Al Albrethsen

Al was born in November of 1921 on a small ranch near Gannett, in the Big Wood River Valley of south central Idaho. A succession of bad water years and low crop and livestock prices led his parents to leave that area in 1926 and move the family to a small rented farm near Meridian in the Boise valley. They eventually bought a farm in that area. Al lived and worked on that and neighboring farms until he graduated from Boise Junior college in 1941. During that period, he learned how to milk cows, ride a horse, drive a team, milk cows, pitch hay, shock grain, clean out a monstrous chicken house, slop pigs, dig post holes, string used barb wire, milk cows, take care of sheep, and milk cows. His poems paint a true picture of some of life as he saw it during that period.

Floyd Beard

He and his wife Valerie are ranchers on the High Plains and canyons of Colorado. Floyd writes down his experiences and observations while in the saddle working cattle, turning these thoughts into stories and songs. An multi-award winning Cowboy Poet, Floyd is the 2006 Colorado State Fair Cowboy Poetry Shoot-Out Champion. In 2015, he won the Kansas State Cowboy Poetry Champion both humorous and serious categories, the Cowboy Idol Poet at the Columbia River Cowboy Gathering, the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo Champion, and the WMA People’s Choice Cowboy Poetry Jackpot winner. He was a finalist for 2015 WMA Cowboy Poet of the Year.

In 2016, Floyd won first in the Silver Buckle division Reciter-Humorous and champion of the Shootout at the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo and was WMA Male Poet of the Year. His new CD, “Short Grass Country” was the most played poetry album in the beginning of 2017, and his poem “Ain’t a Hermit” won the Western Writers of America 2017 Spur Award in the Best Western Poem category.

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Dale Burson

Dale Burson, a fourth generation rancher from the Texas Panhandle, also an award winning singer -songwriter specializing in songs that tell stories of the western lifestyle and family values. Having performed at cowboy gatherings and entertained audiences across the country for twenty five plus years as a singer and instrumentalist.

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Jerry “Brooksie” Brooks

She has loved and recited poetry since she was young. Not only does she have a knack for recognizing a great poem when she hears one, Jerry can recite for hours on end from a huge collection of memorized works. At home, both in a saddle and wearing her miner hat, Brooksie now takes care of 80 acres along Clear Creek in south-central Utah.

Nona Kelly Carver

Nona Kelley Carver is a native Coloradan, now ranching at Mesa. Her ranching experience shows in her work that she refers to as “fiction with a few facts thrown in.” Believing that reciting makes an author’s work come alive for the audience, Nona gives her best whether it is to a small group or at The National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration where she is a repeat performer. Her work has been published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies, as well as in two recently produced CDs of poetry.

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The Great Western Heritage Show

From Glade Park, Rick Cosby and Gary Mansfield, known as The Great Western Heritage Show, specialize in traditional cowboy music. They talk about the song then the history of where that song came from and the special things about it. They complete the song’s story by singing the earliest known version.

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Rod Taylor

Rod currently cowboys on the Philmont Ranch in New Mexico and lives with his wife Patty and has been active in coaching baseball and the Cimarron Maverick Club (that sponsors the Nation’s oldest open 4th of July Rodeo). Rod and Patty have two sons who also have added an artistic edge to their lives with one an accomplished sculptor and painter, and the other an accomplished musician and prolific songwriter.

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Rocky Sullivan

A Kansas native, Rocky Sullivan has been living in the southwest working on ranches among other things for the better part of three decades. During the last few years he has brought his poetry into the limelight, gaining respect and praise from peers and audiences. Rocky won in his division of the 2015 National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Abilene, KS and again in 2017. Rocky has been asked to perform at numerous venues since. He is grateful to God for his talents and his wife for her patience. Rocky has performed at the Arizona Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Prescott AZ and the Cimarron Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering in Cimarron, NM to name a couple.

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“Pickin Peggy” Malone

This 2016 Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame Female Vocalist of the year & Entertainer of the year 2013, is a local favorite and was one the Top Five Western Music nominees for “Best Female Vocalist of 2001.” Her song, “Singin’ A Cowboy Song” won an Emmy for Performer/Songwriter in 2001. It is also heard on the PBS Special, “A Night At The Rodeo.” She was inducted into the Colorado Country Music Association Hall of Fame on August 20, 2006 and was named the Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame Legend of Legends Female Vocalist in 2015.

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Terry Nash

Terry Nash has been a top five finalist for the last four years for Western Music Association Male Cowboy Poet of the Year. He was raised on a farm/ranch cow/calf operation on the High Plains of Colorado, near Idalia. After a thirty-five year career trucking, Terry drifted to a small ranch near Loma, Colorado. He and his wife have cut back to a semi-retired forty hours a week that keeps their horses and cattle in feed. Recently, Terry has lassoed a new career: songwriting.

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