Presented by Jean Prescott

They put curtains on the windows and planted flowers; they buried their babies and milked the cows; and they still break ice and warm newborn calves by their kitchen stoves.  Ranch women/wives, as Red Steagall says, are the cement that holds the west together and for sure they hold the family ranches together and have since ranching began.  However, very little has been said about their roles over the years.  Most city folks have no idea what goes on in the day to day life of a ranch wife.

Ranch Women, Then and Now, brings these women to life for those who do not know her and at the same time will validate ranch women and bring their often colorful lives to the forefront in the cowboy poetry and music genre.  I will tell their stories and share the process of how their experiences come to be poems and others become songs.  In many of the songs I will share the lyrics are written by ranch wives and I have put those lyrics to music, bringing about a very enjoyable way to learn more about these exceptional women. 

It is my goal to honor ranch women by sharing their incredible stories in song and at the same time paint an enjoyable educational musical picture of them for those who may not know the important role ranch wives have played in the west.  Folks will come away from Ranch Women Then and Now with a great deal of respect for ranch women.  And, they will hopefully be more connected to their own western roots.