Maricopa’s singing cowboy, Eldon Eklund, appearing at Stagecoach Days

When the “Singing Cowboy” is introduced during Stagecoach Days at Pacana Park, watch carefully to see if he shoves both of his hands into the pockets of his jeans. If he does, chances are there’s a big crowd, and he’s a little nervous.

That gesture became a trademark for Eldon Eklund when he performed professionally at the Wagon Camp area of Knott’s Berry Farm in southern California in the 1960s.

“When I first stepped out there alone, in front of the microphone, with just this guitar in my hands,” Eklund said, “I thought I’d pass out. There was a sea of faces–1,500 people just waiting for me to forget the lyrics or flub a note.

“My hands were shaking so badly, I shoved them into my pockets to keep them still.”

The Wagonmasters performed at more than 9,000 shows in the Wagon Camp area of Knotts Berry Farm.

Eklund, a resident of the Province community in Maricopa since 2004, isn’t likely to have an attack of stage fright during Stagecoach Days, which this year runs from March 23 through 25. He’s no longer a greenhorn and has a professional career as a performer and an educator behind him.

As a teenager Eldon said he remembers having to go out to the family barn on the Eklund farm in Ada, MN to perform the usual chores. “It was 50 degrees below zero that night,” he said, “and I’m talking about the real temperature, not the wind chill.”

At the age of 17, Eldon left farming and Minnesota to head west to California, where he planned on eking out a living in a warmer clime. He polished his tenor voice as a singer at church. His grandfather, a violinist, had taught him the rudiments of music and guitar playing at the age of six, but he had no formal training.

Experience quickly taught Eklund he wouldn’t get very far without a proper education, so he attended college to study vocal music, eventually earning a master’s degree in school administration and counseling from California State University in Fullerton.

While a student Eklund worked as a bus boy at Knotts Berry Farm, where he one day would return as a headliner.

During the next 25 years Eklund met and married his wife, Janetlee (“Just call me Jan”), and the couple raised four children while he worked in the school system in Orange County, CA. Jan spent 40 years in nursing.

When he retired from education, Eklund worked his way, gig by gig, back into the music business, finally joining a group called the Wagonmasters at Knotts Berry Farm. The group performed 20-minute shows evenings and weekends, recording five albums of folk and western music. Eklund stayed with the group, consisting of four other men and a woman vocalist, until 1968, usually playing the bass but occasionally joining in on his guitar.

Eldon Eklund (left) as he performed with the Wagonmasters at Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. Eklund was with the group from 1954 through 1968.


This photo from one of the group’s CDs shows Eldon Eklund and his bass.

After another retirement in 1992 Eldon and his wife bought a small farm in Colfax, CA, and spent most winters in Casa Grande.

Eklund is still performing. He’s a member of a popular trio at his church in Maricopa, and his rich tenor voice makes him popular as a singer of Irish tunes. “I’m performing at an Irish festival in Chandler on March 13,” he said.

But his favorite is still western music. “When you analyze the lyrics,” he said, “you realize it’s all about nature and the environment, our animal friends and the world around us.”

He’s a big fan of Marty Robbins and the Sons of the Pioneers, and his favorite tune is “Man Walks Among Us.”

Did he ever overcome those episodes of stage fright?

“Sure did. One time when I shoved my hands into my jeans, I discovered someone had cut the pocket linings right outta my pants,” he laughed.