RELIVING OLD WEST; FESTIVALGOERS TAKE STEP BACK IN TIME.

Byline: Cynthia Teed Daily News Staff Writer

The Cowboy Joes are streaming in from the four corners - Australia, London, Palm Springs and the west Texas town of El Paso - to the rootin' tootin' 1999 Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival this weekend down at Melody Ranch.

Little buckaroos look like ants peeking out from under washtubs in their ten-gallon cowboy hats, and mini-cowgirls decked out in red, suede-fringed suits play under the trees near the ranch's Main Street, where John Wayne filmed more than 35 cowboy shoot-'em-ups.

Women adjust their western hats festooned with multicolored feathers and search through the racks of vintage western clothing in the storefront boutiques lining the gravel walk.

And the smell of barbecue wafts from huge pits tended by serious-faced men working over fiery coals.

The shuttle buses run like clockwork; the greeters know their stuff.

And the weather? Picture perfect with brilliant blue skies sprinkled by just the right amount of sun to make memorable photos.

All the makings for another fabulous festival, the one that puts Santa Clarita on the map.

Headliners such as recording artist Tish Hinojosa, actor Don Edwards of ``The Horse Whisperer'' and cowboy poet Paul Zarzyski have been sold out for months, but the crowds just keep on coming.

Susan Phelps from Burbank has never missed a festival.

Some good comes out of bad, she says. ``Because of the earthquake, they moved it (the festival) from the high school auditorium to Melody Ranch - the perfect setting.''

And festival organizers have paid a great deal of attention to detail, ensuring that visitors get an authentic feel for the old, true American West.

Red- and white-checkered tablecloths cover the grub area, a man in cowboy boots sitting on a bale of straw calls his broker in L.A. on his cell phone, and cowboys on cutting horses mosey on down the Main Street by weather-beaten, false storefronts.

A man drives a flashy buckboard trimmed in leather right up to the First National Bank's hitching post.

Meanwhile the crowd swells as additions spill into the ranch compound from every three-minute shuttle-bus delivery.

The Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, considered a young festival at just 6 years old, is known far and wide for its organization.

Well-organized, well-advertised and well-run, Fred Sater, spokesman for California Division of Tourism, replies when asked how the festival is perceived statewide.

Over in the Cowboy Cafe, the smokey voice of Nancy Lee sings of a coyote on the lone prairie.

Will Givens and Grace Lechuga, both from the San Fernando Valley, are first-time festivalgoers.

``I had always heard about it (the festival) and wanted to come,'' Givens says. Fascinated by western culture, Givens says he grew up watching western movies and remembers Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, Roy and Gene, and, for the really hard core, Bob Steele.

Resplendent in a black western dress suit, Givens enthusiastically shows off his pristine boots and silver-trimmed western string tie.

With a twinkle in her eye, Lechuga looks him over and laughingly says, ``He has some custom-made chaps, too, but he doesn't even have a horse.''

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4 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color in SAC Edition only) Jerry Tarantino from Norco, Calif., shows off his horse Stormy for the crowd Saturday during the Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival.

(2--Color--Ran in SAC Edition only) Jim Townsley of Los Angeles entertains festivalgoers at Melody Ranch by doing rope tricks on stilts. Festival organizers put in a lot of time and effort to ensure that visitors get a feel for the American west.

(3--Ran in SAC Edition only) Smokey Ritter recites a poem during the 1999 Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival held at Melody Ranch.

(4--Ran in Valley Edition only) Okla Griffith, 6, listens to a cowboy's poem during the festival.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News