He has been clanking about the boardwalks of Tombstone for four years now. His tambourine is tied securely to his right knee and in each hand he rhythmically clicks together a pair of bones.

His back-up music streams from a speaker hidden under a piece of floral cloth.

"All the music comes from me," Koch said. "But, I cheat a little bit," he added as he pointed to the disguised speaker.

Koch's style is not all his own. He has borrowed much of his technique from the early 19th century minstrel shows. Minstrel performances were much like a variety show, and was composed of blackface performers, or white people who would paint their faces black.

According to Columbia University, these white performers claimed to perform African American music during these shows, but their claims have never been proven.

The genre grew so popular in the early 1800s that it attracted guests as high up as President Abraham Lincoln.

The minstrel troupes usually dressed motley to add to their show's amusement.

Koch's wardrobe reflects serious study of these clownish, minstrel getups. Koch said the attire is not completely random, since the banjo and bones got their start in the circus.

Multicolored feathers sprout out of his top hat and patterned scarves tied around his wrists conflict with every other article of patterned apparel he wears.

His shoes look like diamond patterned Ronald McDonald boots and his black and red striped socks add to the outfit's chaos.

Before donning his bones and tambourine on the Tombstone boardwalk, Koch lived in Phoenix and worked at the Pioneer Living History Village.

He did stunt gun shows and came to Tombstone thinking he would do more of the same. He did gun fighting for two years, but the shows' stunts were lackluster in Koch's opinion.

He added a unique dimension to Tombstone history when he started making noise on the street.

The first day Koch decided to play the bones on the boardwalk, he got a huge response from tourists.

"I'm a starving artist but you know, I do some lawns here and there," Koch said.

"But my first two years, I just did this. When the economy dropped I needed to be doing a little more."

Koch started doing gun shows and minstrel entertainment after working two full-time jobs and was ready for a semi-retired lifestyle. Tombstone caters to the lifestyle he was seeking.

"I don't want to leave," Koch said. "But sometimes New Orleans tempts me."

Tourists that come through Tombstone from New Orleans tell Koch that he is wasting his time in Tombstone, as he could make $200 a day there.

But Koch is not the only one in Tombstone interested in the historic tunes.

He has a friend, Burt Webster, who works at the O.K. Corral and on his days off, serenades tourists with Koch.

Webster started learning songs from the 1840s through the 1950s from his father when he was a boy.

"We sang. That was our entertainment when I was little," Webster said. "I like singing the cowboy songs."

Two centuries later, Webster and Koch bring these tunes to life again once a week, usually on a Monday or Tuesday. They play at the end of the alley that leads to Six Gun City on Allen Street.

"We cover the gamut of old songs," Webster said. The Silver King Minstrels, as they call themselves, play songs ranging from the 1830s up to modern country music.

"He plays the bones, and I play the guitar and sing," Webster said.

Both Koch and Webster are fascinated by the history of the music they perform, whether they be Civil War songs, minstrel tunes, or cowboy songs frequently used in western films.

The music the Silver King Minstrels play may extend beyond the 1860s decade that Old West Tombstone is reputed for. But Webster reminds tourists the music they hear is part of the town's historic soundtrack.

"I like history. It's basically like singing. It's storytelling."

Koch got addicted to entertaining tourists by performing in stunt gunfights.

Webster originally carried his voice to Tombstone to nab the job as the vocalist at Six Gun City.

Now both men bring their gifts out into the open air to show that Tombstone's history is not just something to see, but something to hear.

"Most tourists are families that really can't afford to go on vacation and yet they do," Koch said. "And if I can do anything to be a highlight, to put a smile on their face, and make that vacation a little bit better. I like doing that."