The shipping crew at Cimarron Sounds is excited to tell you that R.W. will be returning to Elko, Nevada, for the 2012 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

Held from Monday, January 30, through Saturday, February 4, 2012, the 28th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering will feature several performances by R.W. On Thursday, February 2, R.W. will perform with Rolf Flake and Rod Taylor for a program titled "Saddles and Salsa" at the G Three Bar Theatre at 1:15 p.m. On Friday, February 3, R.W. will have a solo performance at the Flag View Auxiliary Auditorium at 1:30 p.m. Also on Friday, February 3, R.W. and fellow cowboys such as Michael Martin Murphey, Waddie Mitchell, Barry Corbin, and more will perform the songs and poetry of Charlie Goodnight at the Elko Convention Center Auditorium at 6:30 p.m, and after the performance R.W. will sign autographs in the lobby. On Saturday, February 4, R.W. will perform as part of the Gathering of Praise And Worship at the First Presbyterian Church at 9 a.m. Also on Saturday, February 4, R.W. will perform alongside R.P. Smith, Skip Gorman, Connie Dover and the Waddie Pals in a showcase of "the three Rs: rhythm, rhyme and ranching" at the G Three Bar Theater at 8:30 p.m. After Saturday evening's performance, R.W. will sign autographs in the Western Folk Center lobby.

Enjoy a great week of all things cowboy!

The Western Music Association has announced its 2011 Hall of Fame inductees, R.W. Hampton and Vaughn Monroe. The 2011 WMA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 19, during the WMA Awards Show at the Historic KiMo Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

R. W. Hampton is one of the leading Western Entertainers in America today. Blessed with a rich baritone voice, R.W. has a quality of genuineness about him that resonates when he’s on stage, in person or just through the words of his songs. For R.W. has lived what he sings about, and the world of early mornings, hard work, rough horses, maverick cattle and new ranges fits him.

R.W. has thirteen albums to his credit. His peers in the Western entertainment industry have honored R.W.’s performing and songwriting fourteen times, most recently with a 2011 Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Museum and Western Heritage Center in the Outstanding Original Western Composition category for his song Shortgrass from his most recent CD, Austin To Boston. Hampton is also a talented actor, having made over a dozen film and television appearances, and an acclaimed playwright, winning a National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Wrangler Award for the soundtrack of his one man play, The Last Cowboy – His Journey.

“The West - its culture and especially its music - is known the world over as being distinctly and uniquely American. When I think of the Western Music Association’s Hall of Fame and the long list of greats that have gone before me, I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude and humility to be included in their shadow,” said Hampton of his upcoming induction.

R.W. lives with his wife and their family on their Clearview Ranch at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains south of Cimarron, New Mexico. When he’s not headlining cowboy concerts and western music events across the nation, R.W. spends most of his time at the ranch doing the work he loves. His life is guided by his faith, his love for his family, and his desire to share cowboy life with his audiences.

Vaughn Monroe was a baritone singer, band leader and actor who recorded the best-selling version of Stan Jones’ cowboy classic, “Riders in the Sky,” in 1949.

Founded in 1989, the Western Music Association is an organization that encourages and supports the preservation, performance and composition of historic, traditional and contemporary music of The American West. The WMA Hall of Fame was established in 1989 to honor those individuals or groups of individuals who have made significant contributions in the area of Western Music composition, performance and history.

Good news! R.W.’s latest album Austin To Boston was recently reviewed in the September edition of Western Horseman magazine.

The magazine’s Jennifer Denison praised the album for its song selection and stated that “Hampton’s rich, velvety baritone voice has never sounded better.”

Click here to read the review.

If you haven’t heard this wonderful album yet, you can listen to samples from each track here. You can also add it to your collection of R.W.’s music here.

R.W. will be performing at a FREE Chuckwagon Gathering at the McVey Arena in the Payne County Expo Center in Stillwater, OK. The free Chuckwagon dinner and free concert are meant to welcome all those in Stillwater to attend the Oklahoma Fellowship of Cowboy Churches' 2011 Ranch Rodeo finals on Saturday, October 1.

