WPAA
R.P. Smith, Humorist and Cowboy Poet, is a fourth generation rancher from Broken Bow, Neb. In the ranching game it never hurts to have a little side-gig and for over 30 years humor and cowboy poetry have been a creative outlet for Smith. He produces and records his weekly radio show from the Pine Crest Ranch, his home place.
The Western Plains Arts Association resumes their second half of the group’s 52nd season by showcasing R.P. Smith at 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 23, at the Rawlins County High School Auditorium in Atwood. Admission is by WPAA season ticket or adults $10 and students $5 at the door. The Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Logan, Kansas, has provided WPAA special grants this season.
Smith greatly appreciates the opportunities to entertain that have allowed him to participate in events in 18 U.S. states and several in Canada. The last couple of years have been pretty slow for entertaining, which has given him a chance to start a few more projects around the ranch, yet he is not sure things will ever get slow enough for him to finish any of them.
His weekly radio program “Homegrown” airs on several stations across Nebraska and Texas, and is also available on the web at rpsmith.us. Smith is credited to date with more than 900 three-to-six minute episodes of his radio program, most of which may be heard on his website. He has produced several books, CDs and DVD’s featuring his best works. “Home grown humor, music and poetry that’ll make you smile, laugh & cry.”
During his stage performances he shares his brand of cowboy poetry and country commentary, something that he considers a by-product of the beef industry, which has been processed by reciting for ruminates, relatives, and ranchers.
Smith has worked with some of the top names in western entertainment and has been as a featured entertainer at some of the largest cowboy poetry gatherings in the country. He is amazed by the talented folks who are out there and that is why he is so excited about Home Grown. He is always looking forward to “being blessed and sharing the Lord’s blessings with friends old and new as our trails cross in the near future. Home Grown gives me a chance to run by some of my newest efforts and an opportunity to share the poetic and musical talents of some of the folks I have worked with. It is great stuff, and not something you will hear anywhere else.”