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Western
Music Association - Columbia Chapter Serving WMA members in the Columbia Region of the Pacific Northwest |
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Western
Music Association - Columbia Chapter Serving WMA members in the Columbia Region of the Pacific Northwest |
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MembersThanks to the fans, musicians, poets, and patrons of WMA.
Margie Abraham |
Send to Webmaster, Jennifer Epps. The home of our parent organization. www.westernmusic.com Almeda Bradshaw Almeda Bradshaw is one of Montana's Western music talents. Her love and appreciation for the cowboy life shows clearly in her heartfelt original and traditional songs of the West. Almeda's clear vocals and flat picking ability guarantee her to be an audience favorite. Born and raised a town girl, Almeda now lives the life of her cowgirl dreams in Huntley, Montana. She loves to sing, write and share her life in song and poetry and has performed throughout Montana and beyond at gatherings where her sweet style relates the romance and reality of Western life. A multi-instrumentalist, Almeda has played stringed instruments and piano since childhood. She has co-written a number of songs with both vintage and contemporary poets. Her first CD release, Voices from The Range, is a collection of songs from the poetry of Canadian poet, Rhoda Sivell (1873-1962). www.almedam2bmusic.com or you can Email her here.Clark Crouch Clark Crouch is the author of four books of western and cowboy poetry one of which, Western Images, won the 2008 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Cowboy Poetry. He was inspired by a 1940 acquaintance with Badger Clark, the classic cowboy poet, and his viewpoints and biases were shaped by his youthful experiences as a cowboy, life in the Great Depression, and years of drought in the Nebraska Sandhills. www.poetry.crouchnet.comMarty Davis
Marty Davis started out singing Country music but one of the most popular parts of his show has always been the Western music segment, the story of the Old West and the Silver Screen Cowboys. Marty has performed to standing room only crowds in Nevada casinos, nightclubs, fairs, conventions, concerts and rodeos around the U.S. He spent several years singing bass and traveling the world with the legendary Fifties group, The Diamonds, and, though he loved the good ole Rock & Roll, he really missed doing his own kind of music. Marty will take you on a nostalgic trip through time…back to when the good guys wore white hats, kissed their ponies instead of the girls, headed the bad guys off at the pass and always caught’em in the end! All without mussing up their rhinestone and fringed shirts and then rode off into the sunset. www.thelegendofthepioneers.com.Doug Figgs
Doug is a singer/songwriter who is proud to be called a cowboy. He and his family make their home in Lemitar, New Mexico. Doug and his wife Cathy run a full-time farrier business, raise a few cows and horses, and day work at local ranches every chance they get. Doug has performed at gatherings and rodeos in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. His three greatest loves are his family, fine horses, and good music.
Email Doug
or write to him at P. O. Box 3, Lemitar, NM 87823.Del Gustafson
Del Gustafson's early years were spent on the family farm just south of the Canadian border.
He and his brothers would ride anything they could strap a saddle on and a lot of things they couldn't. A few years later two friends and Del pooled their money to buy a used bareback rig and an association saddle and went rodeoing on weekends. They managed to be in the money enough to keep them going. Del worked heavy construction for a good many years and most were ex-cowboys or wannabe cowboys. They worked hard and played harder. Every year a bunch would head over to the Salmon River area to chase wild horses. The BLM stopped that in 1974. It was after a wild horse chase in 1969 Del wrote "The Big Yella Dun" and "The Night Wind." "The Big Yella Dun" was published in the Western Horseman in Sept. of 1969. Since then Del has been published in the Open Range Magazine, CowboyPoetry.com, and Northwest Prime Time.Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band
Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band, winner of Western Music Associations Crescendo Award (2009) and Best Harmony Trio (2009-10), is a dynamic western musical trio can rock the house and take the audience with them into moments of musical magic. When you listen and watch a Horse Crazy concert the fun and cheerfulness will rub off in minutes and everyone in the room will be having the time of their lives! Add to this western swing flavor, super musical talent, the incredible harmonies and you can't expect an evening to get any better! Through their original and traditional songs, Horse Crazy has created an unmistakable sound and is leaving an indelible mark on the new frontiers of Western Music. www.horsecrazycowgirlband.com.GT Hurley
GT is a life-long musician. After two decades serving his country as a career Marine, GT has returned to his first love: songwriting and music. With a vast array of life experience and travel, GT once again makes his home in the West, living, working and understanding the challenges of the ranching community. Having worked as a cowboy as well as having lived and worked in urban America and abroad gives GT a rich ability to convey this in his music. Come and listen to what the songs have to say to you and how they will touch you and relate to your personal life experiences. www.gthurley.com Big Timber, Montana.Tim Jenkins
Susie Knight
7377 S. Brook Forest Rd. Evergreen, CO 80439
Lynn Kopelke
Suze Spencer Marshall
Dave McClure
Dallas and PJ McCord With a keen interest in preserving cowboy poetry and western music, Dallas & PJ are pleased to share their talents in an effort to inform and entertain. Founders of the Coast Fork Cowboy Festival (from 2005-2009) they made it possible for folks here to get a taste of western music and cowboy poetry. Through the radio show Cowboy Culture Corner on KNND 1400AM, Cottage Grove, Oregon, the music continues nearly every Sunday afternoon from 1-4 pm.
