Kerry Christensen

Last updated
Kerry Christensen
Born (1954-10-06) October 6, 1954 (age 67)
Grace, Idaho, United States
GenresYodelling
Occupation(s)Singer, musician
InstrumentsAccordion, zither, alphorn

Kerry Christensen (born October 6, 1954) is an American yodeler. He yodels in both western and Alpine styles. He also plays the accordion, the zither, and the alphorn and is very good at imitating chickens. [1] [2]

Christensen was born in 1954 and was raised on a potato farm in Grace, Idaho. A performer from the age of three, he has sung everything from western ballads to barbershop music. While living in Austria from 1974 to 1976, he discovered the folk music that would be his life. [1]

Kerry's first yodeling performance was in 1977, at a Brigham Young University orientation assembly where he received a standing ovation from 15,000 students. In 1984, Disney World in Orlando, Florida hired him to work at the German Pavilion of the Epcot Center in 1984. He was the Disney World Yodeler from 1984 to 1990 and the leader of the night band for the last four of those years. [2]

In 1990, Christensen became a freelance yodeler and performs worldwide. He has recorded 12 albums, including U 2 Can Yodel, a course for people wanting to learn yodeling techniques. In 2009, he was signed to yodel for the surrealist cartoon Living Evil, written and directed by Dadaist and Surrealist artists the Hive of Dukes. Yanni Osmond, co-founder of the Hive, is an avid music historian and professed "weird music fan", and when he saw Kerry yodeling on YouTube, he found his phone number and hired Christensen on the spot. In 2012 McClatchy-Tribune News Service reported that he would "...use his mouth to perform music from a range of cultures: American Indian, German, Swiss, Cajun, and the 'cattle call' of the American West among them." [3]

Related Research Articles

Bill Haley Rock and roll music pioneer

William John Clifton Haley was a pioneering American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-selling hits such as "Rock Around the Clock", "See You Later, Alligator", "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Rocket 88", "Skinny Minnie", and "Razzle Dazzle". His recordings have sold over 60 million records worldwide.

<i>Fantasia</i> (1940 film) 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions, with story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production supervision by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen. The third Disney animated feature film, it consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies who introduces each segment in live action.

Roy Rogers American singer and actor (1911–1998)

Roy Rogers was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebranded Rogers then became one of the most popular Western stars of his era. Known as the "King of the Cowboys", he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio and television episodes of The Roy Rogers Show. In many of his films and television episodes, he appeared with his wife, Dale Evans; his Golden Palomino, Trigger; and his German Shepherd, Bullet. His show was broadcast on radio for nine years and then on television from 1951 through 1957. His early roles were uncredited parts in films by fellow cowboy singing star Gene Autry and his productions usually featured a sidekick, often Pat Brady, Andy Devine, George "Gabby" Hayes, or Smiley Burnette. In his later years, he lent his name to the franchise chain of Roy Rogers Restaurants.

<i>Star Tribune</i> Minneapolis, Minnesota, US newspaper

The Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the Minneapolis Tribune in 1867 and the competing Minneapolis Daily Star in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolidated, with the Tribune published in the morning and the Star in the evening. They merged in 1982, creating the Star and Tribune, and it was renamed to Star Tribune in 1987. After a tumultuous period in which the newspaper was sold and re-sold and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, it was purchased by local businessman Glen Taylor in 2014.

Yodeling Form of singing

Yodeling is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word yodel is derived from the German word jodeln, meaning "to utter the syllable jo". This vocal technique is used in many cultures worldwide.

<i>Home on the Range</i> (2004 film) 2004 American film

Home on the Range is a 2004 American animated Western musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 45th Disney animated feature film, it was the last traditionally animated Disney film released until The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and Winnie the Pooh in 2011.

<i>Dick Tracy</i> (1990 film) 1990 action crime film directed by Warren Beatty

Dick Tracy is a 1990 American action crime comedy film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Warren Beatty produced, directed, and starred in the film, whose supporting cast includes Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, and Charlie Korsmo. Dick Tracy depicts the detective's romantic relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Trueheart as well as his conflicts with crime boss Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice and his henchmen. Tracy also begins fostering a young street urchin named Kid.

Jimmie Rodgers (country singer) American country singer known for yodeling

James Charles Rodgers was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmic yodeling. Unusual for a music star of his era, Rodgers rose to prominence based upon his recordings, among country music's earliest, rather than concert performances – which followed to similar public acclaim.

