CROSS THAT RIVER
The Story of a Runaway Slave Who Became a Cowboy
Thursday February 9, 2023 at 7:30 pm
Athens City Middle School
Genre: Song Cycle, Black History
A quarter of the cowhands in the West were Black.
A Harlem composer found a way to honor their history.
Cross That River represents a significant moment in American history where Black Cowboys lived and helped settle the West. It is a story that’s never been told in this way. The unsettled West of the 1860s provides a new life and new dreams for Blue, a run-away slave, who escapes from slavery to Texas to become one of America’s first Black Cowboys. This compelling tale of freedom integrates fiction with historical fact, and each song presents a different page in this complicated chapter of American History.
The story of Blue begins in Louisiana, and with every song of this highly-infectious score, the audience is moved further along on Blue’s harrowing journey across the Sabine River to freedom in the Wild West. Each song tells a unique story, at times joyful, sometimes tragic, but mostly a poignant chronicle of enduring perseverance. Award-winning musician, Allan Harris, wrote Cross That River to tell the untold story of the Black West and empower Americans with an inspiring story of hope and freedom.
Visit Cross That River’s website.
“A Country-before-it-was cool song cycle inspired by the oft-overlooked history of the African-American cowboys.”
Washington Post