2025 Performers
Trinity Seely
Trinity grew up on the Chilcotin of British Columbia on a remote family-operated hunting and fishing resort. From the high deserts of central Wyoming to the Big Belt mountains outside Cascade, Montana, she has spent the last 20 years living and working on cattle ranches across the west with her husband and kids. As a cowgirl and ranch wife, Trinity has had an inside look at the Western lifestyle that some say is a bygone era. She released her debut album in 2011 and has received multiple outstanding reviews from Western Horseman, Ranch and Reata, Cowgirls in Style, Working Ranch magazine and True West. She was named one of True West’s favorite Western artists for 2012 and received nominations for the Crescendo Award with the Western Music Association for 2012 and 2013, as well as female Western singer and Western album of the year with the Academy of Western Artists in 2012. She received an award with the Western Music Association for song of the year for 2014 for her song “Cowboy Hat.” Trinity’s Cowboy’s Wage CD was recently archived into the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum in Oklahoma City and the song “The Hand,” co-written with Waddie Mitchell, won the Spur Award with the Western Writers of America for Best Song of 2016. Trinity has been a featured performer across the U.S. and has shared her Western lifestyle in multiple trips to Germany. She is currently director of a horse program at Thacher School in Ojai. She said she puts her heart and soul into being a wonderful mother and wife, and into every performance she gives.
Jon Chandler – Commerce City, Colorado
A seventh-generation Coloradan and well-known fixture in the Colorado country and Americana music scenes, Jon’s music and stories reflect his heritage. His CDs, novels, non-fiction works and myriad short stories are collected by Western lifestyle aficionados. He was named True West magazine’s Best Western Musician and is a three-time winner of the prestigious Spur Award from the Western Writers of America.
“Linwood,” his moody examination of Doc Holiday’s life, was named Best Song, as well as his tribute to Wyoming’s Hole in the Wall country, “Morning Star Moon.” His novel The Spanish Peaks received the WWA’s Medicine Pipe Bearer Award/Spur Award and Wyoming Wind, A Novel of Tom Horn, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award.
Ghost Smoke is his latest recording, released in October 2024, while Homage, a highly praised collection of cover songs that have influenced his writing and singing, was released in 2021. He is at work on a new recording, I’m Still Here, and his long-awaited novel, He Was No Hero is awaiting publication. Jon has travelled throughout the country performing at concert venues, honky-tonks, nightclubs, cowboy poetry gatherings and music festivals, and has appeared everywhere from the legendary Ryan Auditorium in Nashville to the Congressional Earth Day Reception in Washington D.C. He was most recently honored with the Branding Iron Award by the Friends of the William S. Hart Museum in Newhall, California, and received the International Western Music Association’s Award of Excellence as 2023’s Male Performer of the Year.
Cowboy Comedy Night With BJ Smith – Endiang, Alberta and RP Smith – Broken Bow, Nebraska
BJ is an experienced horse trainer, riding coach, packer, mountain guide, clinician, survival expert and Canadian ski patrol instructor. He has taught wilderness topics at the university and college level and delivered hundreds of safety talks to school students. Following a full career in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police where he experienced years of service in the Arctic, BJ supervised criminal investigations for the government of Alberta, instructed for the Lethbridge College and was president of the Lethbridge Therapeutic Riding Association. He routinely guides groups of wilderness travelers on horseback through the Rockies, often on week-long trips of a hundred miles or more. His skill and knowledge as a packer and horseman has been recognized by the Alberta Trail Riders Association and private equestrian clubs who have enjoyed his clinics. He consulted with Rafter Six Ranch Resort and the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies, developed and instructs the Wilderness Wrangler outdoor course at Olds Agricultural College, was president of the Alberta Cowboy Poetry Association, recipient of the Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Award and National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo Silver Buckle. His professional and comical performances have been featured at cowboy gatherings and festivals across western Canada and the U.S. and on cruise liners. BJ is often featured on radio and television shows and is the author of three books and two CDs.
When R.P. is not on the cowboy poetry trail, he finds plenty to do on the home ranch in Nebraska. He said he continues to be the “head cowman” there but has been sidelined on a few occasions recently and has had family step in to help keep things going until he was back in the saddle. For quite a few years, R.P. felt like he was part of the youth movement in the cowboy poetry world, but now he treasures the memories of the wonderful friends he has made while sharing his craft over the last 37 years. He said he now realizes he has more years behind him than in front of him. “I’m in pretty good shape for the shape I’m in,” he said. He has some new works to share and new memories to make this year at the Durango Cowboy Gathering.
