"The Birth and History of Western Swing" Film Wins Will Rogers Medallion Awards in Three Categories!
- Kelly Hurd
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Michael Markwardt, Director/Executive Producer of “The Birth and History of Western Swing,” film has been honored with three coveted Will Rogers Medallion Awards in three separate categories – Best Long Form Documentary Film, Best Producer/Director, and Best Screenwriter.
The 116-minute film is slated to air on PBS stations nationwide in 2026 followed by a release on streaming platforms.
Markwardt accepted his awards Nov. 1 at a ceremony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For the category of Best Screenwriter, co-writers Mark Nobles, Cary Ginell, and Robert Huston shared the award.
Founded in 2003, the WRMA proudly honors excellence in cowboy poetry and has boldly expanded to recognize outstanding achievements in Western literature, music, and film as public interest in this vibrant genre has surged.
The awards celebrate the remarkable legacy of Will Rogers (1879–1935), the beloved humorist, author, and "cowboy philosopher" whose influential syndicated newspaper column, "Will Rogers Says," captivated readers in over 600 papers during his lifetime.
Markwardt, Director/Executive Producer of the documentary film "The Birth & History of Western Swing" and co-founder of the Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing nonprofit organization, brings a lifelong passion for Fort Worth's proud heritage as the birth of western swing music from its 1930s inception when Bob Wills and Milton Brown first pioneered this contagious dance genre to uplift depression-weary fans during the depths of the Great Depression and dust-bowl era.
Markwardt has contributed his time and financial support to many western swing festival events throughout the Southwest, regularly attending reunions, contests, award shows, and musical events. He launched the inaugural Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing Festival in 2021, where a venerable who’s who of legendary musicians and devoted fans gather from across the country each year to celebrate the birth of western swing in Fort Worth, Texas on the second weekend of November. The epic 3-day festival honors the founding pillars of western swing - the Light Crust Doughboys, the Musical Brownies, and the famed Texas Playboys. Markwardt’s film documents the history of the genre.
It transports the audience to the roots of Western Swing and its birth in the early 1930s in Fort Worth, Texas, and documents the genre’s development, highlighting a unique blend of rural country and urban jazz, blues, and pop music, created by music-loving pioneers like Milton Brown and Bob Wills during an era in which society longed for an escape from the Great Depression and a reason to forget their worries for a moment on the dance floor.
The musical style quickly filled Texas dance halls and spread across the country, bridging the gap between country and jazz while influencing generations of musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and George Strait.
Following the untimely death of Milton Brown in 1936, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys rose to greater fame bringing Western Swing to national audiences with treasured and timeless hits such as “San Antonio Rose.”
A Fort Worth native and first-time filmmaker, Markwardt has had a successful entrepreneurial business career with over 35 years in the import-export consumer products industry. In addition to managing his nonprofit organization, Mike also provides import-export consulting expertise to local and international clients and continues to invest in private equity startups and real estate properties primarily within the state of Texas.