National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Performers

The Western Folklife Center is pleased to introduce our invited artists for the 29th Gathering. Most artists listed also offer product in our online Gift Shop.

Listen	Adrian - aka the BuckarooGirl - lives and works on a cow/calf operation in northern California. Writing cowboy music since the age of 14, she takes her listeners deep into the lives and challenges faced by cowboys and ranchers through songs that reflect her experiences growing up on ranches throughout the west. Western Horseman Magazine has called her the “buckaroo’s Taylor Swift” and chose her song, "The Will James Days" as one of the 13 Best Western Songs of All Time. Adrian’s second CD, Boots and Pearls, was produced by Tom Russell who said about her, “Adrian is the breath of strong fresh air that the cowboy music scene needs.” Adrian’s third CD, Buckaroogirl, was released in 2012 and features a duet with Waddie Mitchell, "Branding Pen of My Father." //www.buckaroogirl.com
Listen	Baxter Black is a cowboy poet known for his humor, quick wit and sharp observations. A former large-animal veterinarian, Baxter's poetry and stories focus on the day-to-day ups and downs of everyday people who live with livestock and work the land. His new book, Lessons from a Desperado Poet, is an inspirational book about being an entrepreneur and will be featured in a workshop during the 29th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Baxter demonstrates that it is the truth in humor that makes it funny. //www.baxterblack.com
Listen	Dave Bourne has been playing music professionally since 1958. He played with the Wagonmasters at Knott’s Berry Farm, with the Dawn of the Century Ragtime Orchestra and with The Lobo Rangers. He has recorded and released six solo albums featuring the saloon piano, and Saloon Piano Volume I is available for player pianos. He has appeared on the HBO series Deadwood, where he plays piano in the Gem Saloon. //www.saloonpiano.com
Listen	Cowboy Celtic makes the natural connection between traditional cowboy songs and the music of Ireland and Scotland and the documented Celtic origins of cowboy music. Whether in the traditional songs, old tunes with new lyrics, or David Wilkie’s original material, their music reflects the real world of the West and the rural Celts. The Canadian-based band is David Wilkie, Denise Withnell, Keri Lynn Zwicker, Joseph Hertz and Nathan McCavana. //www.somagency.com/CowboyCeltic/index.html
Listen	Sourdough Slim and Robert Armstrong: Rick "Sourdough Slim" Crowder spent much of his childhood on a family cattle ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California. But his “true calling as a cowboy was not on the range but rather, on the stage.” For most of his life, he has been a full time Western entertainer. Since 1988, he has gained national recognition performing at festivals and events across the country including: the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. His fast-paced stage show combines cowboy singing, award winning yodeling, timeless humor, accompaniment on accordion, guitar, ukulele and harmonica and a keen knowledge of the traditional Western repertoire. Robert Armstrong has been playing various styles of American string band music for over 40 years. A founding member of the Cheap Suit Serenaders, he works as an illustrator/painter/ cartoonist when he's not performing on a variety of instruments. Armstrong's knowledge of old cowboy music comes from watching a lot of westerns on TV in the 1950s and collecting rare 78 recordings. About the duo: Sourdough Slim and Robert Armstrong joyously rekindle the country blues, cowboy classics and string band repertoire of pre-WWII America. Between them they share a provocative array of period instruments including: flat-top guitar, national steel guitar, baritone and soprano ukulele, musical saw, accordion, six-string banjo and harmonica. //www.sourdoughslim.com and //www.amstrongartandnoveltyhut.com
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Listen	John Dofflemyer is a fifth-generation rancher in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills. His creative work as a writer and editor reflects John’s deep connection with the land and contemporary ranch life. John edited the Dry Crik Review of Contemporary Cowboy Poetry from 1991 to 1994, and has also produced numerous poetry chapbooks through Dry Crik Press. He received the Wrangler Award for Poems from Dry Creek (published by Starhaven) from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum as the Outstanding Poetry Book for 2008. His most recent collection of poetry is Proclaiming Space. John and his wife Robbin maintain an online journal called Dry Crick Journal: Perspectives from the Ranch. John is a member of the Western Folklife Center's Board of Trustees. //drycrikjournal.com
Listen	Carolyn Dufurrena is a rancher, writer and educator in rural Humboldt County in northwestern Nevada. She and her husband Tim live on the Quinn River Ranch south of Denio. Carolyn is the co-author of the award-winning book Fifty Miles From Home: Riding the Long Circle on a Nevada Family Ranch, for which she also won the Silver Pen Award from University of Nevada Libraries. She is one of three co-authors of Sharing Fencelines: Three Friends Write from Nevada's Sagebrush Corner,and a poetry collection, That Blue Hour. She has made several short films for the Western Folklife Center's Deep West Video series and writes regularly for RANGE Magazine on people and issues of the West. Carolyn has contributed prose and poetry to various other books and anthologies.
