An extensive internet search turned up one source.
No one has heard it sung live for over a century.
In developing my third CD, I have been looking for songs from states where cowboys worked. In this particular case, I was preparing for a 12 day performing tour along the International Chisholm Cattle Trail in Kansas in May 2022 and wanted to find a song that reflected Kansas. An extensive internet search turned up one source that had over a dozen songs about Kansas, many of which were on the site to listen to. The one that caught my ear was an instrumental but no words. The reference information for the song indicated the composers of both the music and the words and listed the location of the song in a collection held by the Special Collections Section at the Indiana State University in Terra Haute, Indiana. I emailed them and asked if they would photocopy the song with the words and send it to me. They indicated that they could not do that because they did not hold the copyright.
In August of 2022, I made a road trip to visit friends in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. So I added an extension of the trip to Indiana State University to see if I could obtain the sheet music in person. Although they were hesitant to do that, after I gave them a four song performance and a copy of my first CD, they were so enthralled that they relented and I walked away with my prized copy of the “Kansas Waltz.” It is now in my repertoire and I love it. No one has heard it sung live for over a century.
Written by : tomhawkyodeler