Dave Stamey – Orange Grove, California
Dave is one of the most popular and celebrated Western entertainers performing today. With every album, he brings us another dozen of wordsmithed wonders. Known for his true-to-life visions of the West, his audiences attest that his songs come from authentic experience with a bit of romance and humor added for good measure. Dave’s audience is so loyal that many of his songs have become personal anthems, and he can be hard-pressed to determine what encore song to leave out, simply because there are so many his audience
loves and wants to hear. “This music,” he said, “is a celebration of shared heritage – an appreciation of the West as both a place and state of mind. It helps bring the audience together, whether they know which end of the cow gets up first or not.” Dave was inducted into the International Western Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Photo by Anita Crane.
Syd Masters & The Swing Riders – New Mexico
Syd Masters & The Swing Riders are a multi talented, thoroughly funny, high energy cowboy band from New Mexico. Syd has had a banner award year in 2024, winning Best Male Performer at the International Western Music Association, winning The Spur Award for Song of the Year from The Western Writers of America, and winning Best Country Western Song of 2024 from the New Mexico Music Industry. The Swing Riders have been performing with Syd since 1998. Multi-instrumentalist Uncle Bob and bassist Jaren “Slim J” Puttman are known nationwide for their vocal talents and as accomplished musicians. The Band has been called Cultural Ambassadors for their work entertaining troops and veterans in 26 foreign countries. Syd was recently named official ambassador to Guitars for Vets, an organization that provides musical healing therapy by giving acoustic guitars and lessons to returning veterans suffering from PTSD. The mission of this high energy western swing band is to save vintage western music one two-step at a time.
Jeff Davidson – Eureka, Kansas
Jeff is an educator with Kansas State University Research and Extension and his music and poetry focus on the historical aspects and history of the West. He entertains with lyrical lessons about the role the West played in shaping the U.S. economy, ideology and heroism. He uses both original and vintage songs to tell the story of western development and his poems reflect the lifestyle of those who live in the West. In addition to his K-State duties, Jeff is involved in the management of two cattle ranches, serves on several regional boards and finds time to spend with his two young grandsons.
Kevin Blaine – Rutledge, Missouri
Kevin Blaine grew up near Rutledge, Missouri. He owns a cow/calf operation. Kevin fell in love
with the western way of life during his rodeo days as a calf roper; his competitions took him
from Oregon to Ohio. He began writing poetry about the cowboy’s western way of life in 2008.
He first shared his poetry in 2022 at the Old West Days in Valentine, Nebraska where he was
awarded the Jarolyn Crouse Aspiring Poet Award. In addition to Old West Days, Kevin has
performed at the Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Lewistown, MT and the Western
Slope Cowboy Gathering, Grand Junction, CO. Kevin loves to share his poetry with others
who enjoy the western way of life. Today he owns calf horses and enjoys seeing the next
generations of calf ropers compete on them.
Rik “Yonder” Goodell – Whitefish, Montana
Yonder hangs his hat in Montana where he pens and publishes cowboy poetry based upon his life experiences – with a little imagination tossed in for fun. His background includes a small cow-calf operation, wrangling on a horse ranch and many years as an actor. His poetry exemplifies his deep-seated respect for “The Cowboy Way.” In 2024, Yonder was honored with the coveted Will Rogers Medallion Award for Recorded Cowboy Poetry and was a nominee for IWMA Male Cowboy Poet of the year in 2023 and 2024. “I have to say he is one of the best interpreters of verse I have ever encountered,” said Rick Huff in Western Way magazine.
Jim Jones – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Jim has won three Western Heritage Wrangler Awards, the 2019 International Western Music Association Song of the Year, and Western Writers of America 2013, 2017 and 2021 Spur Awards for Best Western Song. He was the Western Music Association’s 2014 Male Performer of the Year and is part of the trio The Cowboy Way, which has received the IWMA’s Group of the Year Award six times. His Western novels include the Jared Delaney series, the Tommy Stallings series and the Bolo the Brave children’s series.
Lynne Belle Lewis – Mancos, Colorado
Lynne and her husband Perry run Rimrock Outfitters, a horseback riding outfit on the west side of the La Plata Mountains in southwestern Colorado near Mancos. The goal of her music is to portray the Western culture, both old and new, and to impart the passion of her cowgirl lifestyle in the modern world. Lynne plays at various venues in southwestern Colorado and Arizona. She has performed at the Durango Cowboy Gathering and the Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering in Sierra Vista, Arizona. She has opened for Juni Fisher, Kristyn Harris and Baxter Black, played around the campfire on a pack trip with Gary McMahan and even performed in Germany once representing the American cowboy culture. Lynne loves to ride horses, take photographs and sing cowboy songs.