Listen	Elizabeth Ebert, a South Dakota native, is a widely admired writer who admits that she was a closet poet until 1989. Elizabeth still lives on the home place near Thunder Hawk, South Dakota. She has been called the “Grand Dame of cowboy poetry” by Yvonne Hollenbeck. Elizabeth's work focuses on the challenges, pride, courage and tragedies of living on the land. Among her current publications are two books, Prairie Wife and Crazy Quilt, and a CD, Live from Thunder Hawk. In 2011, she won the Badger Excellence in Poetry Award from the High Plains Western Heritage Center.
Listen	Don Edwards is a GRAMMY®-nominated singer-guitarist well versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions which gives tremendous depth to his performances. A member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Don is celebrating 50 years as a musician and has been influenced by a cross section of American music. He has recorded numerous award-winning albums of original and traditional songs that express the realities and romance of cowboy life. Don is one of the great cowboy troubadours. //www.donedwardsmusic.com
Listen	Ramblin' Jack Elliott is a freewheeling singer and self-made wayfarer whose fifty-plus years of experience resonate the world over. He chose the cowboy way at the age of 14, trading life at home for one on the rodeo circuit. By age twenty, Elliott's rough-edged enthusiasm and musical instinct drew the attention of his avowed idol, Woody Guthrie, initiating a close, invaluable and life-long association. Elliott became a latter-day troubadour, whose love for a good song was equaled only by an abiding respect for his fellow man and a profound contempt for injustice. Along the way, he inspired an army of musicians: mentoring young Bob Dylan, inspiring Paul McCartney with his “San Francisco Bay Blues", and influencing several generations of musicians. Elliott's acute sensibility and encyclopedic knowledge are still being brought to bear with conspicuous effect. This National Medal of Arts recipient and two-time GRAMMY® winner is a truly unique American treasure. //www.ramblinjack.com
Listen	Dick Gibford was raised on a small cow outfit on the central coast and at age 13, began starting two-year-old colts for his dad. Upon graduation from high school in 1968, Dick left for Tuscarora, Nevada, where he rode for Willis Packer as a "rep" on the 25 wagon. He has been influenced in every facet of his life by that first experience as a "sagebrush buckaroo." Dick's other passion is for long-distance cross-country pack trips with his horses. These days, he cowboys out of an isolated cow camp for the Walking R Ranch in Maricopa, California. He also makes slickfork saddles, does rawhide braiding, paints and starts an occasional colt.
Listen	DW Groethe was born and raised in western North Dakota. Along the way, he learned to play the guitar and started writing songs and poems about life out West. In 1991, he pulled stakes, moved to Bainville, Montana and started working as a ranch hand. He has, over the years, been invited to perform his eclectic assortment of poems and tunes at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, two National Folk Festivals, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center... and a whole lot of grand places all over the West. DW has recorded three CDs and has four books of poetry. One of these, West River Waltz, won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in cowboy poetry.
