When cowboys come to mind, they may be real-life people turned legends — Billy the Kid, or Wyatt Earp, or Annie Oakley, let’s say.  Or they may be fictional — Hopalong Cassidy, or the Marlboro Man, or one of many roles featuring John Wayne.

All of these cowboys are white.  And that overlooks history: there were also black cowboys, and they played an important role in the American West.

Musician Dom Flemons has been thinking a lot about those cowboys, and his forthcoming album features their songs. Flemons joins us from the studios of WBEZ Radio in Chicago.

On Sunday, January 29, 2017 at 2 p.m., he’ll be at the Winchester Cultural Center in Clark County, NV. And next week he performs at the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko.