I grew up in Southern California and had the uncommon good luck to be acquainted with a very famous rodeo cowboy named Casey Tibbs. When I was a young girl, I rode Casey’s horses and herded cattle on the open ranges (and golf courses) of Ramona’s Country Estates.

These were the most impressionable days of my life and they set the stage, so to speak, for my quest & my career as a performing cowgirl.

Casey could often be found in the company of the Hollywood "cowboys" of music and screen such as Slim Pickens, The Sons of Pioneers and many others. I remember cleaning a stall with the radio playing when this little elderly gentleman walked up and asked me for a dance. It was James Cagney! Unfortunately I was too young to know either his status or his dance steps, but I felt right at home with all the performers and horsey folks in those parts.  I knew I’d found my herd and wanted to be a part of the western entertainment world.

Initially, I wanted to be a horse trainer and while I did get some formal instruction in the art, music came along and swept me up. My first steady gig was at a local nightclub playing for the Marines from Camp Pendleton in Oceanside who favored country music. I was 16 years old at the time and the money was better and the work less risky than breaking horses.

It is an amazing feeling to be on stage and have folks cheering you on for doing something you love. I will always be grateful for the support of all my audiences when I was getting started as I had no formal training in music and had only barely learned the guitar.

After traveling around the US and other parts of the world, I settled down on my own ranch with my own horses, burros and all the necessary critters and gardens. 

My music had come into it’s own.  I wrote songs and recorded CD’s with my all girl band the "Wild Oats".  I had won Southern California ’s Country Music Songwriter of the Year award in 1998 and was starting to look in new directions so as to create something uniquely my own. I came across the wild-west arts of trick roping, gun spinning and bull whip cracking.  I fell in love with these quintessential western skills. I practiced, practiced and practiced ‘till I was an acceptable performer and then added those arts to my performance.

Now as I spin ropes and yodel out my cowgirl songs to the world, I clearly see that I have been blessed and live in the heart of my dreams. 

As I was inspired by the icons of my youth, sometimes I’m fortunate enough to see those same sparks rise in the eyes of the kids I perform for. If there was anything I could share from my life experience, it’s that trail blazing is not as hard as one would think, and cowgirling is a darn fine profession.

With all the distractions and fast pace of entertainment these days, I hope that my carrying the torch of the American wild-west way of life will result in kids being inspired to learn the crafts themselves and choose to entertain with western arts and skills. There is nothing like the image of the western horseman to remind us of our roots.