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Listen	Kristyn Harris,18, from Collin County, Texas, has a passion for all things cowboy and western swing. Her singing, songwriting, yodeling and sock rhythm guitar style are inspired by her connection to the ranching lifestyle, and by classic and contemporary western music icons. When she’s not playing music, Kristyn keeps busy with her horses. This 4H national champion has adopted and successfully trained two wild mustangs, riding one of them in a 2012 centennial cattle drive. During the past two years, Kristyn has won the Western Music Association Janet McBride Yodeling award, the Rising Star award in Kamloops B.C., and multitudes of fans nationally and internationally. She loves the music she performs and when you hear her, you will too! http://www.kristynharris.com
Listen	Andy Hedges is a songster, reciter, and guitarist. His varied repertoire includes classic cowboy recitations, old cowboy songs, dust bowl ballads and blues. Andy taught himself to play the guitar when he was 14 and began collecting classic cowboy poems and traditional cowboy songs. He has been performing for over 15 years and has released 7 albums including four joint-projects with songwriter Andy Wilkinson. In 2010, the two Andys received the Wrangler Award for Outstanding Traditional Western Music from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Andy lives in Lubbock, Texas, with his wife and daughter. //www.andyhedges.com
Listen	Jessica Hedges delights audiences with her real life stories of working cows, riding horses, and training dogs from a woman’s point-of-view. Her debut CD, History in the Barn, was named 2010 Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year with the Academy of Western Artists and was a finalist with the Western Music Association. Watch for Jessica’s second CD, Buckaroo Woman, Unconfined, to be released in 2012. When Jessica isn’t on the road performing, she lives and works with her husband, Sam, and her son, Quirt, on a ranch south of Burns, Oregon. //www.jessicahedgescowboypoetry.com
Listen	Brenn Hill is a purist at heart who holds strong to his family ties. The Utah-born singer-songwriter creates music that pays homage to Western music’s finest traditions while serving as a passport to today’s mountain West. Brenn has several albums and numerous music industry awards to his credit. He just released a Christmas album North Pole Rodeo, his 9th recording, in autumn 2012. He lives in Hooper, Utah, with his wife and children. //www.brennhill.com
Listen	Yvonne Hollenbeck’s husband, Glen, calls her his “kisser, mixer and windmill fixer,” but “jack-of-all-trades and a master of none” is how Yvonne describes her life as a South Dakota cattle rancher’s wife. Whether she is helping with the livestock, putting up hay, paying the bills, or feeding a crew, Yvonne puts real life experiences into her poetry, which in turn delights audiences of all ages. Although she can credit a long list of awards, she claims the many friends she has made in the western entertainment business as her greatest accolade. //www.yvonnehollenbeck.com
Listen	Jess Howard rode saddle broncs for several years and in 1970 won the title of NRCA Saddle Bronc Champion. When he quit riding saddle broncs he moved to Fallon, Nevada where he shod horses for 20 years. Today, Jess shoes a few horses and runs a few cows on a ranch south of Marmarth, North Dakota. He and his wife Judy raised their kids in a world of rodeo and cattle. Jess and his brother Pat Richardson rode together for years. They still write poetry together about each other and the experiences they’ve had.
Listen	Linda Hussa lives in Surprise Valley near the small town of Cedarville in northeastern California, where the western edge of the Great Basin begins. She and her husband John, a third-generation rancher, raise cattle, sheep and horses, and the hay to feed them. Linda’s poetic voice speaks about the isolated nature of ranching, the commitment to rural communities and to the natural community of the desert landscape. Linda has won many awards and is a past member of the Western Folklife Center’s Board of Trustees. //www.hussaranch.com
Listen	Chris Isaacs is a poet and storyteller who has received the Academy of Western Artists' Will Rogers Award three times. Chris has been a full-time cowboy, rodeoed, and worked as a packer. In between jobs you can usually find him making a living as a horseshoer. He has recorded several albums, has published two books and is currently editing a new one, From the War Bag. He currently day-works for area ranches in Eagar, Arizona, in the beautiful White Mountains, and travels the country with his poetry. //www.chrisisaacs.com
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Listen	Ross Knox first aspired to be a cowboy when, as a little boy, he watched his father work their ranch in central Oregon. He quit school at 16 and moved to Nevada to buckaroo. Ross began writing poetry to occupy his time alone. He worked many years at the Grand Canyon and then for Saguaro National Park in Arizona, packing in supplies and tools for trail and fire crews. He now leads pack trips in Yosemite and lives in Benson, Arizona. Known for reciting the classics, he also writes original poetry from his life experiences. Ross has more than 100 poems committed to memory.
