March 2020 - As you all know,
this is turning out to be a sad and
strange time for performing
musicians everywhere. With all the
precautions to slow the progress of
the Coronavirus pandemic most shows
are cancelled or postponed till
who-knows-when and many musicians
are struggling. We are fine and SO
fortunate to have the resources to
weather this crisis! We are making
great use of our time at home to
start working on a new recording
project. Please keep checking
our website for schedule updates or
sign up on our email
list and we will keep
you posted on changes. If you know
musicians who are hurting right now
we urge you to visit their websites,
buy their music and turn out in huge
numbers when it's once again
possible to do live shows. Stay well
- happier trails will return!
Dec 2016 - Looking back on
another year filled with good music
and good friends. We don't have any
big announcements this year, but
just keep riding along on our
mission to keep classic Western
Music alive. We have had some great
shows playing with our daughter and
son-in-law in our "expanded" version
of KG & The Ranger. Hope to book
lots more shows with them down the
trail! One of the highlights this
year was our trip to Albuquerque NM
for the Western
Music Association convention,
where we were blown away by the
talented youngsters who are playing
this music and moving it into a new
generation.
Let us know if we
can bring some cowboy spirit to an
event near you.....
Dec 2015 - YES! ANOTHER NEW CD
filled with
Classic Christmas songs and
unique cowboy Christmas songs! We
had a ton of fun recording this with
all six of our grandkids taking
part, plus our grownup "kids" and
their spouses. A real family
get-together for the Holidays! Check
out the Trading
Post for all the details on 'Tis
The Season.
May 15, 2014 - NEW
CD IS DONE AND READY TO SHIP...
Hard to believe it's
been 10 years since our last release.
Guess we've just been too busy having
fun performing all around the country to
get in studio time! But the wait is over
- and we are very excited about our new
project. We have excellent backup on
vocals and bass from our daughter Angela
Otte and her husband Tom Otte. And we
finally had a chance to work with
fiddler Suzanne Lansford, who we met
about 5 years ago in Okeechobee Florida.
It's a long story, but from the first
time we heard her play we knew we had to
record with her someday. She adds so
much to the album - you will love her
playing.
The concept for this album
came from our love of the poetic, lyrical
songs in Western Music. Some of these we
sing just for ourselves, or around a
campfire with friends - seldom performing
them on stage. Others are gems of the genre
that we sing for all occasions. They are all
favorites of ours and needed to be recorded.
Here's a look at the songs included:
Moonlight
On The Trail; Lonely Yukon Stars; When The
Bloom Is On The Sage; Cowboy’s Letter From
Home; Young Lean and Seventeen (a Ranger
Rick original); Night Rider’s Lament;
Colorado Trail; Night Time In Nevada;
Sandy River Belle / Old Bill Cheatham; Bad
Girl’s Lament; Arizona Waltz; Another
Cowboy Song; When Pay Day Rolls Around;
Sundown On The Prairie; Born To The Saddle
Hall Of Fame Induction August 2011
KG & The Ranger were inducted into
"America's Old Time Country Music Hall
of Fame", located in the Pioneer Musem
in Anita IA! This is a nice honor from
the National Traditional Country Music
Association. The induction ceremony took
place during the NTCMA Old Time Country
Music Festival in LeMars IA, August 29 -
Sept. 4, 2011.
For more info go to the NTCMA website:
www.orgsites.com/ia/oldtimemusic.
November
20, 2010
KG & The Ranger
awarded the Western Music
Association"Outstanding Entertainer -
Duo" of the year!
We are so thrilled and honored by this
award from our fans and peers in
Western Music. MANY THANKS TO ALL OF
YOU! Winners
are nominated and voted on by the entire
WMA membership. The award was presented in
Albuquerque NM at the WMA Awards Banquet,
the grande finale of the annual Showcase
and Awards Festival. This festival is a
gathering of top notch western music
performers from around the country and
fans from around the world - a “Who’s Who”
event of cowboy musicians. For a complete
list of categories and this year’s WMA
winners please see
www.westernmusic.com/awards-finalists.html.
2009
was KG & The Ranger's 20th Anniversary Our first show
was in 1989 and we did a grand total of 3
shows that year. Last year we racked up
about 100. We passed performance #2000 in
September 2009. We are excited to be on to
the next adventures and travels…
November 21, 2007 -
NEW AWARD!
1st Place winners of the
Western Music Association Harmony Contest.
Another plaque to add to our
"Wall of Fame" - and a great honor to be part
of the Western Music Association's 19th annual
festival and convention. The halls of the
Albuquerque Marriott Hotel rang with Western
Music last weekend as musicians gathered from
all corners of the country (and even from
overseas) to learn about, celebrate and
perform Western Music. To learn more, visit www.westernmusic.org.
October
2007:
2007 is galloping by, with
lots of great musical adventures. We were
privileged to be part of two grand 100th
Birthday Celebrations this year: Gene
Autry's and John Wayne's. Both events drew
folks from all over the country and the
world and were great successes. Our
summer was spent entertaining at County
Fairs and events around Wisconsin, and the
fall took us to South Dakota and Oklahoma.
KG was honored to be one of five finalists
for the Academy of Western Arts "Yodeler of
the Year" (congratulations to Chelsea Beck,
the winner).
November 2005 - Three's
the charm! For the third time, KG & The
Ranger won the Western Music Association title
of "Harmony Yodeling Champions". The contest
was held at the annual Western Music Festival
in Albuquerque NM. Yodel - ay - dee - hoo!
April 2005
- The Wild West Arts Club presented
KG & The Ranger with the 2005 "Montie
Montana Showmanship Award" at the WWAC
16th Annual International Convention in
Claremore OK. This prestigious award is
given to artists chosen by a panel of
judges, including Montie Montana Jr., to
honor excellence and professionalism in
Western Arts performance.
Click
on photo to download printable photo.
September 2004 - TROPHIES
& PARADES!
This must be the month for
awards for KG & The Ranger. We won 3rd
place (out of 16 contestants!) in the
Minnesota Bluegrass Association's duet singing
contest. We took 2nd place with our new parade
rig in the New Lisbon Sesquicentennial
Parade!
New fun
- we're doing parades:
"Shortcut Curly", aka Ranger
Rick, rides "Timber" his giant stick-horse,
with "Tall Tale Tillie", aka KG, riding
shotgun in our mini prairie schooner,
August 2005 update - we won an award for "Most
Original" in the Edgerton Tobacco Heritage Days
Parade.
 
