R.W. Hampton
Western Music & Cowboy Songs

R.W. Hampton was born to be a cowboy. Although he grew up in a Texas town, he has lived and worked on ranches all over the American West. His start came with a summer wrangling job at Philmont Scout Ranch in the mountains of Cimarron, New Mexico. The work fit him. Whether driving cows, shoeing horses, or leading horse rides in the high country, he knew it was the life he was destined for.
He worked at Philmont for three years and then took a riding job at the Red River Ranch near Springer, New Mexico the summer after high school. His parents were anxious for him to get a college education, which he tried, but soon found he was more interested in riding a horse than attending class. Consequently, he left school, loaded his saddle and headed for the Spade Ranch in New Mexico.
Like a lot of young cowboys, he got the urge to see new ranges after a few years. From there he went to the IL Ranch of northern Nevada and then back to New Mexico to the 4T and K Cross Ranches in the mountains west of Carlsbad. Next he spent three years at the Quien Sabe and LS Ranches in the Texas Panhandle where he started colts along with taking his place among the cowboy crew. Although he relished life on the Canadian River ranches, he still had the urge to drift which sent him to the ZX Ranch of the Oregon desert and then the Pickerel Land and Cattle Company of Wyoming.
Among other talents, R.W. played guitar and sang cowboy and western songs, an interest he had pursued since high school. On the ranches where worked he wrote songs based on his experiences. Most of the time he played and sang to entertain in bunkhouses and at roundup wagons; but periodically he was invited to sing in public. As time drew on, he received more invitations, many of which paid considerably more than cowboy wages.
As a result, R.W. came to a point where he had to make a decision. The demands of performing while holding a ranch job were much too difficult. In 1988 he decided to see if he could make a living playing music. The decision was monumental because he went from a ranch job, earning $800 a month with a house and beef, to an uncertain attempt to make a living in a new career. Invitations came sporadically at first, but eventually grew to include performances at rodeos, cowboy poetry gatherings, performing arts centers, churches, corporate events, and private functions.
In 1985 he added to his resume when he worked in Kenny Rogers’ movie Wild Horses. The role was a treat for him as it gave him opportunity to work with Ben Johnson, Richard Farnsworth, and Buck Taylor. He has appeared in ten movies since including The Tracker with Kris Kristopherson and two other Kenny Rogers films, The Gambler III and a documentary of the American cowboy.
Along the way R.W. has performed all over the United States including The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has also appeared at cowboy events in Australia and Brazil.
His performing and song writing has been recognized by his peers of the Academy of Western Artists five different times. In 1996, he received the organization’s first Will Rogers Awards honoring him with both Male Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. A year later, his album, Ridin’ the Dreamland Range, was recognized as the group’s Album of the Year. Since that time, he was named Male Vocalist of the Year in 1999 and 2002. His most recent accomplishment was being named the Western Music Association’s Top Male performer for 2004.
One of Hampton’s most creative efforts is the one-man stage play, The Last Cowboy, he wrote with his brother, Jeff, and playwright Dave Marquis in 1993. Set in the year 2025, R.W. plays an aging cowboy who recounts the history of the American cowboy through monologue and song. The show has received high praise not only for Hampton’s performance, but for his insightful interpretation of the cowboy past as well. In addition, his album, The Last Cowboy – His Journey, which was inspired by the play, received a Wrangler Award in 2000 from the National Cowboy Museum and Western Heritage Center for Excellence in Dramatic Presentation and Original Music Composition. Today R.W. lives with his wife, Lisa, and their family on their Clearview Ranch at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains south of Cimarron, New Mexico. He has nine albums to his credit over the past 20 years. In between headlining at cowboy poetry gatherings and western music productions across the nation, he spends most of his time at the ranch doing the work he loves. His life is guided by his faith, his love for his family, and his desire to share cowboy life with his audiences.

Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	RW began writing songs, like the cowboys of yesterday, while on horseback.
Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	Here's a terrific gospel collection of, in R.W. Hampton's own words, "songs whose words have gotten me through."
Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	The production on this one, by the incomparable Rich O'Brien, is elegantly simple, with perfect instrumentation and back-up vocals supporting R.W.'s superior, strong, melodic voice.
Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	What a wonderful tribute to the cowboy, by far the greatest hero the world has ever seen.
Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	You always get your money's worth with a Hampton album. It's just plain beautiful cowboy music.
Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	Play this CD and relive the feelings, emotions, and lives of those intrepid adventurers who gave America it’s legendary western heritage.
Click on photo for more Information and to listen to sound samples.	"I believe" is R.W. Hampton's second cowboy Christian CD release and contains eleven Christian songs in the cowboy-style.