Thursday, April 15, 2004

Grady Lee, Lloyd Shelby, Linda Kirkpatrick, May 8th, 2004

LINDA KIRKPATRICK

I have been writing Cowboy Poetry for several years now. My mom is from Philadelphia and my dad is from Texas. They met during World War II, married and my mother got to live the dream that many city girls were wishing they could do….she married her cowboy and made her home on a remote Texas ranch. Then I came along and try as she might to dress me in dresses, her little girl became Daddy’s cowgirl. My whole life has involved cowboys in one way or the other. I try to focus my poetry on the Women of the West and the lives of women ranchers. The group that I belong to is called "The Cowboy Sunset Serenade." It is made up of me, Linda Kirkpatrick, Frank Roberts and Joe Wells. The program is about the history of the cowboy, the west and women of the west. We perform at schools, state parks and retirement centers. We have also performed at the National Cowboy Symposium at Lubbock, Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, Folklife Festival in San Antonio, Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo in Austin and anywhere else we can get someone to listen. Frank Roberts sings Cowboy Songs while Joe and I do Cowboy Poetry.

LLOYD SHELBY

“This cowboy doesn’t know of another poet or picker working harder, or more devoted to bringing what cowboy was, and is, to the American people. Lloyd embodies the western genre as it embodies him.” Curly Musgrave, WMA Male Performer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year 2002.“Do you hear the distant rumbling of the thunder? You can if you listen to the Rainman. Drawing the listener into his world, Lloyd Shelby breathes life into the characters of this magnificent album of Western poetry. It serves as a classic example of the genre and will stand for generations. Come to where the visions of the past are as real as you and I. Listen…hear the thunder…smell the rain.” Debra Coppinger Hill – Host and Executive Producer of “Love of The West”, Academy of Western Artist Cowgirl Poet of the Year 2002.

GRADY LEE

Grady Lee has been playing his own style of Texas music since the nineteen sixties. Grady's musical influences include Bill Monroe, Peter Rowan, Jimmie Buffett, Bob Dylan and many other singer-songwriters. Grady has worked as a headline act as well as opening for other musicians and groups including Robert Earl Keen, Shake Russell, Steve Fromholz, The Austin Lounge Lizards, Kimmie Rhodes, Charlie Robison, and Trout Fishing in America. Grady was the resident cowboy singer at the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, Texas for 6 years and performed for corporate events as well as wedding receptions and various other types of events. Grady performed during Texian Market Days at the George Ranch where as many as 10,000 visitors a day may pass through. Grady also performed at the Campfire Christmas event, which was listed as one of the best Christmas events in the country by the New York Times.