Our Members

Charley Bell 4365 Maidie Lane West Valley City, UT 84119-5661 801-964-8149 to2bells@msn.com

My interest in cowboy poetry has developed as a result of a musical performance in which I participated in May of 2004. At the time I was a member of a barbershop harmony quartet. We had been booked to perform at a picnic that had a western theme. The producers of the picnic asked us to "dress western" and sing some western or cowboy songs.

In our performances we usually spaced our songs between jokes as a part of our entertaining. While we were preparing for this performance, I realized that we really didn't have a complete program of western songs and cowboy jokes. Therefore I decided to add to the program by reciting a cowboy poem. In the last twenty years or so there had been a real resurgence of cowboy poetry among Westerners and I thought a cowboy poem would be timely and appropriate for this performance.

So, I sat down and wrote my very first cowboy poem. At the performance it went over very well and I received many compliments about it. Even my co-singers enjoyed it.

A few months later, in August of 2004 I was surfing the internet and came across a cowboy poetry website. This website publishes poems about cowboys, ranching and Western life written by those who submit them. Well, I thought, what the heck, why not submit my poem? So I did. A few weeks later I heard from the editor of the cowboy website that they had accepted my poem! What a pleasant surprise!

Full of enthusiasm for this new avocation I began to write cowboy and Western poems on a regular basis. That website, cowboypoetry.com, now publishes my poems regularly.

I was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1931. Beginning at age 10, I spent my summers cowboying on the ranch of a great uncle nine miles north of Cheyenne. I continued this until my early college years.

I spent my working life as a professor of Biology at San Jose State University in San Jose, California. After retiring I removed to the Salt Lake City area and was able to return to my cowboying for a while both in Utah and back in Wyoming. Some of my poems reflect both the early and later years of my cowboying experiences.

Eugenie Brandhorst Fruita, CO

Doug Brewer Holladay, UT

Roger Brian Family Loa, UT

Jerry “Brooksie” Brooks Sevier, UT

Val was raised in a corner of the Wasatch Mountains, in what was then the small rural town of Alpine, Utah. There he grew up milking cows, riding horses, hauling hay and participated in high school rodeo. He and his wife now live in Lehi. They have four children, all boys except for three.

Val writes his own, usually humorous poetry which he eagerly shares with anyone who will listen. He has performed at many gatherings through out Utah and also at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.

Val is a member of the Lehi Round-up Rodeo Committee, the Lehi Cowboy Poetry Association, the Western Music Association and the Cowboy Poets of Utah. When he found cowboy poetry, he found that it easily fit in with a lifelong love of all things cowboy. Val is the current President of the Cowboy Poets of Utah.

Van Criddle Rafter C Productions 2034 Laurelhurst Dr. Eugene, OR 97402 541 688-5580 541 953-0240 vcrdd@comcast.net

Those who have seen Van perform have commented that: “Your voice is one of those voices that you just have to listen to.” “You are so comfortable to listen to that I felt like I was in my front room listening to a cowboy share stories of his experiences on the ranch and on the range. ”You had me bawling one minute and laughing hysterically in the next minute.” “Your words created pictures in my mind that will be there forever.” Van is a performer who delivers more than the audiences expect.

Van is also an outstanding motivational speaker who has addressed crowds as small as 10 and as large as 20,000 for the past 20+ years. He was recognized and awarded a plaque as an Outstanding Public Speaker by the Utah Young Farmers organization.

Van has been a featured performer at numerous Gatherings and Festivals throughout the west, including Elko and Prescott.

In 2006 he was awarded the coveted 1^st place Silver Buckle at the Cowboy Poetry Rodeo. He was also awarded 2^nd place in the Sons of Utah Pioneers Cowboy Poetry Contest. For great Cowboy entertainment you won’t go wrong with Van Criddle on your schedule.

Member: Western Music Association Academy of Western Artists Cowboy Poets of Utah Cowboy Poets of Idaho

Sam 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.

Jim Dunham 4524 Lodgepole Ct. Prescott Valley, Arizonia 86314 928-772-0301 Cell 927-713-4967 jimandlynnd@msn.com

Retired, My Wife Lynn works for Yavapai County, and my dog's name is S. Omar Barker.

Justin Hall 176 West 200 South American Fork, Ut. 84003 801-763-8925 ohbarjh@hotmail.com

I grew up in what was then the small town of Highland Utah. We always had horses and I grew up with a love of horses and anything western. A few
years ago I met some members of the Cowboy Poets of Utah and found an outlet for my poetry. I often walk around the house mumbling to my self as I am working on a new poem driving my good wife Callie crazy. I have 3 children Cassidey (daughter) Hunter (son) and Chance (son) who are turning into junior poets. If its western I'll be there

I grew u

p in Idaho, around horses, good ones and bad ones, and cowboys, good ones and bad ones, and all sorts of other kinds of livestock. The stories they'd tell and the stories we all lived just seemed to pile up in the badlands of memory until they began to reoccur with my own children. When a calf branding went south and later when we had our very own loose cow party in downtown Sandy, it occurred to me to connect the dots and share some of the experiences of years ago. I set some of them to rhythm and rhyme and found that people beyond my immediate family showed some interest in that sort of thing as well.

