Biography

Five-thirty in the morning is not an hour generally claimed by musicians. While most singers and strummers are dozing on the bus or at the local Motel 6, there is one musician who is rising to face the day: Wylie Gustafson. Of course, there is a reason for his early waking: his cattle and horses aren’t going to feed themselves!


Despite his successful career as one of America’s most popular traditional entertainers, Wylie still gets up everyday and tends to the livestock. It grounds him and is the backbone of his art. The secret of Wylie’s honest, soulful music isn’t in any musical formulas or flashy gimmicks. Its purity lies in his character: earnest and hard-working; beaming with friendly vigor; a smile as warm as first light rising over the prairie.
Wylie’s blend of Western swing, classic country, cowboy and folk– served up with a healthy helping of his infectious energy–gets the crowd moving every time. No less authority than Billboard Magazine declared, "When Wylie & The Wild West play, folks get up and dance!" From festivals to state fairs, bars to barn dances, it rings true.
When asked to define his music, Wylie states, "We are a good-time cowboy band. The young urban crowds in Seattle appreciate us as much as working cowboys. Our music is not limited to one type of listener."
Keeping his home base near Dusty, Washington (population 11), Wylie’s dynamic stage presence keeps getting him invited back to venues year after year. He has appeared on the Grand Ol Opry more than 50 times. The band has performed at such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the National Folk Festival, Merlefest, A Prairie Home Companion, the Bumbershoot Festival and the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada.
Wylie & The Wild West were honored by the Academy of Western Artists and the Western Music Association with awards for the 2005 Group of the Year, 2004 & 2005 Yodeler of the Year, and 2006 Best Western Swing Album. Their music is in regular rotation on the world’s most-listened-to satellite radio station, Willie’s Place–XM Radio Channel 13, with more than 3 million listeners.
"Obviously Wylie makes phenomenal music," Chris Tahti, director of the Minnesota State Fair, says. "But he’s not just a good recording artist, he’s a great performing artist. People plan to be here to see him. The best part of his performance is the reactions of people who don’t know who he is. They walk by, and he pulls them into the seats. He’s a magnet," Tahti beams. "Not only does he draw a crowd, he keeps them there."
With the twelfth release of his career, Bucking Horse Moon, and his ever-increasing media profile (feature spreads in everything from The Seattle Times to Western Horseman), Wylie & The Wild West are bringing their rollicking sound to new audiences the world over.
In April 2008, Wylie appeared on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien promoting his instructional book and CD, How to Yodel: Lessons to Tickle Your Tonsils, published by Gibbs-Smith. That was Wylie’s famous Ya-hoo-ooo! you heard in the Yahoo.com advertising campaign.
This is not the resume of a mediocre performer.
All of Wylie’s music is dashed off with a hardy dose of trail dust. For him, his Western lifestyle and the recording studio are inseparable. Wylie is an accomplished cutting horse enthusiast who was the 2005 NCHA Western National Finals Champion. That shiny belt buckle he wears wasn’t won on eBay. He and his wife Kimberley actively operate one of the Northwest’s premier cow horse training facilities: www.crossthreequarterhorses.com
In this era of prepackaged superstars–of pale imitations of country music being pushed onto the public by faceless media giants–the music of Wylie & The Wild West is a beacon of truth and honest beauty. "In our music and our presence," Gustafson explains, "we try to be ourselves." By being himself, Gustafson has become one of the most exciting and endearing acts in contemporary music: country, Western, folk or otherwise.