From Garth Brooks to George Strait, hear the electrifying soundtrack that captures the grit, glory, and heartache of life in the arena.
Country music and rodeo have a longstanding partnership based on mutual passion and roots. The themes of country music resonate with the heart of the western lifestyle, and rodeo speakers often pay homage to this shared love through blasting ballads from timeless classics to up and comers.
Oklahoma born country superstar Garth Brooks described the “ropes and the reins… the joy and the pain…the bulls and the blood…the dust and the mud...” in his hit song “Rodeo” and then went on to record a duet called “Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy” with his cowboy friend Chris LeDoux in a light hearted joke about cowboy ways. An incredible bronc rider and all around western cowboy, Chris LeDoux started selling CDs on the back of his pickup truck after a rodeo, having no idea the music would connect with his buddies enough to make him famous and put him on the big concert stage. After LeDoux’s untimely death, Brooks recorded a tribute song “Good Ride Cowboy” for his friend. LeDoux himself recorded countless songs that spoke to the western way of life from “Horsepower” to “This Cowboy’s Hat.” Today, Chris LeDoux’s son Ned LeDoux carries on his father’s tradition of singing stories about the western way of life.
Another superstar and true cowboy and rodeo competitor (team roper) himself, George Strait, also spoke of the rodeo life and ranching days in many of his songs. “Amarillo by Morning” and “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” speak to the strain that rodeo life can put on relationships and families but the underlying drive that keeps those who love it pursuing it.
Newcomer to the music scene Cody Johnson has secured his place in the rodeo world as a team roper and a country crooner, with ballads like “Dear Rodeo” offering thanks for all the sport has done in his life. Some performers live the lifestyle themselves, and others dream of it. Songs like Toby Keith’s “Should Have Been a Cowboy” brought smiles and cranked volume dials to rodeo fans worldwide who had themselves dreamed of their day in the saddle.
Songs can also serve as funny stories, with classics like “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” or “The Cowboy in the Continental Suit,” telling of those moments you’d call your buddies to tell them about and putting it into catchy phrases. Other songs are emotional tributes, such as “July in Cheyenne (Song for Lane’s Momma)” by Aaron Watson, in honor of the late champion bull rider Lane Frost who passed away in the arena one awful July day, or bull rider Justin McBride’s song “Tough” about the toughness of a single mother and those facing real life challenges compared to the toughness it takes to climb on a bull.
Specific subgenres like Red Dirt Country or the more folk, mellow sound of Canadian rancher Ian Tyson proves that the message resonates just as effectively in a variety of melodic deliveries
While rodeo athletes may use rock, rap, pop, alternative, or other genres to hype themselves up for a run, many find comfort in the words of these songs that speak to the shared struggles and joys of the rodeo world. And the good news–there are plenty of them out there!