If you've heard of Toby Keith, let me introduce you to another blue collar cowboy, Chris Ledoux.
Chris was a cowboy by every sense of the word. He was active on the Rodeo scene out west and had a side career as a musician. He was so accomplished as a cowboy on the rodeo circuit, he was a world champion in 1976.
To help pay his expenses before he won in 1976, he would sell his music out of the back of his pickup truck. After retiring from bronco riding in 1980, he was now devoted to his music full time.
Never signing with a record label helped him maintain his independence and creative process but it did hurt his exposure on a national level. That would change in 1989 when Garth Brooks mentioned him in a song. Soon after Chris became a household name in the country music scene.
Sadly Ledoux passed away from cancer in 2005 but his music lives on through his son, Ned.
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Chris Ledoux - Wyoming Cowboy, A Collection
Capitol Nashville, 2021
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