The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
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Aspen Black plays her guitar while riding Foxie in front of Black’s recording studio at Bucksbari Ranch in Union Hall. |
Friday, July 27, 2012
By LEIGH PROM - Staff Writer
Aspen Black of Union Hall trains horses, paints, writes songs and sings, and plays guitar while riding a horse. She also writes cowboy poetry.
Her latest efforts have earned her CD "From the Heart of a Cowgirl" a number two spot on the Western Playlist of top 10 cowboy poetry albums.
Ideas for her poetry come from most anything, Black said. Throughout her daily activities, she takes notes. When driving, Black uses a tape recorder to capture her thoughts. If she wakes up in the night with an inspiration, she writes it down.
To record her music, Black built a recording studio at her home in 2010.
Since the mid 1980s, western music and cowboy poetry have experienced a renaissance, Black said. The style is more popular in the western part of the country, but pockets of the music and poetry are sprouting up globally, she added.
Last November, Black went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to perform at the 2011 Western Music Association Showcase and Awards.
"It was pretty much like the CMA (Country Music Association) awards show," she said. "This is to western music what that is to country music. It's their one-year big deal, the culmination of everything that's done in that year."
The songwriter and poet is also writing a book to instruct horse riders on balance, control, skills and knowledge to build confidence while riding.
Black's horse, Foxie, is her faithful companion, Black said. The two have been together for about a decade. The horse is also a dancer and performs the "Cowgirl Rap" with Black seated upon her back.
For Black, life is all about the music and making a difference.
"I can touch people and connect with them to make a difference in their life," she said. |
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