On Saturday, January 12th, Hall of Fame Western Swing DJ Billy Bowles announced the Academy of Western Artists’(AWA) five finalist nominees for the 23rd annual Will Rogers Awards on his Swinging Country Radio & Internet Show on KSSL-FM in Lubbock, Texas. Bowles revealed that the Burlington-based western swing band, Rick & The All-Star Ramblers featuring Taryn Noelle, were nominated by Western Swing DJs from around the world as one of five finalists in all five of the AWA western swing award categories. Here are their nominations by category:
• Rick & The All-Star Ramblers - Western Swing Duo/Group of the Year
• Rick & The All-Star Ramblers - Western Swing Album of the Year (Taryn Noelle Swings)
• Taryn Noelle - Western Swing Song Of The Year (Swing Of The Range)
• Taryn Noelle - Western Swing Female Vocalist of The Year
• Rick Norcross - Western Swing Male Vocalist of The Year
The Final Five nominees are chosen by the Academy of Western Artist members made up of Western Swing DJs from all around the United States and western Europe. The winners will be honored at the 23rd Annual Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Awards Ceremony at the Brown Lupton Ballroom on the campus of Texas Christian University on March 15th in Fort Worth, TX, the birthplace of Western Swing music.
“Being named as one the final five Will Rogers Award nominees is an honor. Being nominated in all five western swing categories is a blessed miracle,” said band leader Rick Norcross, after hearing the news from Lubbock via the internet around noon on Saturday.
“I am so very proud of this terrific band. For us to receive this national recognition, being considered and rewarded with these nominations beside some truly wonderful western swing musicians, is an amazing and unexpected honor,” Norcross added.
This marks the third time in five years that Rick & The All-Star Ramblers were named finalists for “Western Swing Duo/Group of the Year” honors. They have been nominated for “Western Swing Album of the Year” twice and they brought home the Will Rogers “Western Swing Song of the Year” award from Dallas in 2015 for the Norcross-penned song “You Can’t Make It Up.”
Rick & The All-Star Ramblers are Rick Norcross, band leader, vocalist and rhythm guitar, who celebrated his 55th year in music in 2018. Taryn Noelle from Stowe, is the band’s heart melting female vocalist and the 2017 recipient of the Ellen McCulloch-Lovell Award in Arts Education from the Vermont Arts Council & the Governor of Vermont.
Taryn’s 2018 album, “Taryn Noelle Swings,” was released in celebration of her 10 years and nearly 100 concert appearances with Rick & The All-Star Ramblers. In addition to the AWA “Western Swing Album of the Year,” nomination, Vermont music writer Art Edelstein named “Taryn Noelle Swings” the “Best Singer Album of the Year” in the Barre Times Argus TAMMIE Awards published on December 30th.
The other longtime members of the Ramblers are Dono Schabner from Morrisville, playing the stellar lead guitar and Doug Reid, from Wheelock playing fiddle. From Burlington, Charlie MacFadyen plays keyboards, the accordion and lap steel and is the music arranger of all the songs on the Ramblers recordings. Dave Rowell, of East Craftsbury, plays bass, holds down the bottom end of the band and provides the utra-smooth vocals and the harmonies that sweeten the Ramblers sound. On the drum kit from Starksboro, Ian Koeller, a second generation Rambler, keeps the tempo snappy and the beat steady as a rock.
The Academy of Western Artists, based in Gene Autry, OK, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and preserve, “not only our western past, but also our contemporary western future. We are in our 23rd year of the Will Rogers Western Awards recognizing the best in western artists in three disciplines: Trappings, Entertainment and Media,” according to AWA Executive Director Bobby Newton. For further information about the Academy of Western Artists, visit their web site at awaawards.org and for further information about Rick & The All-Star Ramblers, visit rickandtheramblers.com.