Album Notes

Organized in May of 2003, Judy Coder and Pride of the Prairie has quickly gained notoriety as the "hottest cowboy band in Kansas." The four piece acoustic ensemble performs western swing, traditional music of the American west, and newer music closely tied to the North American cowboy. Their repertoire includes unique arrangements of some of the biggest hits of the genre, including "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds", "Red River Valley", and "Cool Water".

All of the band members are fine instrumentalists and fine cowboy singers as well. In November of 2003, the group competed at the annual international convention of the Western Music Association (WMA) with their performance of Judy Coder's stunning four-part harmony arrangement of "Ghost Riders in the Sky", and with that were named WMA International Harmony Singing Champions. They earned the title a second time in 2005.

The band is led by Judy Coder (vocals, rhythm guitar). Judy writes the musical arrangements for the group. Raised listening to opera and formally trained as a lyric soprano, Judy's impressive three-octave vocal range is not only great for the classics, but ideal for cowboy style yodeling. She has received several awards for her yodeling, including being named the 1999 Pasty Montana National Yodeling Champion and the 2001 WMA International Yodeling Champion. She was nominated in 2002 by the Academy of Western Artists (AWA) for Yodeler of the Year, and has been nominated by the WMA in 2003 for Entertainer of the Year and in 2004 for Female Vocalist of the Year and the Crescendo Award. The purity of Judy's voice makes the music of Dale Evans and Patsy Montana come alive with new beauty and resonance.

Stan Tichenor (lead guitar, vocals, mandolin) is the group's genuine working cowboy; he owns and operates a cattle ranch in Jefferson County, Kansas. Although very active in bluegrass music, Stan's roots in cowboy music are deep. Fans frequently request Stan's version of "Cattle Call" which he learned from his father while growing up on their Jackson County stock farm. Stan's singing is second only to his fine flat picking.

The group’s fiddle player, Alan Lawton (fiddle, vocals, guitar), has been working in the music business for over thirty years. Alan comes from a Kansas family of country and bluegrass musicians and as a young man struck off into the world of rock and roll and classic country music. He has played in clubs throughout the country, leading bands including The Alan Lawton Band, Spellbound, and The Shake. An outstanding singer, Alan's renderings of "Red River Valley" and "El Paso" are always crowd pleasers. Then, of course, there is his fiddle and "Orange Blossom Special."

Phil Thompson (bunkhouse bass, vocals) tells an occasional humorous story about his "Uncle Odd" and sings high tenor and low bass harmonies. Phil's vocal range is as long as he is tall. His clean bass lines and enjoyment of playing with the group shine through each and every performance.

The group's programs include acoustic western and western swing music from Coder's solo albums, along with great group harmonies reminiscent of the Sons of the Pioneers. Judy Coder and Pride of the Prairie enjoy frequent appearances to sellout crowds throughout Kansas, and are booking special appearances across the country and in Europe.

They have released three recordings on the Santa Rita Records label. Their first album, "By Request", was released in March of 2004 and nominated by the WMA for Traditional Western Album of the Year. Their second, "Western Sky", was released in May of 2005; it was nominated by the WMA for Western Swing Album of the Year, and included Alan Lawton's "I Wish I Loved Texas Like You", which reached #1 on the western music charts. A third album, "Singin' Down the Road, was released in March of 2007, and has appeared several times on the USA's western music charts.