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Pat Meade Born and raised on a farm near Iowa City, Pat Meade spent his childhood immersed in agriculture, cowboying and country music. He remembers farming with horses, roping calves and steer wrestling at local rodeos and playing with an area dance band during high school. Adulthood found him busy making a living farming; the cowboying turned to working cattle on horseback and trail riding and the music was set aside. Pat and his wife, Nancy, moved to southern Warren County, Iowa in 1973, where they raised two daughters amid the livestock and the row crops. During that time, he also worked part time for the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) and was instrumental in getting their well known National Trail Ride program up and running in the early 1990s. Pat had a chance to return to his musical roots a few years ago when a friend invited him to an informal music jam session. Several hundred 'gigs' and a CD later, his new career has found him singing in the Cowboys and Country band and as a solo act all over southern Iowa and northern Missouri. He has also had guest performances at various horse and ranch activities in New Mexico, Texas and Nebraska. The following poem written by Pat says a lot about the Pat Meade the musician and the man:
Guess the cowboy thing was always there
Can't remember when it wasn't From my earliest recollections Right up to the present. The first pony came for Christmas Back bout the time I was three To straddle that pony and ride back then Meant I was really free. That feeling is till with me today Even after all these years To just get horseback and ride Through the trials, the tribulations, and fears. The part of me that just woke up That was dormant for quite some time Was the urge to sing and play the guitar That laid back in the corner of my mind. Things have slowed here on the Windmill Ranch The school bus doesn't stop anymore The cow herd is whittled to a workable size Life not quite as hectic as before. So the guitar came out of the closet And the practice sessions took hold To bring you this rendition of "Cowboys, Country, and Home." |
