“Then I did the remake of The Alamo
– wrangling and stunts. That took care
of 10 months or so. With my dad pass-
ing – I still miss him every day – I was
ready to get back anyway,” said Carter.
“I wasn’t geared to live in Nashville. I
had a couple of offers from labels, but I
was too independent – too West Texas, I
guess.”
Now 47, Carter is slim, 6-foot-2 and
perennially jeans-and-boot-clad. He
spends his time maintaining water levels
for the Spring Creek wildlife, caring for
the livestock, working with his wife
Shannon on film projects and “being a
father.”
Craig and Shannon met while both
were working on the PBS reality series
“Texas Ranch House,” shot south of
Alpine. “She was the art director; I was
the wrangler/safety. She knocked me
down like I was a 10-year-old kid. I fell
in love with her…and I still am.”
Although brought up in Los Angeles,
Shannon’s grandfather was a rodeo
competitor, and she knew horses and
wrangling. Craig flew several times to
L.A. to woo her, and the two were mar-
ried; she joined him at Spring Creek
Ranch in 2007.
They named their daughter Sadie
Phlynn (born Aug. 5, 2008) after both
their fathers – Ph for Shannon’s father
Philip and Lynn after Craig’s father.
She’s the subject of a song Craig per-
forms with his Spur of the Moment
Band: “Sucking Down a Bottle of
Leche.”
“I’ve played it a couple of times, and
the crowd thought it was pretty funny.”
Craig, who speaks fluent Spanish, has
written about 100 songs. His
“Mamacita” was recently recorded by
country star Trent Wilmon. Craig’s own
recordings (”Lorena” and “Hecho in
Mexico” are among his most popular
songs) are available at record stores in
Alpine (Johnson’s and Bill Ivey).
Craig’s Spur of the Moment Band
(Zack Casey of Odessa, lead guitar;
Charlie Thomas of Alpine, drums;
Chuck Jividen of Alpine, guitar; and Jim
Hall of Fort Davis, bass) play frequent
private parties and benefits in the Big
Bend area. “In Alpine in February, we
played for Texas Parks and Wildlife and
the local ranchers who were losing ante-
lope. We play for the Marathon clinic
every year – we gave the clinic a check
for $15,000 the first year.”
But his local band members have reg-
ular jobs, so Craig plays his European
gigs alone or with pickup backup. His
European tours – 55 already, to virtually
all of Europe – were often arranged
through George Hug, a Swiss CW
singer. “He heard my stuff when he was
here on tour, and we became friends.
He’s like the George Strait of
Switzerland,”
Carter expects to return to Europe
this fall to host another season of a
Western-themed reality show called
“Zulu Cattle Race,” which is owned by
Eyeworks of Denmark, with affiliates in
16 countries.
Craig says he’s heard rumors from
his contacts that Texas is not getting as
much film work lately. He fears that
Louisiana and New Mexico are cutting
into Texas’ traditional lure of com-
manding vistas of hill country, urban
areas, coastline, mountains and desert.
Evan Fitzmaurice, head of the Texas
Film Commission, said it’s true
Louisiana has a strong incentive pro-
gram. But he noted the Texas incentives
had been ramped up in 2009 so that
film, TV or video-game companies
shooting in Texas receive a percentage
return on their spending. “The chal-
lenge we have every couple of years is to
get re-appropriated,” he said. With
Texas vistas and the capable production
crews available here, he said, “we’re
competitive.”
“One of Texas’ strongest assets” is
crew depth, the film commission Web
site says. “These are not trainees but
experienced professionals who get it
right the first time.”
Craig Carter is one of those. He got
early training in the 90s, and the film
connections and later TV links came
through his playing at the Ben Johnson
celebrity rodeo (Johnson had won a best
supporting actor Academy award for
The Last Picture Show in 1971. He is the
only man to have won an Oscar and a
rodeo world championship).
“It was a benefit for cystic fibrosis in
Houston in the late 80s – and I was
hired as entertainment. I met lots of film
people, and Adam Taylor (son of Buck
Taylor of “Gunsmoke”) and I became
like brothers. He was on his way to
becoming a director – I would stay
weeks or months in Los Angeles with
him. He was working on little movies –
you learn how to do it. One day I’d be
driving a stunt car, the next day lighting
a shot.
“Adam was getting assistant directing
jobs – I probably worked on 15 films. Or
else I’d be security, spend the night on a
set, act bit parts, be an extra. We were on
our way to a lifelong partnership when
he was killed in a motorcycle accident.
He was the assistant director on
Tombstone when he died.”
Craig was interviewed in director
Ron Stone’s Eyes of Texas. For Tommy
Lee Jones’ The Three Burials of Melquiades
Estrada, Carter was gang boss/wrangler
and stuntman. He was head wrangler
for Ethan and Joel Coen’s No Country for
Old Men, largely filmed near Sanderson.
He also worked on their True Grit, a
remake of the John Wayne classic. Last
year, Carter served as head wrangler/
stuntman for young Texas director
Tanner Beard, whose The Legend of Hell’s
Gate is being shown at film festivals.
“As wrangler, you supply gentle, safe
animals to work with – you teach actors
to look right and be safe. You supply
whatever it calls for – I don’t keep a tiger
or wolf or rattler, but I know where to
get them,” Carter said.
Earlier, Craig was head wrangler/safe-
ty on four CMT reality series, and he
was the host/coordinator for an Italian
reality series called “Arizona Cowboy.”
His commercial gigs for U.S. audiences
have included Dr. Pepper, U.S. Air and
Budweiser; for European audiences he
promoted Winston and Marlboro ciga-
rettes.
But all the demands of the jobs have
left him with a permanent sore back –
“horse wrecks,” he explained. “I’m still
active, but I have more reasons to stay
home. It’s not the years, it’s the mileage...
I always said I wanna ride horses, play
music and make movies. And it all came
together.
“Now, being married and having a
baby girl, I’m not interested in being
gone 150 days a year.”
Then he added, “I’ve spent 25 years
busting my butt not to have a real job –
a real job takes all the creativity away.
I’m not worried about the star aspect of
it. You hit a lick on the right show, you
can make a coupla months’ salary in a
week. I want to continue to write, con-
tinue to sing, continue to live in the Big
Bend.”
NOW OPEN
Accepting new patients
Walk-ins welcome
Se habla Español
2600 N. Hwy 118 (in the Medical Office portion of the Hospital)
Monday through Friday • 8:00am to 5:00pm
Dr. Catherine Harrington
Family Practice / Fellowship-trained OB
Board Certified Family Practice
Dr. Harrington is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Meharry
School of Medicine in Tennessee. She earned her undergraduate
degree from the University of New Mexico – Albuquerque. She has
a special interest in pediatric patients and OB’s. To make an
appointment with Dr. Harrington, please call 432-837-0431.
DR. ROCHELLE SOHL
Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery
Board Certified OB/Gyn
Dr. Sohl is an Honors graduate from the University of Texas San
Antonio. She earned her undergraduate degree from University of
Texas at Austin. She is an Alpine native and has special interests
in menopause, pelvic floor surgeries and women’s health issues.
To make an appointment with Dr. Sohl, please call 432-837-0430.
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2011
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