In those days, Suzy sang and played swing and jazz songs like "Someone To Watch Over Me," "House of Blue Lights" and "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" together with her folk and country songs. And Suzy has long been part of the western music world, adding her voice to those of musicians Don Edwards and Michael Martin Murphey on western CD's.

"You can't deal me the aces and think I wouldn't play," says Suzy Bogguss with a twinkle in her eye as she discusses her latest studio album Sweet Danger. It's a line from one of her signature songs, but it's also the philosophy with which Suzy managers her career.

Don Edwards continues to build a recorded legacy enriching our vision of the American West. In its tales of the day-to-day lives and emotions of those who lived it, his ballads paint a sweeping landscape of both the mind and heart, keeping alive the sights, sounds and feelings of this most American contribution to culture and art.  The quality of this cowboy balladeer's music stems from the fact that he is so much more than a singer.  Bobby Weaver of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, summed Edwards's importance as "...the best purveyor of cowboy music in America today." A historian, author and musicologist, someone well-versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions, Don brings a rare complement of knowledge of and love for his craft. Mostly though, there is the soul of a poet; a man who has never succumbed to any temptation to present a glamorized or romanticized version of the West.  Edwards deals with the bad weather and petty motivation, with sadness, nostalgia and longing as parts of the landscape like any other.

As a second-generation farrier, Andy Nelson has the experience and thetalents and humor to bring authenticity and entertainment to an audience. Raised in Oakley, Idaho, Andy traveled the Great Basin of southern Idaho, northern Utah and northern Nevada with his father on farrier jobs, from the time he was a child until he went off to college. While in college at Utah State University, he continued to shoe horses for the USU Horsemanship Program while studying in the Pre-Vet curriculum. He also spent many years working as a hand on a southern Idaho ranch, caring for cattle, from calving through selling and helped with the ranch's hay operation. Now Andy lives in Pinedale, Wyoming, where among other things, he and his wife Jaclyn raise horses and children.

Bill Snow, Jr. is quickly making his mark on the Western Music world. Upon releasing his second CD, No Ryman, No Reason, Bill has been able to perform with musical greats from both the Western and Country music genres. Hank Thompson, Chely Wright, Ricochet, Restless Heart, Juni Fisher, and Les Buffham to name just a few. Growing up in Southwest Missouri, in the Ozark Mountains, Bill discovered his passion for music through his father, Bill Snow, Sr., who wrote and recorded many great Country/Western songs.

Sid Hausman is a poet, an artist and a musician.  In addition, he often shares his talents with children, and has been featured  as an "artist in the schools" in Moab this past week.  Sid will not only entertain you with his fine abilities, but he will also bring out the best in the youth he works with. 

Jo Lynne Kirkwood grew up in Northern Arizona, working land that had been originally settled by her great-grandfather. She now lives with her family in Sevier County, Utah. Her poems have received numerous awards, and many have been published in western magazines and anthologies. Several of her songs have been recorded by western musicians. She has performed at numerous gatherings throughout the west. Jo Lynne also coordinates Utah's youth poets, and has worked with gatherings and organizations in Utah and elsewhere to promote the history, heritage, folklore and arts of the western lifestyle.

Sam  DeLeeuw is the past President of the Cowboy Poets of Utah. A buckle winner at the Kanab Utah Cowboy Poetry Roundup and twice named female poet of the year by the Utah Chapter of the WMA.  Her background of breaking horses, having had a husband with cows and sheep, being a mother to two daughters involved with rodeo and 4-H, give her all the ideas for her humorous and sometimes tear evoking stories.  She can construct a perfect stack of hay, keep a calf warm on the floor of her truck or the floor of her kitchen and keep the scour medicine in her fridge separate from the dressing she made for last night's supper.  She can also keep a sense of humor and make a good story out of any of the happenings experienced with the stock.

Jerry Brooks, last year's winner of the Academy of Western Arts Female Poet of the Year Award, is a featured performer at Elko and an accomplished reciter of the classic works of poets of yesteryear. You'll enjoy Brooksie's heartfelt renditions of the poems that made cowboy poetry famous, as well as her expertise in the history and lore of the west. Brooksie, as her friends call her, resides in Sevier County, Utah.

Ray Lashley was born and raised on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks at a time and place where horses or mules were about the only source of power and transportation.  He joined the Navy at 18 and found out that a man could make a living without working as hard as the stockmen back home, so he  learned to spell "injuneer" and they let him be one.  But, as they say, you can't take the country out of the boy so he managed to stay in touch with some part of the stock world (mostly horses) while he pursued a career as a weapon testing engineer. Ray has been invited to perform in the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering every year since it started in 1985 until 1995. Without repeating a poem he  can recite from memory something over 3 hours of poetry -- mostly cowboy poems by old poets.

