Singer, Songwriters

Martha Scanlan, Tongue River Valley, Montana  /  Singer, Songwriter and Ranch Hand

Martha Scanlan is a ranch hand and singer-songwriter who is working to show the importance of preserving agricultural life and landscape through her highly original song project, Tongue River Stories. She grew up in the upper Midwest, went to college in Montana then moved back to Tennessee to play old-time music. After playing music at a friend’s wedding on a family ranch in southeast Montana, Martha couldn’t get the place out of her head and ended up moving to the ranch and working there. She still tours the country as a professional folk singer.

Visit www.marthascanlan.com.

Sandy James of Dillon, Montana  /  Rancher, Songwriter, and Fiddle Teacher

Sandy is a rancher and songwriter who pens highly satirical songs somewhat in the style of Tom Lehrer, but with themes that include health care, the environment, and the traverses of rural life and ranching. Besides running a fifth generation ranch out of Dillon, Sandy and his wife Jeannie head-up the Dillon Jr. Fiddlers. We asked Sandy James, “Do great things come from rural places?” Sandy answers this question in 38 seconds.

Christian Parrish Takes the Gun ( Supaman ) of Crow Agency  /  Crow Hip-Hop Artist

Supaman grew up the son of alcoholic parents. A Crow Indian, he remembers hearing Hip-Hop music as a kid, and eventually started writing his own songs when he was 20 years old. By then, he’d moved back to the reservation after living with foster parents, and moved in with his grandfather. Gangster rap guided his life until he had a profound life-changing event, finding God. Visit www.reverbnation.com/greasyface

Stephanie Davis of Columbus, Montana

Western Singer/Songwriter and Writer

Stephanie Davis was born and raised in Montana. Taking to music and songwriting early, she made her way to Nashville where she wrote some major country songs for the likes of Garth Brooks, Martina McBride and Waylon Jennings. After success, she moved home to reclaim her ranching birthright and find inspiration for her writing on the land. She continues to tour, and is a regular on “Prairie Home Companion” and the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Lately, she’s taken up script writing and wailing on gaily-colored Fender guitars. Visit www.stephaniedavis.net online.

Kier Atherton and Jessica Kilroy, Trego, Montana  /  Singers and Songwriters

These two make up the musical group, Pterodactyl Plains. Although their primary audience is in Europe, where they regularly tour to adoring crowds, they find their creative energy in rural Montana. They were raised in northwest Montana, and went to school together where Kier’s father was the music teacher.