Kerry Christensen is not a likely name for one of the world’s best Alpine yodelers. But then, many things about Kerry are not quite what one would expect. Instead of growing up on a green alm somewhere in Bavaria, Kerry was born and raised on a potato farm in Grace, Idaho and had to wander quite a distance from home to discover his passion — yodeling!
And it is a passion; one that has taken him to such places as DisneyWorld in Florida, Las Vegas, Europe, and even on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
According to Kerry, yodeling is an ancient art found in many mountainous regions of the world, including China, Africa, and Australia. However its best known form originated in the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Folk wisdom says that yodeling is an imitation of the music of the alpenhorn, a ten-foot long horn once used for communication by people in that area.
Like the alpenhorn, yodeling was once used for communication, at least over moderate distances, say from one hillside farm to the next, and it is still used in some parts of the world.
For Kerry though, yodeling is music; and the most exciting and challenging music there is. A performer from the tender age of three, he had sung everything from western to barbershop music. Then he traveled to Austria and discovered the folk music that would be his life.
Over the years Kerry has added the alphorn, zither, and cowbells to his show and does a little cowboy yodeling for variety. He has met many friends in his travels and has even taught several people how to yodel with an instructional tape he produced, Kerry has many recordings of his yodeling that are for listening to only and they are, by far, his best-sellers. Anyone interested in ordering or booking information can write Kerry at 1454 E. Springdell Cir., Provo, UT 84604.
