Waddie Mitchell

His series of recordings for Warner Bros. Records and more recently for Western Jubilee Recording Company have received critical acclaim. Waddie’s Western Jubilee Recordings are: Waddie Mitchell Live, featuring Don Edwards as well as world class instrumentalists Rich O’Brien and Norman Blake was recorded live at the Western Jubilee Warehouse in Colorado Springs.  A glowing review of Waddie Mitchell Live appeared in People, which concludes with “Bottom Line:  Horse sense and humor from America’s Best Known Cowboy Poet.” This was followed by A Prairie Portrait which features Waddie Mitchell, Don Edwards and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.  In April, 2001, the Oklahoma City Cowboy Hall of Fame / National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum presented Waddie with the coveted Wrangler Award for his participation in the Outstanding Traditional Western Album of the year.

The 2002 Cultural Olympiad commissioned Waddie Mitchell to write a commemorative poem.  His offering, That No Quit Attitude, gained importance at the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games.  No Quit appeared in the Welcome To Salt Lake film, in schools and libraries, on Delta Airlines, the Olympic website, at the Olympic Arts Festival, on Western Jubilee’s CD single and many publications, including the Official Souvenir Program of the 2002 Winter Games.  Since, That No Quit Attitude, also titles Waddie’s Western Jubilee release featuring fourteen new original poems and thirteen original ‘Waddie-isms’.  2003 found him on stage at Carnegie Hall and producing Elko – A Cowboy’s Gathering.   This Western Jubilee double disc features 40 Artists and salutes the gathering he co-founded 20 years prior.  In 2005, Waddie was featured on TV, radio, print and personal appearances as the Review Journal newspaper’s official spokesperson for their 100 Year Celebration as well as that of the city of Las Vegas, NV.  December 2010 finds Waddie in yet another environment.  Theaterworks, Colorado Springs professional theater company, presents Waddie Mitchell, A Cowboy Christmas Carol; 16 highly entertaining performances of Waddie’s de-arrangement of Charles Dicken’s Christmas classic.  In 2011 the accolades continue with Waddie receiving Arizona’s Festival of the West Cowboy Spirit Award and The National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Award as well as being inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame where he joined luminaries such as Will James and Mark Twain. 2012 found Waddie receiving the prestigious Nevada Heritage Award and in 2013 he received the American Cowboy Culture Award at the 25^th Annual Symposium in Lubbock, TX. In April 2013, Mitchell again receives the Wrangler Award from OK City’s National Cowboy Museum. This time for “Composition of the Year” by writing both words and music of “Trade Off” that was recorded by The Gillette Brothers of Crockett, TX. Other artists continue to collaborate with Waddie in creating music to his poetry which appears on various recordings. Defying the theory that it’s always hardest to be recognized in your home area, in 2014, Nevada Tourism commissioned Waddie to write a poem in honor of the states 150^th Birthday. Waddie Mitchell’s poem “Dame Nevada” resulted in multiple appearances throughout Nevada as the state’s official Sesquicentennial Poet for the yearlong celebration. Also, in 2014 Western Jubilee releases Sweat Equity, poetry both old and new and recorded live and in the studio. 2015 offers another milestone with the Western Jubilee published book One Hundred Poems composed and selected by Waddie and it is his most comprehensive book to date. In November, 2015, Waddie Mitchell received the Western Music Association Award of Excellence as One Hundred Poems was voted the 2015 WMA Poetry Book of the Year. In addition to performances and projects in 2016, Waddie produces Cohorts & Collaborators.

This special recording, released by Western Jubilee in early 2017, features nine top Western Artists who have co-written songs with Waddie.

Currently, Waddie Mitchell continues performing and hosting at festivals, private gatherings, rodeos, corporate events, concert halls and an extraordinarily wide variety of functions. California’s Country Music Festival, Stagecoach, located at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA has presented Waddie more years than any other artist. The Reno Gazette-Journal published a list chosen by a panel of writers, historians and other notables, who selected the Top 20 Artists, Authors and Entertainers to Influence Nevada in the 20^th Century.  Sure enough pards, there was Waddie!  Waddie Mitchell has received the title of Adjunct Professor from the University of Wyoming.  This honor was based on “Real world credentials which Waddie possesses in wealth.”