Paul Bliss, newly elected Chairman of the Board for Cowboy Poets of Utah, is both a long-time cowboy, and a long-time cowboy poets.   In addition to performing on stages, at private events and at gatherings everywhere, Paul also is a popular wagon master and has headed trains from Utah to California.  One of his most spectacular antics was the year he rode a horse, through the winter, to Elko for the gathering there in January.  Paul and his wife Stacy, along with their children, make their home in Salem, Utah.  

This Utah native, who currently lives in Cannonville, Utah, with his wife Jeanne, is a former PRCA bull rider and race horse trainer who builds custom cowboy camp wagons, raises saddle mules and shoes horses. In the hopes of helping to preserve the Western heritage, he has spent many years presenting both cowboy songs and poetry at venues such as the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering at Elko, Western Legends in Kanab, Butch Cassidy Days in Beaver County, and the Sevier Valley Roundup. He has opened for artists such as Brenn Hill and Michael Peterson and performed at Bryce Valley's Ruby's Inn and at Rockville near Zion's National Park. With a first CD, "Cowboy Songs and Poetry," finished and another in progress, Kenny has entertained friends, family, community, and international travelers to Western America. This down-to-earth cowboy truly believes that this part of our culture must be kept alive and passed on to future generations.

Al Clark, who makes his home in Green River, Utah, is a cowboy poet's poet - as well as a great favorite with audiences wherever he goes.  His heartfelt renditions of the classics carry the messages those old-time poets surly intended to deliver.  Not only is Al a highly entertaining performer, but he's also made quiet a reputation for himself as a Dutch-oven chef.  You'll enjoy his stories and his sincere, friendly personality.

A self-taught guitarist, Brian Arnold grew up in a rapidly vanishing rural area west of Ogden, Utah. His early years were spent hauling hay, mucking out stalls, and working at the local stockyards to earn his first rodeo entry fees. Now, he day rides for friends helping with their ranch work and range riding duties in Wyoming, Idaho, Northern Utah and Nevada.  He is the lead singer and principle song-writer for the popular cowboy band, Saddlestrings.

Richard has a smooth local style that is sure to please. He lives in Heber City, Utah. He is currently working on his second album and will soon be taking his music to Europe. Along with his wife Lynnie, they enjoy the country way of like, he is his music, her in her horses.

Richard's first album "Leave the Light On" is full of great songs written and sung about the people closest to him.

Moab's own Bar M Wranglers will be joining the line-up at Western Stars, with plenty of Cowboy favorites. If you haven't already learned to like this group, you will after watching and sharing in their performances here.

Curly has played an active role in the organization of the poets at the Cedar City Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Cedar City, and now is the director of the festival.

Marion Manwill has participated in rodeos all over the west, and has also added to the fun and heritage of wagon train events and many western festivals.  A founding member of the "Peteetneet Creek Ranch Hands" Marion can still be counted on to occasionally share a song.  Not only is he a fine cowboy poet, but he is also the author of a recent western novel.  You'll enjoy the stories and sage cowboy wisdom Marion has to share.  Marion and his wife Vi live in Payson, Utah.

As a boy Don Weller drew horses and cowboys when he wasn't exploring with his horse. He rode along the Palouse river or over the rolling hills that surrounded his childhood home near Pullman, Washington. His passions were horses and art.He sold some cartoons to Western Horseman magazine, and roped calves in high school, college and at amateur rodeos in eastern Washington, Oregon, and northern Idaho.

Graduating from Washington State University with a degree in Fine Art, he sold his horses and moved to Los Angeles where he spent decades doing graphic design and illustration. His work appeared on record covers, posters, in advertisements, and on hundreds of magazine pages. He did covers for Time Magazine, TV Guide, and illustrated stories in Sports Illustrated, Boys Life, Readers Digest and many others. He did posters for the Hollywood Bowl, The National Football League, The National Cutting Horse Association, The Rose Bowl, and the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He illustrated three children's books and published a coffee table book about cutting horses, Pride in the Dust, which he illustrated and photographed. He created five stamps for the United States Post Office. Along with doing illustration and graphic design he taught school, part time, first at UCLA, and for a decade at the Art Center School in Pasadena. Finally Don realized he had seen all the cement and palm trees he could stand. Don and his wife, Cha Cha, moved to Utah, near the skiing at Park City. A book project for the NCHA introduced him to a neighbor who trained cutting horses. The west of his childhood came flooding back. It was still there, just as he'd left it. That book project took him to Texas and Arizona, California and Montana. He was in arenas and on ranches. He began to wonder what it would be like to ride those cutting horses. It wasn't long before he found out. And he's been addicted ever since.

Now they live in rural Oakley, Utah, with Buster, the border collie, two cats, cattle and five horses who are bred to cut. Don creates western paintings and rides and competes on the cutting horses. His work is represented by several galleries.