Cowboy singer brings Old West back to Dayton

Drop by the East 50 Bar in Dayton about noon on the first Monday of each month, and you will be treated to a smile, a "what'll it be" and a step back in time.

That's the day Tom Zachry brings his guitar around and, with a few buddies, serenades the crowd with old-time cowboy and folk songs.

"I do some old cowboys songs, a little bit of old-time rock 'n' roll and a little bit of blues, some folk," he said.

Every stool at the bar is taken and tables fill up on those Mondays; the bar also has a restaurant, so you can have a sandwich and fries with your music.

Zachry, 61, only plays the first Monday of every month, because, he said, he didn't know if the bar's management would want him more often than that. He plays songs you don't hear on the radio anymore.

Songs like "T for Texas, T for Tennessee," "Waltz Across Texas" and "When it's Nighttime in Nevada," among many others.

"I've played guitar all my life," Zachry said. "My folks bought me a guitar when I was 7 years old. An old, used harmony F-hold guitar that I still have."

Another guitar in his collection is a 12-string that used to be played by musicians entertaining at the old Sutro Saloon, which closed before Zachry came to Nevada in 1972.

Zachry was born in California and brought up in Texas, and there's still a touch of the Lone Star State in his voice and his stories.

The laconic Zachry spells his name without the usual second 'a,' thanks to his grandfather, he said.

"Those a-r-y people are horse thieves," he said. "That's what my granddad told me. He's the one who changed the name."

Zachry and his wife, Marna, both teachers, taught in area schools when Dayton was still a sleepy little historic town. Zachry retired from teaching and now works part-time at a local auto parts store.

"I'm a car junkie," he said, adding that he won second place in a Karson Kruzers event this summer. "I like old-time hot rods and customs. I'm not into all the fancy shiny cars. I have a '53 Chevy pickup that's primered and it, just like me, can't be fully retired. It still has to live on a bad dirt road and haul hay and firewood."

Zachry and his wife have a small ranch in the Storey County side of Mark Twain, where, in addition to two dogs and a cat, they have "a few horses and a few chicks and a few rattlesnakes."

They raised two sons Jake and Eli in the area. Jake is now a mechanical engineer in California and Eli is in his third year at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Zachry writes and performs cowboy poetry as well as songs, and has performed his work at the nation's largest annual cowboy poetry event in Elko.

"I've been out to Elko," he said. "Nothing more than the open sessions, though other people have done my poetry in Elko."

Though he plays the older songs, he said he still listens to some of today's music.

"I like some of the country and some of the rock 'n' roll," he said. "My boys like some of the Irish rock 'n' roll bands like Floggin' Molly. It's based in Irish music."

In the old days, he performed at some legendary local watering holes, including now-closed Tahoe Beer House and Golden Gate Bar in Silver City, the Stage Stop Saloon, Red Dog Saloon and Sharon House in Virginia City, and the End of the Trail and Old Corner Bar in Dayton.

Zachry limits his time performing at the East 50, but still plays elsewhere from time to time.

"Every once in a while someone will ask me to bring my guitar along," he said.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.