Stan Howe - Helena, Montana
Stan Howe was raised in a musical Family in eastern Montana and after spending his life's savings on a used Singing Cowboys guitar when he was nine has followed the call of music since. His first influence was the old time cowboy songs and fiddle of his dad and the neighbors but by the time he was out of high school he was singing in the local oil field Honky Tonks with his own band -- singing the songs of Ray Price, Hank Williams and the new Bakersfield Sound of Buck Owens. Over the last 60 years he has continued to perform in a variety of styles, mostly Hard Core Country & Western Swing along with Old Time Cowboy Songs and fiddle. He has recorded several CD's covering traditional cowboy music with his Singing Cowboys & Evening on the Trail CD's, country music and contemporary western music on Bunkhouse and Honky Tonk and traditional country and Western Swing on his latest project, Turn Me Loose & Let Me Sing, recorded in 2014 in Texas with Grammy winning producer and former Ray Price Cherokee Cowboy bandleader Bobby Flores. He continues to tour both as a solo act and with his country band, Big Howdy Montana. As a Cowboy Singer and songwriter he was featured on the Cody, Wyoming's Cowboy Songs and Range Ballads night show nine times during the 25 years of its existence and hosted the Big Horn Basin Radio broadcast from that series of gatherings. He has hosted the Folk Show on Montana Public Radio for nearly twenty years. He has performed in most of the US states as well as Japan and Canada.
As a songwriter, he was the first Songwriter of the Year for the Western Music Association & winner of the American Songwriter Magazine's Songwriter of the Year award for his Ridin' For the Family Brand and nominated for several other songs other years. Back Along the Yellowstone, his most recorded song, is followed closely by Memories of You Sometimes Cross My Mind, both of which have been recorded several times by other artists.
Stan says he is a mediocre but enthusiastic fiddle player and has toured with several country and swing bands as a fiddle player as well as playing fiddle in his own band on many songs. At his best you can listen without pain, at his worst you can turn your hearing aids off or hope he doesn't play the song all the way through. Most of the time it is a least tolerable in small doses but a stiff shot of bourbon before listening tends to dull the senses to where an audience may think he is actually pretty good. Refraining from applauding after the first fiddle tune may convince him to not play another and will gain an audience member the good favor of their suffering neighbors.
Like the girl who is always a bridesmaid but never a bride, Stan has been nominated to the Montana Country Music Hall of Fame but never inducted. He has, however, performed at countless Cowboy Gatherings, Dance Halls, Bars,Fairs and Festivals from Texas to Tokyo and looks forward to joining the entertainers at the Lost N Lava Gathering in Shoshone.
As a songwriter, he was the first Songwriter of the Year for the Western Music Association & winner of the American Songwriter Magazine's Songwriter of the Year award for his Ridin' For the Family Brand and nominated for several other songs other years. Back Along the Yellowstone, his most recorded song, is followed closely by Memories of You Sometimes Cross My Mind, both of which have been recorded several times by other artists.
Stan says he is a mediocre but enthusiastic fiddle player and has toured with several country and swing bands as a fiddle player as well as playing fiddle in his own band on many songs. At his best you can listen without pain, at his worst you can turn your hearing aids off or hope he doesn't play the song all the way through. Most of the time it is a least tolerable in small doses but a stiff shot of bourbon before listening tends to dull the senses to where an audience may think he is actually pretty good. Refraining from applauding after the first fiddle tune may convince him to not play another and will gain an audience member the good favor of their suffering neighbors.
Like the girl who is always a bridesmaid but never a bride, Stan has been nominated to the Montana Country Music Hall of Fame but never inducted. He has, however, performed at countless Cowboy Gatherings, Dance Halls, Bars,Fairs and Festivals from Texas to Tokyo and looks forward to joining the entertainers at the Lost N Lava Gathering in Shoshone.