Tomas Garcilazo – Trick Rope Artist
Tomas, a native of Mexico City, was introduced at an early age to his family heritage and tradition of “La Charreria” which is a skill performed through the generations only by the Mexican Charro. Charros take extreme pride in their highly developed horsemanship and roping abilities. Tomas, third generation Charro, has devoted his life to sharing Mexico’s National Sport La Charreria with the world. A lifetime of preparation, performances and competition continue to require total self-discipline, patience and commitment by Tomas to training and mastering the artistry of La Charreria. Incorporating a display of refined horsemanship while demonstrating maguey rope artistry in his performances bring audiences to their feet applauding in appreciation of his skills. Tomas devotes countless hours to his horses who with their athletic ability and intelligence willingly execute maneuvers when asked by their friend. It is a rare and honorable experience to witness these partnership performances.
Tomas has performed throughout Europe, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. He has appeared on Broadway in New York City and toured the U.S. with the Will Rogers Follies, an acclaimed 6 time Tony Award winning show. He was a featured performer for two years at Disney’s Wild West Show in Paris, France plus the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show touring Holland and Germany. Tomas has performed numerous times for Mexico’s Presidents along with guest performances at the U.S. White House and Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Tomas resides in southern California and continues to share his legacy with audiences at rodeos, stock shows, horse shows and equine events internationally. His awards are many including the PRCA 2012 and 2007 Specialty Act of the Year award at the Las Vegas National Finals Rodeo. Tomas Garcilazo’s proficiency as a skilled horseman and rope artist defines him as one of the finest Charros presenting La Charreria today.
Kenny Hess – BCCMA Recording Artist
Just 4 years old and already he knew he was going to be a singer, he would stand on the kitchen table singing at the top of his lungs hoping someone would listen…
Born in Outlook Saskatchewan, Kenny was the middle child of a large working class family of 6 brothers and 2 sisters. Dad was a 6 day a week Monday through Saturday hard working man and the Family preacher in their small town Church of Christ every Sunday. This is where the whole family was taught to sing, every one of the kids was given their part to sing in the classic ole hymns that Dad and Mom loved to sing. Then when Church service was over Dad would break out his old 12 string guitar and start to play and sing some of his favorite country songs by greats like Hank Snow, Hank Williams, Charlie Pride and many more. All of the kids took their turns listening but Kenny couldn’t wait till it was his turn to belt out a new one from the stars of the day. And by the time Kenny was a teenager he had already set in motion his musical journey that he is still on today.
Kenny Hess has now been a part of the music industry since the 80’s when he started a life of making music for a living. At just 15 Kenny started traveling the country singing the songs of such greats as Charlie Pride, Don Williams and Merle Haggard and it wasn’t long before he was singing his own songs and sharing the stage with those very same great artists.
A prolific songwriter, Kenny was noticed by Nashville’ legendary songwriter Harlan Howard and soon Kenny began writing for Harlan Howard songs one of the most prestigious publishing houses in the country. This also led to a recording deal with Curb records Nashville. Though he has been blessed with a huge voice and songwriting skills, Kenny’ real strength has always been his ability to hold a crowd of any size in the palm of his hand whether it be with his voice, his sense of humor, or his heartfelt songs of life.
Kenny has had a very successful career with several songs reaching the top 40 nationally and 14 critically acclaimed CDs to his credit. He has also been nominated for Canadian Country Music Awards, Juno award for country artist of the year and has won several BC country music awards including Male vocalist of the year, Songwriter of the year, producer and Album of the year. In fact along with all of the other awards Kenny is the 8 time traditional country artist of the year and in 2010 Kenny was honored with the Entertainer life time achievement award. This has been another busy year that has seen Kenny not only perform his usual slate of dates as the headline act but also had him working shows and opening for artists like Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis, Reba , Merle Haggard , Charlie Pride, Travis Tritt, Nitty Gritty Dirt band and many more…
