, Higher Vision Church and the Islamic Center of Santa Clarita Valley decided to gather with community members to mark and reflect on the May 14 shooting in Buffalo, N.Y.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is working with state and national partners on an international outbreak of monkeypox. On May 19 the Centers for Disease Control confirmed a case of monkeypox in the United States in Massachusetts.
The father/son legacy continues after 40 years at Valley Institute of Prosthetics and Orthotics established in 1982. The company serves the Central Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley with the highest quality orthotic and prosthetic devices for patients to regain functionality.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control is aware of the public’s desire to visit our animal care centers without an appointment. In response Animal Care and Control is adopting new public visitation hours for unscheduled visits just in time for National Pet Adoption Weekend, May 20-22.
Join the fun this summer and sign up for a class at Los Angeles county Parks. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to learn something new, make new friends and discover new talents.
The California Air Resources Board will host an open house of its new state-of-the-art “green” Southern California Headquarters, the Mary D. Nichols Campus, in Riverside on Saturday, May 21.
College of the Canyons had three Women's Softball players spotlighted by the California Community College Fastpitch Coaches Association with Ashlynn Heck, Allyson Melgar and Lisa Motz selected to the All-Southern California Team.
Los Angeles County is hosting the first in-person Homeowners' Resource Fair for the public since the pandemic hit two years ago. The event will be held Saturday, May 21 9 a.m. to noon at the Huntington Park Community Center, 6925 Salt Lake Ave., Huntington Park, CA 90255.
Free business training webinars are available from the College of the Canyons Small Business Development Corporation. The SBDC is the Small Business Administration's largest service program and provides high quality business and economic development assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs. It provides no-cost business advising and low-cost training to existing and new businesses.
After a more than a two-year wait, the Free to Be Me Music Festival will make its much-anticipated debut at the Canyon Country Community Center, located at 18410 Sierra Highway, on Sunday, June 12, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The 37th Women in Service Celebration was hosted by the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley on Saturday, May 14. The event honored 19 women who have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of women and girls in the SCV. The honorees were nominated by SCV nonprofits.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday nine additional deaths and 4,725 new positive cases countywide, with 164 new cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The Fil-Am Association of Santa Clarita Valley will host the "A Black Tie Gala" on July 23 at 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Valencia, located at 24500 Town Center Drive.
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6 Comments
We’ll certainly miss them at the SCV Cowboy Festival. They’ve always been my favorite performing group, and I’ve never missed their show when it was part of the Festival.
I’ve been following these guys since the early 90’s and I can honestly say, they are the best I’ve ever heard. Not only is their sound and music writing talent the best, they are also the nicest and most down to earth people I have ever met.
I am half way between Jack’s and Lon’s ages and have loved these guys like brothers, admired them as extremely talented artists, and held them and their families in high esteem as great Christian examples for us all. God bless Jack, Joe, and Lon for the impact you have made in my life. I love you guys!
I’ve love these guys for many many years. Living in Kentucky, I’ve never had the honor of hearing them perform live, but I’ve listened, dreamed, and loved the lifestyle they so eloquently put to harmony. While it saddens me that I may never get to hear their wonderful harmony in person, I wish nothing g but the best to Jack, Joe, and Lon. Thank you for many years of dedicating yourselves to preserve g the cowboy way.
We discovered The Sons in about 2002 when they had a show I Merced. I had seen Joe play for the 1956 Los Angeles Angels minor league baseball team and was eager to see him, but not necessarily see The Sons. When we heard them sing we fell in love with them. We began full-time RVing in 2006 and have seen them in 12 different states. Needless to say, we love them– as singers and as terrific people.
I met you in Raleigh, NC, when you performed under
Western Film Preservation Society. You are a very
good group. Loved your harmony and appreciation
for the old time Son of the Pioneer songs. More
than that, your testimony for Christ. Happy Trails
to all of you.