Listen	Bill Lowman was raised on his parents' cow-calf outfit in the rugged western North Dakota badlands. He is an accomplished visual artist, performing artist and literary artist. He's written and illustrated four books of cowboy humor and poetry, as well as a book of cowboy cartoons. The founder of the Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Bill is the driving force behind cowboy poetry in the Dakotas. He is the only individual in North Dakota to go on record in Washington, D.C.'s Library of Congress as a "Local Legacy" for preserving the Cowboy Tradition. //www.lowmanslodge.com/Bill.html
Listen	Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans: Corb Lund was born and raised in rural southern Alberta and comes from four generations of Canadian ranchers and cowboys. He grew up riding horseback, chasing cattle and rodeoing on the prairies and in the foothills of the Rockies. Lund’s western heritage stays with him, no matter where he roams. “My whole life is sort of a dichotomy between being a cowboy kid and living in a city,” says Lund. “I guess that informs my music too.” Corb will be in Elko with his band, the Hurtin’ Albertans: Grant Siemens who plays “anything with strings on it, except the fiddle;” Kurt Ciesla on the string bass; and Brady Valgardson on drums. www.corblund.com
Listen	Mary McCaslin represents an unbroken link between traditional American folksingers and today’s singer-songwriters. Known for her songs about the West, its landscape, and its outlaws, as well as her insightful songs about relationships, Mary has influenced countless other performers. Her song “Prairie in the Sky” has been recorded by Tom Russell and others and was named as one of the “All-Time Favorites” in an anniversary issue of Cowboys & Indians Magazine. For many years Mary toured with legendary singer Jim Ringer. A pioneer of open tunings, Mary's flawless finger-picking style on the guitar and "clawhammer" banjo provide solid accompaniment to her singing. //www.marymccaslin.com
Listen	Gary McMahan with Ernie Martinez: Gary McMahan has made his living during the last 40 years on a horse, with a guitar, or doing both. Gary comes by his cowboy heritage naturally. He was born into it and has ridden, wrangled, and roped all over the West, all the while collecting reflections on cowboy ways. Those reflections are the backbone of all his songs, stories and poems. Gary is known for his award-winning songs, captivating stories, uproarious humor and national championship yodeling. He has recorded six critically acclaimed albums. Gary will be joined onstage by Ernie Martinez, who has been part of the Colorado music scene for over 40 years. His versatile pickin' has been featured on over 150 albums and he has played with Jon Chandler, Patty Clayton, Dakota Blonde, Loose Cannon Bluegrass and Reckless Abandon. Ernie has recorded two albums, including Bluerange, which combines his love of western and bluegrass music. In 2011 Ernie was inducted into the Colorado Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. //www.singingcowboy.com
Listen	Wallace McRae is a third-generation Montana rancher and president of the Rocker Six Cattle Company, the family ranch in Rosebud County. He’s been reciting poetry since he was four years old and began writing poetry and prose to record the value, humor and plight of the cowboy occupation. Wallace has received the Governor's Award for the Arts in Montana and the 1990 National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Award. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the National Council of the Arts in 1996. His recent prose book about growing up on a ranch, Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life, was honored by the 2009 Montana Book Award.
Listen	Waddie Mitchell was immersed in the cowboy way of entertaining as a boy on the Nevada ranches where his father worked. The art of spinning tales in rhyme and meter about a rich lifestyle of pushing cows and living off the land came to be called cowboy poetry. Waddie recites the older classics of cowboy poetry as well as his own, eloquently expressing moments grand and common, humorous and tragic. In 1985, Waddie helped organize Elko's first Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Since then, he has kept busy writing, publishing and recording his unique brand of poetry. Waddie was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2011, and is being honored in 2012 with the Nevada Heritage Award. //www.somagency.com/waddiemitchell/index.html
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Listen	Andy Nelson was raised in Oakley, Idaho, and traveled with his father on farrier jobs throughout the Great Basin from the time he was a child until he went off to college. While in college at Utah State University, he shoed horses for the USU Horsemanship Program while studying pre-vet. Andy lives in Pinedale, Wyoming, where he and his wife Jaclyn raise horses and children. Andy and his brother Jim, also a farrier, co-host Clear Out West (C.O.W.) Radio, an award-winning weekly syndicated radio show. In 2004 Andy was named Male Poet of the Year by the Western Music Association. //www.cowpokepoet.com
Listen	Joel Nelson has been a cowboy since the age of six, when he helped on a cattle drive to the railroad. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry and Range Management, has built custom saddles, and served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. For more than 30 years, Joel made his living working on cow outfits in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii, specializing in breaking colts. Respected as a cowboy’s cowboy, Joel knows the work and handles horses and cattle with a gentleness of spirit. He is one of the founders of the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, Texas. He is a 2009 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. Joel’s poem “Equus Caballus” was selected to be a part of the national Poetry Out Loud program for high school students.
