WHEATLAND – Guitarist Jerry Barlow held a free concert in the Pocket Park Sept. 18. The concert was sponsored by the Wheatland Historic Preservation Commission.

The concert began shortly after seven in the evening and lasted until 8:30. The purpose of the concert was to entertain and raise donations for the Preservation Commission.

The Commission was formed in 2017 by the town of Wheatland with the goal of earning Wheatland a designation as a Downtown Historic District.

“We worked very hard,” said Linda Fabian, the Commission’s chairperson. “We received a grant from the state of Wyoming in order to hire a historical consultant.”

“We worked with all the business owners and the people who owned the buildings and such. And we created a wonderful notebook of the history of the buildings.”

After creating the notebook, the Commission sent it to the National Register in Washington D.C. for approval. The approval was given, and Wheatland is now officially classified as a Downtown Historic District.

According to Fabian, the hope with this categorization to gather interest in historical tourism, which is currently popular.

“Heritage tourism right now is a really big deal,” said Fabian. “And as you’ve traveled you’ve probably seen brown recreational area signs out on the interstates, and it would direct people to your downtown historic district.”

“And so that is what our goal is. Just to create more interest in the downtown, and to get people to get off the interstate and come in and see our stores and our beautiful buildings.”

The concert in the park helps the Commission create interest in Wheatland’s downtown by generating funds to buy signs along the interstate to direct possible tourists to local attractions.

The concert was performed by Jerry Barlow. As a guitarist, Barlow learned his craft early in his life.

“I got my first guitar when I was 15 years old,” said Barlow. “Started playing Beatles songs and all that stuff. It was about 1965.”

“And I played folk music and then I played rock and roll for many years. Then I moved to Nashville and wrote county music for about 18 years.”

After living in Nashville, Barlow moved to east Tennessee. It was here where he first heard Celtic influenced music, which is attributed to the region’s culture when Scottish and Irish people settled the area.

“When you live in east Tennessee, you start hearing Celtic influence in the music because the Irish and the Scotts who moved in those hills in the 1700s because it was the only land they could afford,” said Barlow. “It was the frontier at that time.”

The Celtic music from Tennessee interested Barlow, who decided to specialize in it. He has been playing Celtic music for two decades.

“I could hear this Celtic influence and it intrigued me and I wanted to explore it more,” said Barlow. “Then I decided I wanted to specialize in it. So I’ve done that the last 20 years or so.”

According to Barlow, Celtic music has many different styles within its genre which he has learned.

“I don’t have just one favorite tune. You learn all these songs and you like them all for different reasons,” said Barlow. “There are certain styles of songs that Celtic music offers.”

“These are all dance tunes. So you have a thing called a reel which is usually in four-four time. Then you have a jig which is in six-eight time.”

Barlow now lives in Colorado mainly touring the Midwest. This localization allows him to become familiar with specific areas. Barlow has performed in Wheatland multiple times

“I go out to these places and play,” said Barlow. “I’ve been doing it now for quite a few years so I have a lot of places that I go back to again and again and again and make friends.”

“I seem to come up every two to three years and do a concert up here. It has become familiar to me now and I have friends here. I look forward to coming up to Wheatland.”

The Sept. 18 concert was not the first time Barlow partnered with the Historical Commission. He is happy to work with

“I’ve actually done a little bit with them before, and it is fantastic working with them,” said Barlow. “Two of my friends are Dan Brecht here in town and Linda Fabian.”

“Working with them is just extremely easy and always for a good cause. It has been fantastic and I really hope we can do more in the future.”