 
Check out our album "When
Cowboys
Dream"
Order
by
mail or online through CD
Baby.com
This is a wonderful collection
of songs - including Ranger Rick's newest
composition Happy Dreaming Cowboy,
plus rare and vintage cowboy songs. We had the
fun of working with the same great musicians
we have recorded with in the past - Rodeo Kate
on fiddle, Dave Fallow on guitar and Steve
Kasprzac on bass. Recorded at Randy's
Recording, our thanks go out to
Randy for all his support and good
advice.
Because of all the requests we
have had for a recording of our
contest-winning yodel, we have included Sagebrush
Symphony complete with our grand finale
"yodeling sampler" ending. So saddle up your
dreams and click over to the Trading
Post for more information....
March 2004
Ranger Rick spins out his
50 foot rope at the Grand Canyon!

July 2003
KG & The Ranger with
Michael Martin Murphey at The Great Circus
Parade Festival:

Milwaukee's Veteran's Park went
"wild" - Wild West, that is! It was a great
festival with a great response to the Wild
West Revue.
December 2002
KG & The Ranger once again
take home honors from the Western Music
Association. They are the 2002
International Harmony Yodeling Champions
- winning this award for the second time (1999
was the first). They also were nominated by
the WMA for the prestigious "Crescendo Award"
which honors accomplishments in Western Music.
Visit the WMA
website for more information about the
WMA and the festival.
September 2002
FAMILY
CD AVAILABLE
For greenhorns to geezers: Tenderfoot
Melody
Roundup, a collection of new and old
cowboy songs for the whole family. With the
help of three nieces and a nephew (the
"Tenderfoot Chorale" ages 5 - 11), we have
recorded 13 songs about the American cowboy
and the West. From original children's songs
like "I Wanna be A Cowboy", by Ranger Rick, to
timeless classics like "My Home's in Montana"
and "Home on the Range", KG & The Ranger's
new album will appeal to listeners of all
ages. Order
form
Cowboy music is "family
friendly" music with wholesome lyrics and a
positive message for kids. KG & The Ranger
have taken their Cowboy Music program to many
schools, preschools and libraries across the
country. This album was inspired by these
experiences and by the fascination kids
everywhere have for the American Cowboy.
February 2002
Meet Short-cut Curly, the
eight-foot tall cowboy and the newest member
of our Western show. Be sure to look for him
to make an appearance at our up-coming
performances - you never know when he'll show
up!
   
December 2001
This year has seen many
accomplishments, including being nominated by
the Academy of Western Artists for Rising Star
of 2001, and also being in the top 5 finalists
for the Western Music Association's new
"Crescendo Award" - a fans' choice award for
excellence in Western Music.
Nov. 6, 1999:
HARMONY YODELING CHAMPIONS!
KG & The Ranger are the 1999
WMA Harmony Yodeling Champions!
www.westernmusic.org
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