Listen	Rodney Nelson and his wife Teri live in Sims, North Dakota. Rodney raises a few Red Angus cattle, is a brand inspector and trains horses. He has been on the banquet circuit since he became involved in cowboy poetry in l987, and has written a bi-weekly humor column for the Farm and Ranch Guide since l995. Rod started his rodeo career out with a bang when he won third place in the calf riding at a Bantry, North Dakota rodeo in l956. Mainly riding saddle broncs, after a serious slump of 50 years he won the 50+ steer wrestling average at the Senior Pro National Finals Rodeo in 2006. At his current rate of improvement he hopes to win a major bronc riding title, somewhere, by the time he is 80 years old.
Listen	Kay Kelley Nowell lives in Alpine, Texas and has felt privileged to have taken part in many cowboy poetry gatherings. She has been a featured poet at Elko six times. In 1989, she recited one of her poems on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, but she much prefers the down-home atmosphere and authenticity of the traditional gatherings. She treasures the friends she has made through cowboy poetry. Along with her husband, Gene Nowell, she loves to day work and neighbor. They run their own cow/calf herds on several leases. She also stays busy helping Gene with their small pre-conditioning and custom feeding operation. Her poems come from her experiences of breaking colts, working cattle and the cowboys she has known.
Listen	Glenn Ohrlin was born in Minneapolis in 1926 and has been a cowboy virtually all of his life. Glenn was 14 when his family moved to California. At age 16 he left home to become a rodeo bronc rider in Nevada. He worked as a ranch hand and rode the rodeo circuit for a number of years. Today he ranches and runs a cow outfit in the Ozark hills near Mountain View, Arkansas. Glenn is best known as a collector and performer of cowboy songs, range ballads, stories and poems. Named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in 1985, Glenn has a mesmerizing style that is understated, powerful and hilarious.
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Listen	Ed Peekeekoot grew up on the Ahtahkakooop Cree First Nation in Saskatchewan where his family was involved in ranching, farming and music. He describes growing up in a “rough and tumble world, riding young bulls, dreaming of being in the rodeo, and playing cowboys and Indians.” Now Ed makes his home in British Columbia, enjoying life as a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller. His performances include original songs, Chet Atkins and Travis-style guitar tunes, foot-stomping fiddle, and a good dose of Cree humor and philosophy. Ed is a popular performer at Canadian cowboy poetry and music festivals. //www.peekeekoot.ca/
Listen	The Quebe Sisters Band: the Quebe sisters are Grace, Sophia and Hulda, all National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest champion title winners. After attending a fiddle contest near their hometown and falling in love with the music, they learned to play from another champion, Joey McKenzie, who now joins them and upright bassist Gavin Kelso on stage playing rhythm guitar. Formed in 2000, The Quebe Sisters Band performs a refreshing blend of western swing, hot jazz and swing standards, western, vintage country and traditional Texas style fiddle tunes, with intricate triple fiddles and three-part harmony vocals. They have fans nationwide through their live and recorded performances, including an appearance on National Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. //www.quebesistersband.com
Listen	Vess Quinlan is the fourth generation in his family to spend most of his working life raising livestock and feed in Colorado. His “great grandfathers scratched out a living raising livestock on unforgiving land" while subsequent generations “generally followed other people's cows around for cowboy wages”. Vess has been writing poetry and prose since being confined for nearly a year with polio in 1951, and he has worked on ranches since running away from home at 15. He attended about nine different high schools before finally graduating in 1958 while working for Jim Crowley at The Diamond G on the Frying Pan River, then continued to work on ranches in Colorado until he became working partner on a "rundown outfit" in Colorado's San Luis Valley, where he raises alfalfa, cattle, kids, dogs and sheep.
