Barbara Nelson plays guitar and sings western music in all its forms: traditional, blues, folk, old standards, and swing. She grew up loving the cowboy movies and songs of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. She got her first horse while in the 4th grade and has had horses ever since.
This past February, Barbara was awarded the Will Rogers award by the Academy of Western Artists in a ceremony in Ft. Worth, Texas, as the female western singer of the year. She has been nominated 2 times by the WMA for c.d of the year, and her last album “ Crazy Western Swing” was in the top l0 albums in the Western Way magazine.
She has performed, as a solo, in many different places: Elko at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering; Ellensburg Spirit of the West, Albuquerque at the WMA showcase; Pendleton at the Arts Center and Cattle Baron’s weekend and other places.
Revues have been from Rick Huff, WMA music critic, who wrote that the “principle feature of Nelson’s releases is her rich, big band style of singing. Corinne J. Brown writes in Roundup Magazine that “western music comes alive with her rich, sultry, smooth, sophisticated voice” Corinne writes “she is the real deal, a musical treasure
Barbara and her husband Nels live on a ranch near Pendleton, Oregon where they have raised kids, cattle, sheep, wheat, and horses. Barbara loves to sing and play guitar and it shows in her performances. She has a new cd coming out early in 2014 titled “Bring it on Down”.
I was looking for a new acoustic-electric guitar to play in my shows. I went to Guitar Center in Eugene and tried every kind of guitar. The Breedlove guitar was head and shoulders above the others. As my career progressed, I went to the factory and special ordered my present guitar. Upon playing it, I heard wonderful tones I hadn’t heard before, and it played so easy, it almost played itself. Besides, it is drop dead gorgeous. I love it. Also, Kim Breedlove put some western drawings that I had done into the fretscape, so it’s a one of a kind. I also have a Breedlove Atlas that I take as a back-up with me.
