The day “Rattlesnake Kate” Slaughterback (armed only with a rifle, 4 bullets, and a “No Hunting” sign) successfully battled her way through hundreds of rattlesnakes to save herself and her son, a legend was born. But that’s just the beginning of her story…
Olivia is on location at the Greeley History Museum with Grammy-nominated musician and composer Neyla Pekarek (formerly of The Lumineers), whose musical Rattlesnake Kate premiered in 2022 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Kate Slaughterback’s letters were read by Emma Porter, and “Rattlesnake Kate’s Passionate Love” was performed by Mark Henderson.
Watch Neyla Pekarek perform “I Want Everything” live at the 2022 Henry Awards, or see clips and behind-the-scenes footage from the musical in these segments from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, CBS Colorado, and Next9 News.
image courtesy of Greeley History Museum
image courtesy of Greeley History Museum
photo courtesy of Kate’s family, used by permission
photo courtesy of Kate’s family, used by permission
photo courtesy of Kate’s family, used by permission
image courtesy of Greeley History Museum
image courtesy of Greeley History Museum
photo courtesy of Kate’s family, used by permission
selfie by Olivia Meikle
selfie by Olivia Meikle
image courtesy of Greeley History Museum
photo courtesy of Sarah Brooks at Greeleyhistory.org
photo by Olivia Meikle
selfie by Olivia Meikle
photo by Olivia Meikle
photo courtesy of Sarah Brooks at Greeleyhistory.org
photo courtesy of Sarah Brooks at Greeleyhistory.org
image courtesy of Sarah Brooks at Greeleyhistory.org
portrait by Brit Cole
Neyla Pekarek (she/her/hers) began playing cello at age 9 in her hometown of Aurora, Colorado. She studied Musical Theatre and earned a degree in Music Education at UNC in Greeley, CO. In 2010, she joined the Denver folk-rock group The Lumineers as a cellist and vocalist, and spent 8 years touring the world and recording with the band. In January 2019 she released her debut album Rattlesnake (streaming now!) on S-Curve records, and was commissioned by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to develop her album into a musical production entitled Rattlesnake Kate, which had its World Premier at the DCPA in February 2022. Neyla wrote the music and lyrics and garnered a Best Supporting Actress Henry Award for her portrayal of the cello-playing horse, Brownie. She released a companion EP entitled Western Woman on June 30, 2023. Neyla is a proud member of Sweet Adelines International and The Barbershop Harmony Society, two organizations that nurture the craft of Barbershop Quartet singing. She sang baritone for the 2009 Rising Star Champion quartet Vogue and currently sings tenor in Clever Girl Quartet. She’s on Instagram at @NeylaPekarek.
Music featured in this episode included:
2019
2023
Most of the music for this episode was generously shared by Neyla Pekarek, from her solo albums Rattlesnake and Western Woman.
from Rattlesnake: Train, The Attack, Better Than Annie, Letters to the Colonel, Brownie: Ode to a Horse, Miffed, and Western Woman
from Western Woman: Western Woman – Invitation, I’ll Make History, Jack’s Request, and I Want Everything
This episode also featured “A Ghost Town” by Quincas Moreira, “Dude, Where’s My Horse” by Nat Keefe with The Bow Ties, and “The Colonel” by Zachariah Hickman.
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