Ernie Martinez – Lakewood, Colorado
Ernie is a Denver native and has been a part of the Colorado music scene for over 50 years. He was recipient of the 2023 International Western Music Association’s Curly Musgrave Award and the 2018 IWMA Instrumentalist of the Year. His outstanding and versatile pickin’ has been used on over 300 albums as well as stage performances with Jon Chandler, Carlos Washington and Steel Horse Swing, Patty Clayton, Dustin Devine and the Real Deal, Americana band Dakota Blonde and many more. Ernie is known for stepping in whenever needed. For 14 years, Ernie was part of the house band for Jon Chandler’s monthly show “America Soul Live.” Some of Ernie’s songs have been co-written with Baxter Black, Sandy Reay, Les Buffham and Mary Gifford. His songs have been recorded by Bill Barwick and the Yampa Valley Boys. Ernie was inducted into the Colorado Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 2011.
Mark Munzert – Queensbury, New York
Mark is a consummate entertainer and proud ambassador of cowboy poetry who rhymes appreciation of cowboy mishaps, blessings, sorrows and whimsy. His playful, enthusiastic and animated delivery can leave you laughing, or his pensive conveyance can rip your heart out. Mark was the 2024 International Western Music Association’s Male Poet of the Year and was also nominated for IWMA Male Poet of the Year in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Slack your cinch and enjoy a dose of the cowboy code without knowing you’re getting it. You’ll sit taller in the saddle for takin’ it in. Step up now!
Miska Paget – Prescott, Arizona
With a career in veterinary medicine that spans well over two decades and a lifetime of passion for horses, Miska brings a unique perspective to cowboy poetry, writing about what she knows and what she lives. Always heartfelt and sincere, her unique way of drawing you into her life with her words will leave you feeling good about the world with a smile on your face and, like Miska, a lot of love in your heart. Miska’s poetry albums The Best Horses in Heaven, They Have No Tail and Real Hands and Treasured Friendswere awarded 2022 and 2024 Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year by the International Western Music Association. She was honored to be the International Western Music Association’s 2024 Female Cowboy Poet of the Year.
Sarah Pierce – Liberty Hill, Texas
Sarah is a Country and Western singer-songwriter known for her rich, alto voice and deep love for the West. Raised in rural West Texas, she began singing at 12 and has since performed across the U.S., Europe and Scandinavia. Her music has been featured on MTV, NPR and hundreds of radio stations, with multiple charting singles. Her latest award-winning album, Blessed By The West, was released in 2024 and included even more of her heartfelt songwriting about the land, the history and the people that make up the West she loves.
Kye Rieff – Sarcoxie, Missouri
Kye and his wife Kasey are founders of Top Hand Clinics, a ministry that uses horsemanship and ranch work to share the Gospel. Kye has ridden saddle broncs, been a professional bullfighter, trained racehorses, started colts and day worked for ranches. His poetry comes from years spent on the ranch and in the arena, and provides an authentic look into the joy, humor, heartbreak and hardship of the cowboy life. His newest work, Authentic, or Something Like It, is currently in the works, and is full of poems that will make you feel as if you are right there in the saddle with him.
Jake Riley – Riverdale, Nebraska
Jake was born in Salida, Colorado, and grew up mosty in the upper Arkansas Valley. He began roping and rodeoing as a kid, which led to helping out at local ranches and spawned his love for cowboy culture. Jake has always enjoyed rhyming, publishing some of his first cowboy poetry for a high school project. Much of Jake’s work involves firsthand ranch and rodeo experiences told from his perspective on the contemporary fringe. He recites a few classics as well and considers himself extremely blessed to take part in carrying the tradition forward. He’s shared his work at events from California to Minnesota, including The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, as a featured performer since 2018. Jake now calls the plains of Nebraska home, living there along with his wife Carley and a teeming horde of younguns with an affection for Western ways.
George Ray Russell – Boulder, Colorado
George is the grandson of a horse and mule trader and son of a father who was a “recovering” rancher. George was named Poet Laureate of his home town in Sherman, Texas, in 2010. He said he “paints his poems, so if you close your eyes you can see them play out before you.” Most of his original poems have a humorous twist because, as he says, “People tend to like you better if you make ’em laugh instead of makin’ ’em cry.” A student of cowboy culture and Western history all of his life, common themes in his work are humor, family, Western history, cowboy culture and mules and horses.