The McVey Arena is located at 4518 Expo Circle. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. The event is brought to you by Atwoods Ranch & Home, Cross Brand Cowboy Church and the Oklahoma Fellowship of Cowboy Churches.

For more information, call Pastor Tyler McDowell at 580-471-1724 or Dee Wynn at 405-372-8330. You can also visit the Oklahoma Fellowship of Cowboy Church's website. After entering the website, click on "Member Church Events" at the bottom on the left hand side of the home page. Then link to the event information by clicking on "OFCC Ranch Rodeo Finals."

R.W. will be appearing on RFD-TV's show 'In The Bunkhouse with Red Steagall' for the third time this year. 

Tune in on Wednesday, July 27, at noon (CDT) and 10 pm (CDT), or on the following Sunday morning, July 31, you can DVR it at 4:30 am CDT.  It's a whole new show with plenty of great stories and songs between old friends.

For more information on RFD-TV's show 'In The Bunkhouse,' click here.

The Shipping Crew at Cimarron Sounds is pleased to report that R.W.’s Shortgrass, the Wrangler award winning latest single from his current international CD release, Austin To Boston, has just finished an impressive three week ascent to Number One on the European Hotdisc Top 40 country chart.

"R.W. Hampton is back at the top with his latest single "Shortgrass" which climbs from 2 to 1," writes Hotdisc editor Stuart Cameron, "to reach the summit on the Hotdisc Top 40 after three weeks. The traditional country and western act is a cowboy for real and when he appeared in the UK in late 2010 he won over many new fans. His music certainly strikes a chord with European DJs..."

In fact, Shortgrass is R.W.'s third #1 on the Hotdisc chart from Austin To Boston, following the previous chart topping successes of Cowboy's Prayer and Driftin' Again.

Congratulations, R.W.!

The Shipping Crew at CIMARRON SOUNDS

The Shipping Crew at Cimarron Sounds is pleased to report that R.W.’s song, Shortgrass, has been honored by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum as this year’s Western Heritage Award winner in the Outstanding Original Western Composition category. R.W. received his award, an impressive bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback (known officially and affectionately as the Wrangler) and performed the song, the final track on his critically-acclaimed current CD, Austin To Boston, before a star-studded SRO audience at the 50th Annual Western Heritage Awards black-tie gala held this past Saturday evening, April 16, 2011, at the Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Also honored for their participation in the project were the album’s producers, Joe DiBlasi and Gary Bright. Click here to view photos of the event.

Commenting on his Wrangler award, R.W. explained, “I deeply appreciate this recognition for Shortgrass. It’s a special song to me. I wrote it as a tribute to my son, Cooper, and his best buddy, Dawson. They joined the Marines together during high school. Over the years, they’ve set foot in many countries and worn out their boots both overseas and around this great nation. They’ve always expressed their desire to return someday to our shortgrass country. Shortgrass was written in their honor and I accept this award in their honor.”

R.W.'s Wrangler Award is the latest in a series of recent indicators that suggest  his career is on the move. Critical response to Austin To Boston has been remarkable: “R.W. Hampton has released many outstanding albums over the years. Oklahoma: Where the West Remains and The Last Cowboy: His Journey are considered among the best the Western genre has to offer. Austin to Boston, his latest, raises the bar again.” (American Cowboy, February-March, 2011.)  “The world's number one cowboy country singer is back with a new collection of songs that will thrill existing fans and bring in thousands of new ones, too...The fourteen songs on Austin To Boston represent a tremendous achievement for R.W. Hampton.”  (CountryChart.com, November, 2010.) R.W.'s fan base is growing significantly: at last count, his Facebook Fan Page numbered more than 28,000 “Likers.” And he's been having notable success in the United Kingdom as well: Driftin’ Again, the second European single from Austin To Boston, topped Britain’s Hot Disc Country chart for eight weeks in late 2010 and by virtue of that chart performance was named the chart’s Most Popular Song of the Year.

