After spending the last few days in Montana and his home state of Wyoming, Chancey Williams and his Younger Brothers Band are ready to head to another section of Cowboy Country for their next performance.
Williams, who grew up on a ranch near Moorcroft, Wyo., in the northeastern part of the state, knows the ruggedness of the land and the people who call it home. That same scenario occurs from the towns and states in the intermountain West to those in the Great Basin and the desert surrounding Las Vegas, the home of the National Finals Rodeo. He’s a country boy who loves the West.
Williams and his Younger Brothers Band perform in Fallon on Saturday at the Rafter 3C Arena on the second day of the Fallon Cantaloupe Festival and Country Fair. Concert tickets, however, are separate from the festival and may be purchased at https://www.falloncantaloupefestival.com/tickets.
Doors open for the concert at 6 p.m., and the shows begin at 7 p.m. Jared Hovis, another country singer, opens the show.2022 Cantaloupe Festival Guide
For Williams and his band, there’s no place like rural America.
Winner of two Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards, he most recently was named the 2022 Entertainer of the Year.
Although Williams has played Las Vegas a number of times and also has performed in Elko, he’s looking forward to coming to Fallon, an area that’s known for its western way of life, ranches and farms and rodeo performers. As a saddle bronc rider and roper himself, Williams talks fondly of the Silver State.
“Nevada has some good cowboys out there in that big land,” he said.
Both states share the love of space and the outdoors with vast land, plenty of hunting and fishing and diverse scenery with towering mountain peaks and rivers.
Williams knows the Peavy family from Battle Mountain through rodeo, and the Silver State High School rodeo, which was formerly held in Fallon, attracted contestants from Wyoming.
“I remember they used to have that. It’s cool,” he said.
And as a former team roper, he is familiar with Fallon’s Jade Corkill, one of the top team ropers in the United States.
“He’s one of the best,” Williams said.
Williams, whose band has played the western lifestyle music at many rodeos and fairs, said he and his band can’t wait to arrive in Fallon, which he calls a good fit.
“Getting to a smaller area will remind of home,” he said.
The audience will rapidly ease into his music.
“We play real country music,” he said, adding he and his band have produced six albums. “We’re a bunch of cowboys who like the singin’ and to put on a good show for the crowd.”
Although Williams and Younger Brothers Band have played Las Vegas many times, he joked it’s almost their second home to Laramie, their central spot which is closer to the Denver International Airport.
Williams said he likes to write songs to the geographical area, which will appeal to Saturday’s fans.
“I write and sing songs from where I live,” he said. “Those in Wyoming and Nevada will know what I’m talking about. I’ll also have a few party songs.”
A signature song for Williams is “The World Needs More Cowboys,” which they released in 2020. Williams considers the cowboy world as those men who hold the door open for a woman, say yes sir or yes ma’am and stand up for their beliefs.
Williams encouraged those coming to the concert to listen to part of the song from the website:
You might not see 'em as much on the silver screen, but they're still around
This heart of steel, shoot you straight, and never back down
Yeah Willie I sure do hate to disagree but
But I think a few more mamas oughta let their babies grow up to be one
[Chorus]
'Cause the world needs more cowboys
A few more people who ain't afraid to make noise
And stand up, with that kind of don't give up tough
More of those proud to be, yeah I think the world needs
More Cowboys
Williams, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Wednesday, first played guitar in a high school band, and he also took a liking to singing a few songs. While he was getting his feet wet with music, Williams was already an accomplished with several events in rodeo including saddle bronc riding, and both team and calf (tie-down) roping. Being a top rodeo performer in the Cowboy State helped pay for his college. He attended Casper College, a two-year community college located in Wyoming’s second largest city. From there he received a scholarship to compete in rodeo for the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
“Toward the end of my rodeo career, I stayed with saddle bronc,” Williams explained.
Because team roping attracted more experienced ropers, he decided to stay with saddle bronc. He not only earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Wyoming but he also finished his master’s degree in public administration. He figured his music career would last longer than being a saddle bronc rider, but he attributes his years of going to numerous rodeos in and out of the state as beneficial. He said the connections achieved through high school and college have helped him with many endeavors including his music career.
Yet, the call of the arena still calls him.
“I miss being a cowboy, but more of my future is in music,” he said.
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