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The
Circuit Riders have been singing, playing, yodeling, and harmonizing
together on the traditional trail tunes, silver screen melodies, and
original Western music for over 20 years. Sharon and Kate,
accompanied by Brad on the bass, create a vocal duo that covers many
facets of Western music. This group has proven consistently over the
years to be a real crowd pleaser. Count on lively instrumentation,
solid harmony, musical variety, and zany humor.
The closest Brad
Bothwell got to
ranching was the milk cow on the
family farm near Grand Junction, CO. Beyond that, he took care of the
peach orchard and won't touch a peach to this day. While he was in high
school,
the family moved to Pueblo, CO. In the Circuit Riders' early days, Brad
played bass for the group and moved all the heavy equipmnet. Brad has
recently switched over to the stand-up bass and continues moving around
all the heavy equipment.
Western musicians love getting a stage where Brad has the sound
controls
because they know that he knows and understands what Western music is
supposed to
sound like. He has done sound for many entertainers all across the
spectrum including Riders In The Sky and the Sons of the San Joaquin
and many festivals all over the map including the Festival of the West
in Scottsdale, AZ and the Cody Stampede right here in Cody, WY (many
times overseeing multiple stages).
Brad's
wife,
Sharon, has a few more roots in the ranching and western way of
life. A
Norwegian ancestor of hers came West on the Oretgon Trail. In Nebraska,
she has relatives that are still in the ranching business. Her father,
who recently passed away, was a Baptist preacher for nigh on 50 years,
also had some cowboy experience in his
youth. As a child, she spent time with her aunt and uncle who were
missionaries on the Navajo reservation in northwestern New Mexico.
After many years of living in the town of Phillpsburg, KS, her family
moved to Pueblo, CO while she was in high school. She and Brad met in
church there and eventually married, moved to Aurora, CO and in the
early 1980's adopted a child and met the others that would form the
Circuit Riders. Sharon learned the banjo and harmonica and has recently
picked up the mandolin. She has created a character, "Sarah," based on
her studies of diaries written pioneer women, which has been
incorporated into an educational, interactive, dramatic presentation
that she and Kate have performed many times for schools, museums, and
Western events.
Kate Taylor makes no
claim
to ranching history. Her
father served in
the U.S. Air Force, which kept the family moving all over the country
until she was 16, when they made their final settling in the Denver
area. While they were living in North Dakota, Kate fell in love with
her father's old 78's (vinyl records) of the Sons of the Pioneers. She
shunned the popular rock music and learned the harmony parts on these
recodings, dreaming of one day singing in a similar group, perhaps one
where women sang the harmonies. She learned to play piano, and when the
Circuit Riders began as a Gospel trio, she played the accompaniment and
sang harmony. The group gradualy shifted into the Western genre while
Kate learned guitar. Since then, she has written a number of songs,
developed educational programs with Sharon,
and written educational materials for various Western events.