Dallas has performed with many of the folks he introduces to the community & radio listeners. Contact Dallas and PJ at www.dallasmccord.comBarbara Nelson
Barbara lives in Pendleton on a ranch with her husband, Nels. They have raised kids, cattle, sheep and horses.
She enjoys playing guitar and singing time honored songs, aka Western Swing. Two of her albums have been nominated for WMA Cowboy Swing Album of the Year.
Barbara has performed at Pendleton Round Up events, at Ellensburg, at Lewiston, at Albuquerque and other cowboy gatherings.
Rick Huff, WMA music critic said, “Barbara has the experienced seasoned voice of a Rosemary Clooney or a Jo Stafford… and uses complex guitar chords to give refreshing new life to these songs.”
Barbara will be performing at “The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering” in Elko in 2011.
www.barbaranelsonmusic.comDawn Nelson
Dawn is a published author, poet, wife, mother and cattle rancher. She is the winner of The Academy of Western Artiss, 2010 Buck Ramsey Book of the Year Award. She grew up on a cattle ranch in North-Eastern Washington state.
Dawn, along with her husband and their daughter, own and operate a cattle ranch in central Washington. She enjoys showing her registered cattle, riding horses, hunting, camping, writing and just about anything that involves the outdoors.
She is actively involved in her county cattlemen's association and prides herself in being a true working cowgirl. For more information or to reach Dawn, go to www.authordawnnelson.com. Duane Lee Nelson
Fueled by a passion for the cowboy lifestyle and a love of entertaining, Duane has delighted audiences across the Northwest for the last decade. From brandings to county fairs, from private parties to The Spirit of the West in Ellensburg, WA (and a 2nd place finish in "Rising Star Division: Reciter, Serious" at the National Cowboy Rodeo in 2009), Duane can be found reciting classics old and new, along with his own poems.Duane lives on a ranch near The Dalles, OR with his wife, Lori, who is the driving force behind the Columbia Gorge Cowboy Gathering held in November. Email Duane Nevada Slim & Cimarron Sue
Bruce & Sue Matley |
One of the Pacific Northwest's leading ballad singers, Tim Jenkins tells stories in song. And some of the best stories are those told by cowboys. His version of "The Zebra Dun" has been described as "Pete Seeger meets Woody Guthrie." High praise indeed for a folksinger. Tim is also an accomplished guitarist and picks a little banjo. He was raised on a small farm in southwest Washington and knows cows (but not horses). Get in touch with Tim here: 
Susie Knight hangs her hat in Evergreen, Colorado, and performs her original cowboy songs and poetry for kids of all ages! Also a professional clown and storyteller, Susie brings her enthusiastic stage presence to every audience from campfires to concert halls! 
Lynn Kopelke, AKA The Comic Cowboy of Cumberland, started out singing and playing guitar around campfires on both sides of the Cascade Mountains. He took his act to guest ranches and county fairs. Retirement centers to biker bars have enjoyed his blend of traditional, classic and contemporary cowboy music, original poetry, goofy humor, and really big hats. 
Suze Spencer Marshall was born into one of America's most renowned Western music families - none other than members of The International Cowboys and The Sons Of The Pioneers. Raised in the fold of working ranch hands, musicians, artists and entrepreneurs, Suze's grandparents and extended family were her vibrant mentors. She had a fascinating childhood, filled with their music, stories, and lively personalities. Suze performs regularly with the hot duo The Archtops, old time music group The Cascade Troubadours, and her fine western swing big band, Way Out West. Many of the musicians that recorded with her on her Tall Boots CD are members of Way Out West. They perform Western, Western Swing and Vintage Country music for dances, concerts, family celebrations and parties. 
Dave McClure is a third generation Rancher from north central Washington State. He has been sharing his cowboy poetry and stories
since 1995. Also an aspiring musician, in recent years he has included
his original piano compositions in his presentations at western
festivals. A multi-talented Cowboy poet, humorist, musician and song
writer, Dave has entertained cowboy gatherings as performer, MC and all
around ham. He has the ability to take an audience through the full
spectrum of emotions. From laughing until you cry to crying from
listening to one of his sad poems. Dave uses words and or music to take
an audience on an adventure into the world of horses, cows and
everything western. After experiencing one of Dave's performances you
will either be glad that you are a cowboy or wish you were one. 
Ever since Ol’ Ugly (John Glawson) hit the stage running, he has been sought after by those seeking the very best cowboy comedy and hilarious old-time storytelling they can find. His Barnyard Clean comedy has made him one of the busiest cowboy comics in the west. An example of the comments he gets: an old lady sidled up to him after a show and said, “You booger, you turned my Depends* into a squishy saddle.” He says of himself, “I ain’t nothin’ special, I just love to make people laugh,” and laugh they do when he is center stage.