William L. Shirer American journalist and war correspondent

William Lawrence Shirer was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly works for more than 50 years. Originally a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the International News Service, Shirer was the first reporter hired by Edward R. Murrow for what became a CBS radio team of journalists known as "Murrow's Boys". He became known for his broadcasts from Berlin, from the rise of the Nazi dictatorship through the first year of World War II (1940). With Murrow, he organized the first broadcast world news roundup, a format still followed by news broadcasts.

The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and has an average weekday circulation of 1.6 million and Sunday circulation of 2.4 million. In 2006, it purchased Knight Ridder, which at the time was the second-largest newspaper company in the United States. In addition to its daily newspapers, McClatchy also operates several websites and community papers, as well as a news agency, McClatchy DC Bureau, focused on political news from Washington, D.C.

Wilf Carter (musician) Canadian singer

Wilfred Arthur Charles Carter, professionally known as Wilf Carter in his native Canada and also as Montana Slim in the United States, was a Canadian Country and Western singer, songwriter, guitarist, and yodeller. He wrote over 500 songs. In 1971, Wilf Carter was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Widely acknowledged as the father of Canadian country music, Carter was Canada's first country music star, inspiring a generation of young Canadian performers.

Robert Cummings American actor

Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings was an American film and television actor known mainly for his roles in comedy films such as The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and Princess O'Rourke (1943), but who was also effective in dramatic films, especially two of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers, Saboteur (1942) and Dial M for Murder (1954). He received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance in 1955. On February 8, 1960, he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, at 6816 Hollywood Boulevard and 1718 Vine Street.

Billy Taylor American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster, and educator

Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Slim Whitman American singer-songwriter and instrumentalist

Ottis Dewey Whitman known by stage name Slim Whitman, was an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his yodeling abilities and his use of falsetto. He personally stated that he had sold in excess of 120 million records, although the recorded sales figures give 70 million, during a career that spanned over seven decades, and consisted of a prolific output of over 100 albums and around 500 recorded songs, that not only consisted of country music, but also of contemporary gospel, Broadway show tunes, love songs and standards. In the 1950s, Whitman toured with Elvis Presley as the opening act. In the 1990s and 2000s a new generation was exposed to Whitman through his songs featured in the film Mars Attacks!; his famed "Indian Love Call" would kill the invading Martians every time the record was played and his rendition of "I Remember You" was heard in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses.

Ice Capades

The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Olympic and US National Champion figure skaters who had retired from formal competition. Started in 1940, the Ice Capades grew rapidly and prospered for 50 years. A decline in popularity ensued in the 1980s, and the show went out of business around 1995. There have been several attempts to revive the show and its name.

Wylie Gustafson American singer-songwriter (born 1961)

Wylie Galt Gustafson is an American singer-songwriter who has toured nationally and internationally with his band, "Wylie & The Wild West". The band is known for its blend of cowboy, traditional country, folk and yodeling. Gustafson is a fifth generation Montana cowboy and is a 2019 inductee into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Kerry McGregor Scottish actor and singer

Kerry McGregor was a Scottish singer-songwriter and actress from West Lothian. McGregor appeared on the third UK series of The X Factor, where she was mentored by Sharon Osbourne. McGregor died on 4 January 2012 of complications from bladder cancer, a disease she had suffered from for years.

ChristensenDanish pronunciation: [ˈkʰʁestn̩sn̩], is a Danish patronymic surname, literally meaning son of Christen, a sideform of Christian. The spelling variant Kristensen has identical pronunciation. Christensen is the sixth most common name in Denmark, shared by about 2% of the population. In Norway and Sweden the name can also be spelled Christenson or Kristenson.

Zeke Clements

Zeke Clements was an American country musician often dressed in a Western outfit. He was known as "The Dixie Yodeler."

Donn Reynolds Musical artist

Stanley Beresford "Donn" Reynolds was a Canadian country music singer and yodeler most widely known for his Bavarian style of yodeling. Often referred to as Canada's "King of the Yodelers", Reynolds established two yodeling world records. He recorded 38 singles and six albums throughout a performing career spanning over 40 years.

References

  1. 1 2 Plantenga, Bart (2004). Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World . Routledge. pp.  285, 288. ISBN   0-415-93990-9.
  2. 1 2 "Yodel-a-e-oing an A-OK living, Provoan says". Deseret Morning News . August 29, 2003.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. Lamberson, C., 2012, Sep 23. Spotlight: Master yodeler to play Bing. McClatchy - Tribune Business News.