Performers in Arizona

Joe sings authentic cowboy and western music while accompanying himself on guitar, although he has also performed as a member of many western music groups. He has performed at cowboy poets’ gatherings, western music festivals, cowboy dinner theaters, cookouts, concert halls, museums, churches, private parties and anywhere else people want to hear a cowboy sing.

He's been playing the banjo since he was old enough to know better, and is a compulsive picker, collector and learner of weird instruments. He plays (at last count) 65 different instruments, and sings in several languages. What makes this even more remarkable is that he has never had any formal music training, doesn't read music, and is on leave from the Phoenix Home for the Musically Bewildered. Joe's clawhammer banjo technique is unique.

Buckshot Dot is a very talented western singer, songwriter and writer. She can be found at most of the major western music and cowboy poetry events across the country.

WMA Founding President

Dean is a performing songwriter, storyteller and cowboy poet. A native Arizonan, he weaves his life experiences into songs and stories about the West as it was, is, and should have been. Dean is a regular at cowboy gatherings, music festivals, and historical events around Arizona and the Southwest. His original songs are being performed and recorded by other western musicians, including several WMA performers, and a number of his songs are receiving national airplay.

Jan was born in Michigan and lived on a small farm. In order to hear country music from the Southern States, he would fill his ‘49 Ford with nineteen-cent a gallon gas and drive all night into the country so that his AM radio would pick up the stations from down south. He owned and operated a machine shop in Mesa for 31 years and is now retired and can pursue his passion, Classic Cowboy Poetry.

Catherine "Lilbit" Devine is an Arizona native, raised on Tucson's eastside and the Rincon Valley on its eastern border. Gerald "Casey" Allen was raised on cow/calf operations in Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Washington State. Music has always been a large part of his life. Together, Bit & Casey have created Cowboy Craic, a rollicking good time that will lead you from the Campfires and cattle trails to the Silver Screen and into the Honky Tonks.

Jim has “almost dual citizenship” living half of each year in Grand Forks, ND and the other half in Sierra Vista, AZ. Three generations of Jim’s family lived in New Mexico beginning in 1880. He spent most of his life on the Great Plains. In 1991 he began his annual treks to winter in Arizona. Jim has been writing poetry all of his life but has concentrated on the desert and cowboy life since1996. He also enjoys singing old cowboy songs.

Information Coming Soon!

Cowboy Balladeer Tom Hiatt can truly be called a "Son of the West." At one time or another during his youth, Texas, California, Alaska, Arizona, and Kansas, were all called "Home." The magnificent landscapes and the people who settled them fill the stories in the ballads Tom writes and sings; tales of cowboys, outlaws, lawmen, pioneers, wild broncos, and more. Tom's warm, emotional voice has enthralled people from Montana to Arizona and all areas in between.

We were both born in the mid-west but have lived in Arizona over 50 years. Virgil is 74 years old and I am 72. We have been married since 1978. We started playing music in the 70's. Our main musical background has been in a square dance band. Our experience includes playing sets at folk festivals with a repertoire consisting of big band, folk, country, gospel, Western, cowboy, sing-alongs and Irish music.

Wes & Nancy Ruybal have a new brand of Cowboy Americana. Wes grew up horseback, cowboying with his father and brothers. Nancy began writing and performing at fourteen. When they came together, 'twas only natural their music and poetry would speak of our great American Heritage, the settling of the West and Wes's own cowboy experiences in the modern world.  Simply cowboy & Simply fun! Romance, murder, mayhem, mystery; it's all there!

From the heart. From the land. All great music starts where those two meet. William Merritt moved to Arizona in 2000 and found both in abundance ... he fell in love with western music.

Jubilant or sorrowful, historical or imagined, his songs bring us back to the legends and the truth that make the West great.

Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist. William Merritt is proud to share the heart of the west in song.

Arizona singer/songwriter Jon Messenger sports an impressive list of credentials. An accomplished songwriter, with an extensive musical background, Jon¹s original Folk and Western tunes have been well received by audiences at festivals and gatherings throughout the West. Jon¹s songs reflect his love of the West and the American Cowboy, and his writing has been favorably compared to the works of such notable contemporary Western songwriters as Jack Hannah, Michael Fleming, Dave Stamey, Curly Musgrave, and Bob Wagoner.

Songwriter and visual artist; born and raised on a farm in the Midwest; Masters Degree in Music Education from University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, 1978, Masters in Philosophy/Religion and Bachelors in Studio Art; received Top 25 Award for Lyrics “Christmas Angel” Nashville Music City Song Festival and Honorable Mention Award New York Pro/Am Song Jubilee “Country Christmas”; loves older style western songs especially sung by Hank Williams and Patsy Cline; lives in Tucson since 1991.

Genevieve resides outside of Maricopa and participates in accelerated reading and spelling programs at school. Other interests include church, little league, reading and music. She started singing publicly in October 2005 at the age of 8, participating in a Hurricane Katrina Relief Concert with the Katy Creek Band. She has also participated in the Tucson Cowboy Roundup, Festival of the West, Cedar Depot Festival, Prescott Cowboy Poet Gathering and has one song recorded on the Katy Creek Band CD.

Gail has been singing far a long time on stages, 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 that just wanted an experience to remember.  The Cattle Drives, the Chuck Wagons, and the time on the trail have helped the past meet the present.  These experiences have given her the soul that is needed for an authentic western serenade.