Listen	Henry Real Bird, a native Crow Indian, grew up ranching on the battlegrounds of the Little Big Horn on the Crow Reservation in Montana. A former rodeo cowboy, now a renowned poet, Henry still lives in and draws inspiration from the land of the Little and Big Horn Valleys. Horses picture large in Henry’s creative work, and he still rides 8 to 9 hours a day. In January 2012, this former Montana poet laureate was also named Cowboy Poet of the Year at the 16th annual Academy of Western Artists’ Will Rogers Awards. His latest book Wolf Teeth is due out in January 2013.
Listen	Pat Richardson was raised on ranches where his dad worked, but left home at the age of 14. He rode colts, milked cows, hauled hay, competed in rodeos, tried to “draw like Will James . . . and dabbled some in writing poetry.” A former professional saddle-bronc and bull rider, Pat used to draw cartoons for the Rodeo Sports News and has sold his pen-and-ink western art throughout the West. In 1999, he won the Cedar City, Utah Cowboy Poetry Contest against 78 other poets from Canada, Australia, and the United States. Pat was chosen as the 2003 Academy of Western Artists Cowboy Poet of the Year. Pat is currently working on his autobiography.
Listen	Randy Rieman has spent much of his life making a living "a-horseback," working on ranches in Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, California and Hawaii. He has spent years learning from legendary horsemen and now teaches horsemanship clinics on problem-solving and colt starting. Randy is also a talented rawhide braider, a skill he learned from the late Bill Dorrance. He continues to recite traditional cowboy poetry and is known for his classic recitations of poetry from the American West and the Australian Bush. Randy established and runs the Pioneer Mountain Ranch, a horse training facility and destination horsemanship school just outside Dillon, Montana. //www.randyrieman.com
Listen	Tom Russell has recorded 28 records and 3 DVDs. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Ian Tyson, Joe Ely, Iris Dement, KD Lang, Suzy Bogguss, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Jerry Jeff Walker, Dave Van Ronk and others. He has written or co-written western classics like "Navajo Rug," "The Sky Above, the Mud Below," "Claude Dallas," and "Tonight We Ride." The Montreal Gazette has called Russell: "The finest post-Dylan American roots songwriter.” Tom is also an accomplished artist and a sampling of his art will be on exhibition in the Fireplace Nook this Gathering. //www.tomrussell.com
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Listen	The Saddle Cats pride themselves on a repertoire that explores every corner of American folk and popular music, including western swing, cowboy ballads, blues, old time fiddle, honky tonk, Tin Pan Alley and polka. This versatile, talented group features legendary steel guitarist Bobby Black (who has worked with Webb Pierce, Tommy Duncan and Asleep at the Wheel); Richard Chon on fiddle and vocals (Sons of the San Joaquin, Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks); Gordon Glegg on acoustic guitar and backup vocals; and Bing Nathan on bass. Saddle Cats has received the Will Rogers Cowboy Award for Western Swing Band of the Year and Album of the Year. //www.saddlecats.com
Listen	Georgie Sicking was raised on a ranch outside of Kingman, Arizona. With both her father and stepfather as teachers, Georgie began riding at the age of two and by the age of 16 she was on the payroll of the Green Cattle Company in Seligman, Arizona. Georgie’s poetry speaks of her experience as a woman cowboy and offers a fine blend of humor and wisdom. She has also been inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame and was awarded the 100,000-Miles on Horseback award from the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association. Georgie was the focus of the award-winning documentary film Ridin’ and Rhymin’ by Greg Snider and Dawn Smallman.
Listen	Al Simmons hails from a 15-acre ranch near the small Manitoba town of Anola, Canada, where he wrangles one head of cat. Al is a creative genius with the soul of a vaudevillian and his highly original performances of profound wackiness and his off-the-wall inventions take the arts of Music and Comedy to unparalleled heights of hilarity. This true master of mischief, mayhem, and melody will present his preposterous props, astounding gadgets and side splitting songs. He comes to the Gathering as part of “Sourdough’s Wild and Woolly Revue” and the Saturday afternoon “Kids of All Ages - Family Show.” //www.alsimmons.com
Listen	Jesse Smith has been a working cowboy all his life, growing up in the small ranching community of Glennville, California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. His great grandparents were some of the first to homestead the area in the mid-1800s. Jesse began his first "formal" cowboy job working on the Tejon ranch and quickly learned the traditional ways of the cowboy from the old-time cowboys there. He started writing poetry at an early age and though he is considered a traditionalist, he is also known for his humorous poetry. He and his family now make their home in the ranch country of Cora, Wyoming.
