THE BAR J WRANGLERS, Wednesday, Nov. 17, Granite Park School, 7 p.m.The Bar J Wranglers subscribe to the notion that "If the tourists won't come to you, go to tourists." Each fall, when the diners begin to dwindle at the "Bar J" in Jackson Hole, Wyo., the crew heads south, stitching together a series of shows across the state of Utah.
On Wednesday night they were in Salt Lake City.
And they were in fine form.
The best vocal groups tend to push the frontiers of their music. The best barbershoppers will toss in a Beatle tune or two. Jazz singers may work in a show tune. And in the world of Western music, which can get pretty rigid, it's hard to image a group that shows as much range as the Wranglers without hurting the integrity of the music.
On Wednesday, the audience got a little sip of everything from the theme to the "Flintstones" and "It Had to Be You" to some Four Freshmen harmonies and a cappella Southern gospel.
Opening with a string of five Western classics ("Cool Water," "Strawberry Roan" and "Sioux City Sue" among them ) the foursome sounded as tight and bright as ever. (Practicing in the car on trips down from Jackson Hole has paid off handsomely.)
If you've never seen them, here's the roster of players:
Babe Humphrey is the patriarch of the band. His job is to sing bass, anchor the show and absorb abuse about being old.
Scott Humphrey -- the straight man -- sings, plays guitar and absorbs abuse about being skinny.
Bryan Humphrey -- the clown -- sings, plays string bass and absorbs abuse about being dumb.
And Tim Hodgson, one of the finest fiddle players in America, sings, fiddles and absorbs abuse about anything and everything.
The humor is quick and clean. Like Mark Twain, the boys are adept at telling "stretchers" -- stories the audience assumes to be true, until the hook comes in. Wisecracks and one-liners pepper the down time between numbers.
High points included Hodgson doing "Listen to the Mockingbird" on the fiddle -- complete with bird calls -- and several Sons of the Pioneers classics, with the harmonies pulled tight enough to please Tim Spencer.
Bryan Humphrey has also come into his own as a "country stand-up" act. This time around, he lampooned a former sweetheart whose motto was "Beauty is only a light switch away."
The boys closed the show with Babe and Tim dueling it out on twin fiddles.
In the end, they were good 10 years ago.
Each year they've gotten better.
If you missed them this trip, there's always Jackson Hole next spring, when it's the audience's turn to do the commuting.