40th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering: Full Schedule

The 40th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering—Be the Poem. Be the Song.
#cowboypoetrygathering #westernfolklifecenter #ncpg2025

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Schedule is subject to change. We recommend double-checking Sched regularly for the latest updates.

8:00pm PST

Now That's Classic

Thursday January 30, 2025 8:00pm - 9:30pm PST

Western Folklife Center - G Three Bar Theater

Everybody loves a classic. And, everybody loves it when reciters take the stage to honor the greats of their field. Join poets Marleen Bussma, Andy Hedges, Bill Lowman, Jake Riley, and Tom Sharpe for their favorite classic cowboy poems. They’ll take turns sharing beloved touchstones of the tradition. They’ll go rounds delivering masterpieces that still seem fresh today. And they’ll bandy rhymes that have stood the test of time. This show has cowboy trimmings and cowboy substance…now, that’s classic!

Sponsored by Stockmen’s Casino-Ramada by Wyndham

Artists & Special Guests

Marleen Bussma

As a young girl, long hours spent on horseback herding cattle stirred Marleen Bussma’s imagination and sparked a desire to emulate Dale Evans. Marleen, described as a formidable storyteller, draws from the lessons she learned growing up on her North Dakota farm. She believes that... Read More →

Andy Hedges

Andy Hedges is a songster, reciter, storyteller, guitarist, and collector of cowboy songs and poems. The son of a schoolteacher and a rodeo-cowboy-turned-preacher, Andy grew up in Tokio, Texas, where his family paid rent on an old farmhouse by looking after a few head of cattle. There... Read More →

Bill Lowman

Bill Lowman and his wife JoAnn and family own and operate a 20,000-acre generational ranch in the remote North Dakota Badlands, where they are widely known for their love of and respect for the well-being of their livestock and pets. As a multi-talented visual, literary, and performing... Read More →

Jake Riley

Jake Riley grew up, for the most part, in the upper Arkansas Valley of the Colorado mountains. He began roping and rodeoing as a kid, which led to helping out at local ranches, which spawned his love for cowboy culture. Jake has always enjoyed rhyming, publishing some of his first... Read More →

Tom Sharpe

Born and raised in south central Colorado, Tom Sharpe grew up working in the family packing plant and feedlot. Convinced from birth that one must be good with horses to be good with cows, he has spent his life studying horses and following cows. Tom has worked the beef industry vertically... Read More →

Thursday January 30, 2025 8:00pm - 9:30pm PST
Western Folklife Center - G Three Bar Theater

Poetry/Prose, Ticketed

Ticket Type Ticketed