Listen	R.P. Smith is the fourth generation to make a go of it on the Pine Crest Ranch, a cow-calf and stocker operation near Broken Bow, Nebraska. For many years, he has used his talents as an entertainer to help support his ranching habit. He is honored to have presented in most of Nebraska’s 93 counties, 16 American states and one Canadian province. He feels the Lord has blessed him with two careers he really loves. For the past seven years, he has hosted a weekly radio program called Homegrown, featuring cowboy poetry and music, airing across Nebraska and online. On the show, R.P. shares his own writing and showcases talented folks he has met up and down the trail. //www.rpsmith.us
Listen	Dave Stamey learned to play the guitar at age 12. He performs his share of classic cowboy songs, but mainly focuses on his own more contemporary songs of the West and on the plight of the rancher trying to maintain a ranch in these modern times. He has been bucked off and stomped on by many horses and mules, and he's been dragged around branding pens by angry cattle of various sizes. Dave is now an entertainer and finds that he prefers it to being stomped on. He's been awarded Entertainer of the Year, Male Performer of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year several times by the Western Music Association. He lives in Orange Cove, California, with his wife Melissa, three horses and several dogs. //davestamey.com
Listen	Gail Steiger comes from both a ranching and songwriting background. Gail has worked on several ranches, including the 06 and the Spider Ranch in Yavapai County, Arizona, where he has been the foreman since 1995. He has been playing guitar and writing songs for over 30 years. Gail also works with his brother Lew on various film and multi-media projects and is a member the Western Folklife Center’s Board of Trustees.
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Listen	Los Texmaniacs, like a great salsa, mix the simplest yet finest ingredients of Texas music to create a sound solidly rooted in tradition and exploding with contemporary vitality. Founded by Max Baca (bajo sexto, vocals), Los Texmaniacs are Josh Baca (accordion), Lorenzo Martinez (drums, guitarron, vocals), and Oscar Garcia (bass, vocals). Texmaniacs’ versatility has led them to perform at venues like The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, International Accordion Festival, Kennedy Center, Governor of Texas Ball and many major festivals overseas. Their second CD, About Time (2007) peaked at #1 on the Tex-Mex charts and their 2009 recording, Borders y Bailes, earned them a GRAMMY® Award. //www.texmaniacs.com
Listen	Keith Ward grew up on a family farm in the mountains of western North Carolina, raising tobacco, pepper, corn, hay and other crops to make ends meet. In addition, the family raised cattle and horses and cut and saw-milled timber. Keith has been writing poetry since childhood. He attended his first National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko in 2008, where he participated in open mic sessions, and he's often been back to the Gathering since those days. Keith, his wife, Tammy, and other family members operate Dutch Creek Trails, a 132-acre farm and riding facility near Vilas, North Carolina, owned by Mr. Bennie Yates. //www.dutchcreektrails.com/keith-ward-cowboy-poet
Listen	Wylie & The Wild West is self-described as a“good-time cowboy band,” and nothing could be closer to the truth. Wylie Gustafson and his band play a blend of western swing, classic country, cowboy and folk music that makes the audience want to get up and dance. Wylie’s music is true to his heart; he finds inspiration in ranch life, in punching cattle, and in the wide-open spaces of the West. The Wild West members include brother, Erik Gustafson, on electric guitar and harmonica, Sam Platts on guitar, Rick Bryceson on drums and vocals, and Shane Queener on bass. //www.wyliewwebsite.com
Listen	Paul Zarzyski (1951-20!?), the self-proclaimed One-'n'-Only-Polish-Mafioso-Rodeo-Poet, rode bares back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. He is the recipient of the 2005 Montana Governor's Arts Award for Literature, as well as four Western Writers of America Spur Awards for both poetry and songwriting. Paul has participated in over a quarter century's worth of Elko Gatherings - what he calls his "most eminent honor of all." His latest collection (Bangtail Press, 2011) is 51: 30 Poems, 20 Lyrics, 1 Self-Interview. //www.paulzarzyski.com
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