Daron Little ~ Ranch Cowboy Music
Once in a great while, a songwriter/singer comes along in the Western music
realm who gets it. And while I am not in the least saying that the definition of
Western Music should necessarily be “Ranch Owners and Employees Music” I’m
repeating my stand that says “Write what you know, and write it with honesty,
integrity, and reality.”
Daron Little has done just that. The honesty, integrity and reality of this new
offering, “Ranch Cowboy Music” cuts through the outer layers of his ranch
experiences, right into the gristle and bone of the humanity of ranching life. This is
an earthy, organic, and sometimes tender gathering of the observances of a man
who dares to turn the pages where the past glues itself stubbornly to the present,
and the future could well be uncertain.
“Feelin’ Free” brings to mind the stark, yet gentler writings of Bob Dylan, Corb
Lund, Mike Beck, Kevin Welch or Dave Stamey, and “Baby Calves” blows the
cover right off the bravado of the make-believe cowboy, telling the reality of the
guy who works a cow-calf operation. “Cattle Call-Same Old Game” nods to the
progress necessary to keep ranching going. And “Sweetwater” flows from Daron’s
pen to the vocal sparsity of his arrangement like a flood of unspoken pain and
memories: dreamlike in it’s imagery.
The rhythms and fresh acoustic, slide, and electric guitar rifts surround the
lyrics in a loose, easy going style that feels like an intimate song circle with a
friend, so welcoming, and more like a live performance than a slick production
album. I predict that this CD could be the one that launches Daron Little into the
ranks of the coolest, best loved contemporary Western songwriters.

Juni Fisher
2009 WMA Female Performer of the Year,
2009 WMA Album of the Year
2008 Natl. Cowboy Museum Wrangler Award Winner
2008 WMA Songwriter of the Year

Your voice is so refreshing in the Western genre; it's gritty and fits this style of music well. Your lyrics were well-written, and the instrumentals were contemporary and upbeat. The Western genre needs a fresh, modern sound, and you are among the musicians who are the future. I could see the younger crowd enjoying this. Great job.

-Jennifer Denison
Senior Editor, Western Horseman

I have to say this whole CD is a delight. There were no songs I didn't like. Great back up. Great delivery and content and the best part, you write about what you know. And there are few out there who can, most only think they know what cowboys think about or do. You, my friend, are the real deal and it shows in the lyrics. And you have a great voice and delivery. And you sure got some chops on the riffs and licks with the guitar! All different kinds of styles in here. Fast slow, bluesy, you name it. Anyone who likes any kind of music from Rock to classic would find something in here to like, I think. This CD is top notch, top of the shelf and you don't have to take a back seat to anyone, and I do mean anyone. This is as good as it gets and better than most. An honest look at who and what cowboys and ranchers do and feel and see. I don't know what you were aiming for, but you hit the target dead center as far as I am concerned! Many of the so called "big names" only wish they could write and deliver half as good as this.I am proud to know you and dang proud of you for saying and singing what so many of us feel. And doing it in such a great way!

Robert Dennis
3 Time Performer at the National Cowboy Gathering in Elko, Nevada and author "Ranchers, Rounders, and Ropers"
Rancher and Cowboy.
Evening Daron,
Calving got tough Daron, but that has not stopped me from spending time, a lot of time, listening to 'Ranch Cowboy Music'. I don't think, from one hired ranch hand to another, our kind of music is what you had in mind as far as 'reviewing.'

So, this email is going to be written, from the heart, unedited, because I admire your songwriting gift and the God given ability to coax that guitar into capturing most of the pieces of our life...then you created the words that only a cowboy who has lived it could put to paper. The track list is laid out to perfection. When an album 'takes me along for the ride' from one song to another I am well pleased. Ranch Cowboy Music does just that. I am no musician, however the work you have put into the music, the guitar artistry, is outstanding to turn up and be a part of!

From the simple joy of 'A Cowboys Day' with the good Lord lookin' down right into 'Wyoming', which tells the story of my home town also, I'm getting to ride and work with a friend.

Every man working horseback needs to hear Jessi's Song. 'Jessi's horseback doin' fine' put a lump in my throat that even now is hard to put into words. Beautiful...

Cowpuncher is so well written Daron and 'Long trottin' into his past'(Left Unsaid) is by far one of the best lines I have heard, be it poem or song, that best captures the moments shared in this piece.

Jay Snider's 'Of Horses and Men' will always be one of my favorite poems and you have captured the importance of the theme of his work with your songwriting. Not an easy thing to do. You did it well.

"Sweetwater" to me is the best contemporary hymn I've heard of late, and it hit home, left me full, full, full.

Have I got it right, "same as the punchers of the past,them old ways stay hard and fast" That best describes the work we do, our writing, your singing and songwriting and "Hard and Fast" is the perfect closer to a solid album.

Thank you for sharing your work with me. I hope to do the same.

I have to go check cows Daron, but i couldn't wait any longer to write this down. It is sent to you 'rough cut' to say the least. But it's all there, from the heart, and I stand by it.

With Respect,
Ken Cook
Academy of Western Artists 2010 Male Poet of the Year
2009 Lariat Laureate at CowboyPoetry.com
Cowboy. Poet.

2009 Academy of Western Artists Top Male Vocalist- Western
2010 Western Writers of America - Spur Award for Best Western Song Finalist - "Pete French"



Rick Huff's Best of the West Review

Daron Little "...The Faraway Look"

In his cover letter with the CD, Daron Little wrote "...it would mean a lot if you could review my little ol' CD." Okay, here goes. Daron Little and his "little ol' CD" have so much to commend them I hardly know where to begin.

It's just him, the guitar and some subtle percussion now and then, yet Little's album provides one of the best examples I've encountered of proving you can truly be "Cowboy," "Contemporary" and "acoustic" at the same time. Most of his songs are originals dealing with his own life and experiences cowboying and tributes to others. He's an accomplished singer/songwriter and his guitar work is outstanding. He doesn't move away from the easily "accessible" chords for his listener, but he maximizes the effect through refinements and movement in his acoustic guitar work.

In setting his preferred style, he's picked up only the best from the artists he cites as his inspiration. He's got the integrity of Mike Beck and the Western core experience of Ian Tyson, but he's set out on his own trail with musical assistance of artists as diverse as Muddy Waters, Jack Johnson and Bob Marley. It's already brought him some mainstage gigs at fests and it will bring him many more...guaranteed.

I strongly suggest adding Daron Little's "The Faraway Look" to your collection as I doubt anyone would be disappointed in the purchase of it.

CDs: $15 plus $3 s/h from Daron Little, HC 63 Box 19 B, Saratoga, WY 82331 and credit card purchases and $11 mp3 downloads are possible through his site: www.ranchcowboymusic.com.

-By Rick Huff