First presented in 1961, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Western Heritage Awards were established to honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. Among others, this year’s Wrangler Award honorees include the Coen Brothers film True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfield, named Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture, and the television film Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, Catherine O’Hara and David Strathairn, named Outstanding Television Feature Film.

This is R.W.'s third Wrangler Award. In 2000, he received the Director’s Award for Excellence in Dramatic Presentation and Original Music Composition for his album The Last Cowboy - His Journey. In 2008, he received the year’s Outstanding Traditional Western Album award for his monumental CD project, R.W. Hampton Presents: Oklahoma...Where The West Remains.

Congratulations, R.W.!

The Shipping Crew at CIMARRON SOUNDS

Photo: www.ownbeyphotography.com

R.W. has a brand new blog post, "The Homecoming of the 2/9."

Click here to read a father's touching account of his reunion with his oldest son, Marine Corps Platoon Sgt. Cooper Hampton, as "Coop" returns back to America after his recent deployment in Afghanistan .

"Saddle horses, catch twine, trophy buckles, and wide-open spaces – cowboy is a state of mind, a commitment, an ideology." R.W. Hampton

What’s more Cowboy – granola or baseball? A fiddle or a dog sweater? Sunglasses or the Coen Brothers? Prune juice or paisley? Sweet potato fries or a steel string guitar?

R.W. ranks 20 items on a"more Cowboy/less Cowboy" scale in the April/May issue of American Cowboy magazine. Read page 15 of the magazine to find out if you agree with R.W.'s rankings!

The Shipping Crew at Cimarron Sounds is pleased to announce that R.W. now has more than 25,000 Facebook Friends/Fans!

To celebrate this exciting news and say a special thanks to everyone whose "power of suggestion" helped make it happen,the Crew is having a 25-hour sale at R.W.’s store starting tonight, December 6, at 8:00pm CST and continuing until tomorrow night at 9:00pm CST.

All Austin To Boston items will be on sale at 25% off their regular price!

Congratulations, R.W. and thanks to all your Facebook Friends and Fans for their tremendous support!

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On Saturday, February 4, R.W. will perform as part of the Gathering of Praise And Worship at the First Presbyterian Church at 9 a.m.

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On Friday, February 3, R.W. will have a solo performance at the Flag View Auxiliary Auditorium at 1:30 p.m.

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On Thursday, February 2, R.W. will perform with Rolf Flake and Rod Taylor for a program titled "Saddles and Salsa" at the G Three Bar Theatre at 1:15 p.m.

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Join R.W. for the Western Music Association's 2011 Awards Show at the historic KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque, celebrating the 100th birthday of Roy Rogers and featuring performances by the Bar D Wranglers (with 2010 WMA Pioneer Trail Award Recipient Cy Scarborough & 2010 WMA Crescendo Award Winner Richard Lee Cody), the 2011 WMA Song of the Year Nominees and, of course, R.W. himself, the 2011 WMA Hall of Fame Inductee.

For more information on the entire 2011 WMA Showcase & Award Show go to: http://www.westernmusic.com/

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R.W. returns to Benton, Kansas, to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the opening of The Prairie Rose Chuckwagon. This is sure to be a very special concert that you won't want to miss!

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R.W.'s first time at the Williamsburg Film Festival includes a performance at the Saturday Night Dinner Show on March 9, as well as other performances and appearances throughout the weekend. Visit http://www.williamsburgfilmfestival.org for more information.

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R.W. returns to Pigeon Forge's Saddle Up for several concert appearances including:

Thursday, February 23 - "An Intimate Evening with R.W. Hampton" at 6:00 p.m. Venue TBD.

Friday, February 24 - Performance at 3:00 p.m. Venue TBD.

Saturday, February 25 - Performance at 6:00pm. Venue TBD.

Sunday, February 26 - Performance at Cowboy Church at Stages West at 10 a.m.