I have been invited me to recite my poetry and otherwise perform for the Meadow View Ranch - Island Park, Idaho, Bonneville Kiwanis Club - Salt Lake, Sons of the Utah Pioneers, Backcountry Horsemen of Utah, LDS Church Headquarters, Virginia City (Montana) Preservation Alliance (Vintage Balls) and several private gatherings in homes, community centers and parks

CowboyPoetry.com awarded me the Lariat Laureate prize (2005 - 2006). I have a book in process and nearing completion Rimrock, Where Memories Rhyme. Angela Krass, a New York based photographic agent has featured my poetry with the stunning cowboy photography of top-ranked photographer Arthur Myerson.

In addition to my day job, I work our horse farm in Murray and have a seasonal cattle operation in Island Park, Idaho. My registered brand is the Quarter Circle K in both Utah and Idaho.

Jo Lynne Kirkwood was born in Kanab, Utah, and grew up in the town of Fredonia in northern Arizona. Her great-grandfather was Zadok Knapp Judd, one of the original settlers of the area and the family raised alfalfa and cattle on land that had been passed down through the generations. She now lives in Sevier County, Utah with her husband, Michael and their four children and teaches English and Art in the North Sevier attendance area.

Jo Lynne’s poems have appeared in many places including The Wyoming Companion, Working Cowboy’s on-line magazine, in the anthology, The Big Round-up, in the March 2006 issue of American Cowboy and on cowboypoetry.com where she was named Lariat Laureate. She has won first place prizes at the Clinton (BC) contest and the Sons of the Utah Pioneers contest, and she is a multiple-time nominee for Female Poet of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists and Western Music Association. Jo Lynne is an officer in Cowboy Poets of Utah. She performs frequently at gatherings and events throughout the western states. Jo Lynne says, “cowboy poetry is one of the few authentically American cultural traditions, and I am proud to use this genre to promote and preserve the western heritage I claim.”

Cowboys and the West provide subject matter for writer Rod Miller. A product of Goshen, he grew up among horses and cattle (and the occasional pig, sheep, or chicken). While in high school he took up rodeo, and later rode bareback broncs for the Utah State University Rodeo Team.

Dozens of his poems have appeared in anthologies and magazines, including Western Horseman, American Cowboy, and Range. Rod’s articles, essays, and short stories have been published in books and magazines as well, among them a story that was a 2006 Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist for short fiction. He’s the author of two books; one a work of nonfiction, John Muir: Magnificent Tramp (Forge Books), and a novel, Gallows for a Gunman (Pinnacle Books).

A student of the art and craft of cowboy poetry, as well as the mechanics and inner workings, Rod has written how-to essays and commentaries on a number of subjects for CowboyPoetry.com. He also conducts poetry writing workshops.

Born in a small town in Southern Utah, Ken’s ambition blossomed from the age of twelve. His desire to master the guitar was the beginning of a lifetime of singing and performing. From the tenor guitar, which Ken purchased from money earned from raising pigs, to the mastering of the 6-string, his determination was to prove its worth.

Although Ken was not immediately raised in a farm/ranch family, he has spent most of his life working with and helping close friends on their farms and ranches: working with cattle, sheep and horses, and living the “cowboy way”. He has lived the life of many of the songs that he sings.

In his early years, Ken played with a variety of musical groups. The past several years Ken’s heart and feelings have turned to writing and performing western or cowboy music. He is an accomplished singer, songwriter and guitarist and has been recognized nationally for his song writing abilities in the annual American Songwriters Competition. He formed his own “Desert Sage Band”, has played with “The Red Rock Wranglers” and currently performs with his new group “Latigo”, as well as performing solo. He has performed at hundreds of concerts, club dates, private parties and church gatherings. He is a member of the National Western Music Association and the Academy of Western Artists.

Ken is especially pleased with his recently released CD “Ridin’ ”. “Ridin’ “ was ranked in the Top Ten Western Music Albums by the Sunset Information Service for January and February 2005. It was also nominated for “Western Music Album of the Year” by the Academy of Western Artists. Two songs (“Cattle Up the Trail” and “Clear Creek is Running Muddy Tonight”) from the album were also nominated by the Academy for “Song of the Year” in 2005.

In his own words, “I feel like I’m finally ‘home’ with the original music of America. Its honesty and goodness, along with its melodic chord changes and harmonies absolutely sends me! I feel good about performing it to young and old alike because of its cleanliness and integrity. I feel at ease with this music.” And at ease he is. As you watch Ken perform, or listen to his music, you can feel his genuine love and enthusiasm and you realize that he thoroughly enjoys entertaining you---And that’s a nice feeling.