Bar J Wranglers say goodbye after 44 years

Holly Dorman
Posted 10/19/21

Cowboys, cowgirls, country music enthusiasts and anyone else looking for a good time can find the Bar J Wranglers performing one of its last shows

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Bar J Wranglers say goodbye after 44 years

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TORRINGTON – Cowboys, cowgirls, country music enthusiasts and anyone else looking for a good time can find the Bar J Wranglers performing one of its last shows on Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. at Eastern Wyoming College in the Fine Arts Auditorium. 

Tickets are available through the Community Education Department at EWC until Oct. 20. On the day of the event, 100 tickets will be available at the door. Admission to the event is free with a ticket.

The Bar J Wranglers have performed country music for the last 44 years at the Bar J Chuckwagon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Performing seven nights a week to crowds of almost 650 every summer, the Bar J Wranglers has gotten the experience to perfect its mixture of musical performance and comedy show which critics have called “rockin’.”

The group played its last show at the Bar J Chuckwagon on Sept. 6 of this year. The band faced an uphill battle with property taxes and the inevitability of old age. Decorations, picnic tables, stools, wagons, Dutch ovens and other odds and ends from the property were sold off at auction after the final show.

Those who visited the Chuckwagon in the decades before it shut down may remember the melodies echoing off the stage and the laughter of hundreds of audience members as the band performed. The concert at EWC promises to give the same experience.

Musician Babe Humphrey founded the group in 1977 and passed his love and knowledge of music onto his sons, Scott and Bryan Humphrey. Babe has since retired but loves to surprise audiences with the occasional appearance on stage with his guitar. 

Scott Humphrey arranges the music for the group, sings tenor and plays rhythm guitar. Bryan Humphrey is the lead voice and doghouse bass. Tim Hodgson, a champion fiddler, sings tenor and high baritone and plays the fiddle for the group. Donnie Cook, the “multi-instrumentalist,” plays banjo for the group and Danny Rogers sings bass and plays rhythm guitar.

Now, the Bar J Wranglers group will be shutting down the Bar J Chuckwagon and retiring from world tours. The performance at EWC is part of its farewell tour and will have shows in Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska.

Those looking for more information or to claim tickets before they’re all gone can call EWC Community Education Department Director Donna White at 307-532-8213.