CROSS THAT RIVER- A BLACK COWBOY MUSICAL

Join us for the evening performance of Cross That River, March 16, 2023 at 7PM at Spruce Peak Arts. 

During these racially charged times in the United States with the focus on racial discrimination across the country, Cross That River takes audiences on a musical journey into why black lives matter. 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.

WASHINGTON POST “Although Allan Harris is best known as a jazz vocalist … he’s no stranger to Southern rock, R&B, blues, country and blue-grass. “Cross That River” is his most ambitious album yet, a country-before-it-was-cool song cycle inspired by the oft-overlooked history of the African American cowboy.”

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.