The music of Wyoming includes a number of well-regarded

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

s, as well as a heritage that includes Native American, European, and American music.

Music history

The first music in Wyoming was played by various Native American tribes in the present-day

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. European settlers later arrived, bringing with them

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

s, and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s because these were relatively lightweight and easy to carry on the frontier. The military played a major role in the historical development of the music of Wyoming. Virtually all posts had a band, and many soldiers learned to play the

bugle The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure. History The bugle developed from early musical or communication ...

and served in the

drum and bugle corps Drum and bugle corps is a name used to describe several related musical ensembles. * Drum and bugle corps (modern), a musical marching unit * Drum and bugle corps (classic), musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units retu ...

. Military music was often the most prominent source of entertainment in many parts of early colonial Wyoming. Outsider musician

Moondog Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), known professionally as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, performer, music theoretician, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer, his ...

lived in Wyoming as a child. Pop punk band

The Lillingtons The Lillingtons were a pop-punk band formed in 1995 in Newcastle, Wyoming. The band is composed of its original members, vocalist and lead guitarist Kody Templeman, drummer Tim O’Hara, bassist Cory Laurence, and later added rhythm guitarist Al ...

were formed in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

in 1995. Rapper Kanye West's 2018 album '' Ye'' was recorded on his ranch in

Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unite ...

, Wyoming and has a picture of the

Teton Range The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park and ...

on the cover.

Notable Wyoming musicians

Spencer Bohren Spencer Ward Bohren (April 5, 1950 – June 8, 2019) was an American roots musician, singer, songwriter, teacher, and visual artist. He played guitar, lap steel guitar, banjo, and percussion, and utilized the roots of American traditional musi ...

– critically acclaimed American Folk and Blues artist. * Chris Ledoux – (d. 2005 in Casper) country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor, and rodeo champion. He attended

Casper College Casper College is a public community college in Casper, Wyoming. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive community colleges in the region. Established in 1945 as Wyoming's first junior college and initially located on the third floor o ...

. He performed at the

Cheyenne Frontier Days Arena The Cheyenne Frontier Days Arena is a 19,000-seat stadium in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States. It annually hosts the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, the evening Night Show, and in the past it hosted chuckwagon A chuckwagon is a type of fiel ...

in '97 and '99. *

Todd Sampson Todd Sampson is a Canadian-born Australian award-winning documentary-maker and television presenter. He appears as a co-host on the marketing discussion program '' Gruen'' and as a guest host on '' The Project''. He wrote, produced and presented ...

– Singer and songwriter behind 'Mountain Apple Epidemic' * Chancey Williams – country music singer-songwriter and former saddle bronc rider. *Landon L. Gow – Folk songwriter behin
All My Nights Are Dreams
who has also worked with Longmont, CO band Idlewhile.

Music institutions

Music institutions in Wyoming include the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra.

Music festivals

Music festivals in Wyoming include the

Cheyenne Frontier Days Cheyenne Frontier Days is an outdoor rodeo and western celebration in the United States, held annually since 1897 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It bills itself as the "World's Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration." The event, claimed to be one of ...

celebration, which dates back to 1896 and draws 300,000 people to

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

at the end of July. The festival features various crafts, dances and food, as well as major country concerts every night. The

has hosted concerts since Johnny Cash in '77.

Shoshoni The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

is home to the Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest, while nearby Riverton hosts the Cowboy Poetry Round-up every October. The town of

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...

is well known for the

Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the ...

, which features various music events throughout the year, while

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

also hosts many music events during the year, especially Old West Days and the Cowboy Ski Challenge. The nearby Grand Targhee Resort in

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

is home to the annual Targhee Fest in mid-July, and their famous Bluegrass Music Festival in August.Byron, pgs. 326 - 330

is also home to the Grand Teton Music Festival, one of the largest festivals in the state.

References

* *

Notes

External links

Wyoming Music Educators Association

Grand Teton Music Festival

Wyoming culture {{music-genre-stub