At the age of seven Lem got his first guitar, and he hasn't put it down since.
Lem has a heart for country gospel music. As a dedicated Christian his desire is to serve the Lord through the ministry of gospel music and encourage others in their spiritual walk.
Lem picked up the nickname "Ranger Lem" while working as a ranger in various national parks. For many years Lem was employed by the police department. He maintained a cowboy heart while enforcing the laws and protecting the public. His style has been described as a cross between the charm of Roy Rogers and the grit of John Wayne.
In addition to Christian Country, Lem also does cowboy and country western concerts in auditoriums, resorts, fairs, rodeos, festivals, RV clubs, retirement homes, weddings and private parties. 
"Rockin' HW combines the talents of Michael Whitaker, Alan Halvorson and Morry Walter in their performance of traditional and original Cowboy Poetry and Western Song. Striving to preserve the Cowboy tradition and Western life, these Cowboys amble down the trail of the Old West and gallop across the open range of the Modern Day Cowboy. Rockin' HW performs extensively across the West from Washington to Arizona. Along the way, they take time in the small towns to sit a while, maybe with a cup of 'cowboy coffee', read the local paper and swap stories with the locals. Michael Whitaker's book, "The Gathering" was an AWA nominee for best cowboy poetry book, 2006. His CD,"Runs in Our Blood" was nominated as one of the 10 best Cowboy Poetry CDs by the Western Music Association for 2007. "A Night 'Round the Wagon" was finished in the top 10 in 3 categories for 2008. 
Lonnie grew up in the Owyhee Desert running wild horses and in Eastern Oregon’s Blue Mountains running cattle. It was “Wild horses and saddles and rawhide riatas…”, then he discovered guitars! His material is largely autobiographical and reflects his experiences growing up in the saddle and playing lead guitar in cowboy hang-outs and honky-tonks around the Northwest. For unique cowboy-flavored entertainment, music, poetry, and unlikely stories, please consider engaging Lonnie the Eclectic Cowboy for your next dinner party, campfire gathering, calf branding or necktie party. It will be a memorable occasion! CDs are available. 
From West of the freeway in Northern Utah come Western Music Association performers, STAMPEDE!, a multiple award winning Western music duo that brings good music, classic and original, harmony, humor and just downright good fun to the stage. From state fairs to county fairs, large gatherings to small neighborhood BBQs, STAMPEDE! delivers the absolute best every time and will leave you laughing or crying - but you'll go away knowing you have been entertained by one of the best groups in Western Music today. The group is made up of the husband/wife team of Steve Taylor, "The Best Driver in the West" and pretty darn good on the upright bass and Terri Taylor, dubbed "The Epiglottis Goddess" and "a Triple Threat" by Ranger Doug of Riders In The Sky. STAMPEDE! has been performing throughout the West since 2000. 
A new brand of Western Swing & American Music. It's musical fun that requires no complicated explanations.
Steer Crazy's combination of musical arrangements, tight singing, exciting soloists, and an irresistibly swinging rhythm delights audiences at every performance.
Steer Crazy performs two ways. You can see them with classic, high quality acoustic instruments in the tradition of your favorite silver screen cowboys. For your dancing pleasure the band can also break out the electric instruments.
The Fender Telecaster and double neck steel guitar fill the room with swinging rhythms.
Steer Crazy doesn't worry about musical genre. These boys just play the greatest songs of all time for you to enjoy.
Rick King -Guitar, Glenn Denison - Mandolin, Tim Dawdy - Dobro and Steel Guitar. PO Box 134
Ridgefield, WA, 98642. info:
360.904.0347
I was born in Woodland, California in 1951. Moved to Mexico when I was five and lived there for four years. I still love Mariachi bands. Came back to California and my grandfather's ranch in the Valley of the Moon north of San Francisco. Moved to Tahiti for a couple of years. Sailed back to California at sixteen with a Harmony Sovereign guitar, lovin' to play and sing. Been doing that ever since, though the Sovereign is long gone. I've got the blood of a great western songwriter in me, one Stanley Davis Jones, my great-uncle. I hope someday to write a song to rival his best, "Ghost Riders in the Sky". A fella's gotta dream....
Sherry's fondest childhood memory is of her dad singing cowboy songs. It's no surprise those wonderful old tunes would later beckon her to preserve "the cowboy way" through song. Green Valley, Arizona is her home 6 months of the year and she hangs her hat in Ryderwood, Washington the other 6 months. This arrangement provides a vast audience where Sherry loves to re-acquaint people with western music or introduce them if they've never met! Whether singing at music festivals or playing with her friends in a cowboy band, she always offers "Music and A Smile." Sherry can be reached at 
Dick Warwick lives on the home place amid the rolling Palouse Country hills of eastern Washington, occasionally sallying forth to recite poetry and sing a song or two in such diverse places as Nevada, Arkansas, Ireland, Australia and even his home town, Oakesdale. 
2008 National Yodeling Champion – Western Music Association. Find out more about Larry and his music at