Cowboy music in Benguet

By Jorge Pawid

Benguet people love country and western music. Even modern native compositions have adapted the familiar country and western music styles.

Our countrymen in other parts of the Philippines find it amusing and wonder why the i-Benguets and some Cordillerans love country music so much that the majority of the Benguet populace dress like cowboys and cowgirls from head to foot. That’s why shoemakers in the city and nearby La Trinidad have learned to hand-sew local boots whose designs are copied from imported catalogues. The influence of local fashion and music by American country and westerns has become sort of a phenomena.

Where else in the country would you find the original and longest surviving park that caters to horse-riding for a minimal fee. Wright Park in Baguio City. And the idea was influenced by American country and western music. Ask Ramon Dacawi, who is an Ifugao by blood but an adopted Benguet having grown up in Wright Park as a pony boy.

Baguio and La Trinidad’s folk and country dens live and survive on the patronage Benguet’s country and western music lovers. Nightly, local musicians in these joints entertain people from all walks of life mostly coming from the Pines City and Benguet’s 13 towns by way of belting out old and new country and western hits.

To name a few; Hank Williams, Roy Rogers, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Buck Owens, Elvis Presly, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, John Denver, Patsy Kline, Tommy Wynnette of the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s to the 80s with the likes of the Eagles, Kenny Rogers, Don Williams, Clint Black, Randy Travis, Alabama, Johnny Lee, George Strait, Alan Jackson, etc… The list is long. Ask any regular of these bars.

Even popular rock and roll hits, some by the Beatles, have been converted to the country and western theme. And believe me, our local musicians can perform these hits to the note and sometimes even better.

Public Utility Vehicles (jeepneys, buses, taxicabs and vans) plying routes in the Cordillera would be empty of passengers if not for their car stereos playing country tunes either from a CD, cassette tape or the radio courtesy of 99.9 FM).

Not only in pubs and bars is country and western that popular. Even during private parties and gatherings. Country music is the gender sang by all. Intermissions of public and government programs are renditions of country and western music.

Local amateur battle of the bands contests in Benguet are replete with country and western. Even western outfits are judged. Conrad Marzan, one of the pioneers of folk-singing in Baguio City, related that most of his the songs sang during his sets in local folkhouses are accommodations to requests.

One time, a tipsy customer asked Conrad to render the popular “Silver Wings” by Merle Haggard. Having forgotten the lyrics, Conrad politely told the customer so. The customer stood up and reacted by insisting that Conrad knew the song by heart and should sing it at the moment. The customer became unruly and even challenged Conrad to a fistfight outside the bar. He was restrained by other customers and given more drinks to lull him to sleep and keep him out of trouble.

Such incidents are not isolated. This only goes to show how the local Benguets love country music. Conrad had to memorize that song to avoid a repeat of such incident. He later learned the more popular songs that the folkhouse patrons loved to request. And it has made Conrad a star among the clientele.

Our column’s neighbor, March Fianza, knows this situations all to well having blazed the local folkhouse scene in the 70s and 80s. Ask Alfred Dizon who still performs regular solo sets in one of the city’s more popular folkhouses.

The jukebox, popular during the 50s to the 80s, is a big contributing factor to the Benguet’s love for the country-western music genre. Like modern technology, the karaoke was born and today we find in almost every nook and corner a videoke bar with a lot of country-western selections being sung by local patrons.

Like in any democracy where showbiz personalities have become politicians, former professional popular and idolized country and western singers were voted into public office because of their singing. A popular guy was Brian Aliping as councilor in Tuba and later board member in Mt. Province, and his brother Nick as councilor in Baguio City.

Other politicians too are now belting out country-western tunes to woo the votes of the local electorate. Among them is former congressman Ronnie Cosalan of Benguet, and councilor and aspiring mayor William Esteban of La Trinidad and a host of others.