Award-winning yodeling plus "charm and style" make this husband and wife duo from Wisconsin truly special. But their harmony yodeling isn't the only thing that distinguishes KG & The Ranger. They have also won awards for showmanship, rope tricks and their creative harmony singing. Their mission is to keep vintage cowboy songs alive. They are always on the lookout for the lost gems of cowboy music and love to perform these rare songs as well as the familiar classics. Throw in some good old-fashioned humor and a spinning lariat and their live show is guaranteed to make you smile.
As Ranger Doug of The Riders In The Sky said: "They sing with charm and style, they yodel spectacularly, choose great material with unerring taste, and write fine new songs as well. Their growing and continuing success is well deserved."
Their recordings faithfully reproduce their live sound, with the added plus of some terrific backup talent on fiddle, bass, and lead guitar. Karen Howell, a.k.a Rodeo Kate, is the fiddler on all their albums except Tenderfoot Melody Roundup (which has no additional accompaniment). She has awards to her credit, too, including the Western Music Association's "Instrumentalist of the Year". Her imaginative Texas Swing style fiddling adds a great pure Western dimension to KG & The Ranger's albums.
Karen Gogolick (KG) and RIck Roltgen (The Ranger) met over 20 years ago at a community barn dance and started playing together in an old-time string band. It quickly became obvious that they both loved classic cowboy songs, and in 1989 the duo KG & The Ranger was born. Many years of musical experience, from folk to barbershop, combined to create their present unique Western sound. From 3 shows in their first year, they now average 100 performances per year and travel all over the country. National performances have included Silver Dollar City (Branson Missouri), Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival (California), Wild West Expo at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum (Oklahoma), the Cowboy Symposium at the Booth Museum (Cartersville Georgia), National Festival of the West (Phoenix Arizona), the Ozarks Folk Center (Mountain View Arkansas), and many others.
Versatile, fun, soulful and creative - KG & The Ranger will take you on an unforgettable musical ride through the sagebrush!
AWARDS:
Harmony Singing (Western Music Association)
Harmony Yodeling Champions (Western Music Association, 1999, 2002, 2005)
Montie Montana Award For Showmanship (Wild West Arts Club)
Harmony Singing award (National Traditional Country Music Association)
Duo Singing award (Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association)
NOMINATIONS:
Rising Star Award nominees (Academy of Western Artists)
Crescendo Award nominees (Western Music Association)
Best Western Group nominees (Academy of Western Artists)
Yodeler of the Year finalist (Academy of Western Artists)
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