R.P. composes himself amidst the fracas as family foreman. Family togetherness, ranch style. R.P. performs "June" during the "I Just Wanna Be a Comic Cowboy" show at the 36th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

R.P. Smith
Broken Bow, NE
R.P. Smith is a fourth-generation rancher from Custer County, Nebraska: the Pine Crest Ranch has been in his family since 1906. Over 30 years ago, after seeing two of the world’s most noted cowboy poets on the Johnny Carson Show, R.P. was inspired to write his own piece of cowboy poetry. A few years later he was given the opportunity to share some of his work at the first Old West Days Celebration, Nebraska’s cowboy poetry gathering, and the ball really started rolling from there. He is still excited enough about ranching that it pulls him out of bed pretty early every day; he enjoys the challenges that running a ranch offers, and he is a lifelong student of the relationships between water, grass, sunshine and livestock.

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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center’s Laurena Moren Theater in Elko, NV, on Feb. 1, 2020.

Made possible by McMullen, McPhee, & Company, LLC and by the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

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