Bruce Johnson – Berthoud, Colorado
Bruce travels with and plays guitar and harmonica for George. He is originally from the Midwest (Illinois/Missouri), but has lived on the Front Range of Colorado for the past 45 years. He and his wife Marcia have an 18-acre “hobby ranch” south of Berthoud, where he irrigates, grows hay and is past president of his ditch company. Bruce is a retired civil engineer, having worked in the private sector and with local and state government in Colorado. He and Marcia, a retired music teacher, host a monthly music showcase of local musicians at the Left Hand Grange #9 in Niwot, Colorado.
Lindy Simmons – Mancos, Colorado
A ranch wife for almost 50 years, Lindy also followed the family on the rodeo road and has done ranch work from bucking bales to feeding cows in the mud. Her poetry reflects the antics of real cowboys. A retired professor and fluent in Spanish, she is a Southwest history buff. Lindy won the poetry contest of the International Western Music Association in 2021. She has been on the Durango Cowboy Gathering board for more than 20 years and has been cited as a “visionary” for her “Variety Show With a Twist” which ran 15 years at the Durango gathering.
Gail Starr – Carefree, Arizona
Gail has been singing for a long time on stages and at campfires and corporate events. Her life has been based on the Western ways as she has traveled, worked with ranchers and helped bring the romance of the West to folks who wanted an experience to remember. Cattle drives, chuck wagons and time on the trail have given her the soul needed for an authentic Western serenade. When Gail gets out her guitar, be ready to go back in time and have a good time remembering the cowboy heroes of years gone by.
Scott Tonelson – Garden Grove, California
Scott grew up in Bayside, New York, listening to a wide range of musicians. He is a founding member of several string bands, including The Southwest Zephyrs, Crystal River, Pony Express and The Reptile Ramblers. He regularly performs throughout the U.S., Canada, Philippines and Australia. Scott has shared the stage with Carlos Washington and Steel Horse Swing, Rusty Richards, Dave Stamey, Belinda Gail, Krystin Harris, Joni Harms, Mike Booth, Hailey Santos Darwin, Juni Fisher, Doyle Dykes, the Russlers, the Rambin’ Rangers, The Timberline Cowboys, Three Trails West, Carolyn Martin, Jerry Hall and Trick Shot, and many wonderful musician friends. When not traveling and sharing his music, he lives with his family in beautiful downtown Garden Grove.
Washtub Jerry – McDonald Obs, Texas
Washtub Jerry is a recognized authority for building and playing the washtub bass. In 1999, he was named Instrumentalist of the Year by the WMA. Jerry has performed with Patsy Montana, Yakov Smirnoff, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Riders In The Sky, Peter Yarrow, Johnny Gimble, and yes, Don, Waddie, Red and R.W. (plus hundreds of other musicians)! He participated in musical cultural exchange tours in Russia, Germany and Ireland. Jerry has authored and published four books. He is the fifth-generation descendant of South Dakota homesteaders and has lived among west Texas ranchers and cowboys for over four decades.
Joel Alden White – Amarillo, Texas
Joel is a singer/songwriter from west Texas, a six-time nominee in the IWMA and recipient of the Academy of Western Artist’s 27th annual Will Rogers Award for Song of The Year. Joel has cowboyed and managed ranches in Texas, been a yard manager for a west Texas commercial feedyard and a cattle buyer in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Arizona. Currently, he is technically retired, spending time with his wife Kelly in their home in Timbercreek Canyon just outside of Amarillo, making music, traveling and performing.
Timberline Cowboys
Both multi-instrument aficionado Geary Parsons and award-winning singer-songwriter J. Michael Mullins have, in one way or another, been in the music industry for the majority of their lives. Most of what they do is original music, dealing with the ranching and farming life prevalent in and around where they reside in the Four Corners area. Their music is basic, honest, and forthright. Two guitars and vocals, they are just at home around a campfire as they are in an arena or concert hall. Through lyrical ballads and up-tempo comedy songs, they give the audience a first-hand look at what life is like for the still proud, but dwindling numbers of ranchers, farmers, cowboys and cowgirls in the great Southwest. Together, they have produced four albums in four years. Mike’s original song, “Drivin’ This Herd to the Rail” took home the award for 2024 IWMA Working Cowboy Song of the Year. The Timberline Cowboys are proud to be doing their part in keeping the customs and traditions of true western music alive in the 21st century.