Almeda Bradshaw is one of Montana’s talented Western singer/songwriters. Her love and appreciation for the cowboy life comes through in heartfelt expressions of the west. A lifetime of writing and music places Almeda's work above the ordinary and with clear vocals, compelling stage presence and accomplished musicianship, she is guaranteed to be an audience favorite.
Almeda raised her family in north central Montana along with showing performance horses, finishing hogs, running 150 mother cows and operating a seed and feed business. She and her husband, former Marlboro Man, Merritt Bradshaw, now live on the Yellowstone River in Huntley, Montana where he trains rope horses and she manages everything else!
A multi-instrumentalist, Almeda studied violin, cello and piano through college, has a BA in Elementary Education and is self-taught on the mandolin and guitar. She taught dozens of students of all ages to play stringed instruments in her Room for Music Store & Studio in Big Sandy, MT.
Almeda has written poetry, journals and songs since her teen years and has been performing throughout the west for over two decades with three albums of original songs and poetry to her credit. Voices From the Range: Almeda Sings the Poetry of Rhoda Sivell (2010), A Way of Heart: The Big Sandy Years (2010) and Lovers, Wives and Mothers: A Western Woman's Voice (2015). Her most recent release is an EP titled TRIBUTE (2017).
RECOGNITION
2018 AWA ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR NOMINATION
2017 WMA SONG OF THE YEAR NOMINATION - Larry Dever Did
2017 #2 TOP TEN SONGS - Cowboy
2017 #4 TOP TEN SONGS - Larry Dever Did
2017 #18 ALBUM - WMA CHART Lovers, Wives & Mothers (Spring quarter)
2017 AWA ALBUM OF THE YEAR NOMINATION – Lovers, Wives & Mothers
2017 #10 ALBUM – WMA CHART Lovers, Wives & Mothers (Winter quarter)
2017 #10 TOP TEN SONGS - WMA CHART Somewhere in the Rubies (Winter Quarter)
2016 WMA SONG OF THE YEAR NOMINATION – Heavenly Here with You
2016 #2 ALBUM – WMA CHART Lovers, Wives & Mothers (Spring & Summer quarters)
2016 #10 ALBUM – WMA CHART Lovers, Wives & Mothers (Fall quarter)
2016 #2 TOP TEN SONGS – WMA CHART Heavenly Here with You (Spring quarter)
2016 #6 TOP TEN SONGS – WMA CHART Colors in the Rain (Spring quarter)
2016 #3 TOP TEN SONGS – WMA CHART Somewhere in the Rubies (Summer quarter)
2016 #5 TOP TEN SONGS - WMA CHART Heavenly Here with You (Summer quarter)
2016 WW of A SPUR AWARD NOMINATION WESTERN WRITERS of AMERICA, Song of the Year Parker Eyes of Blues.
2016 COWBOY IDOL WINNER – COLUMBIA RIVER COWBOY GATHERING, Kennewick, WA
2015 PROFESSIONAL DIVISION CHAMPION - WMA WESTERN WORDSMITH CHAPTER Poetry Jackpot
2012 AWA NOMINATION - A Way of Heart: The Big Sandy Years - Academy of Western Artists Cowboy Poetry Album of the Year
2011 Voices from The Range - #15 on the Western Music Association chart of Top 20 Western Albums
2011 RISING STAR FINALIST - Kamloops Cowboy Festival, Kamloops, BC
2011 2ND PLACE SERIOUS POET- National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, Kanab, UT
2010 PEOPLE'S CHOICE MUSICIAN - Lee Earl Memorial Cowboy Gathering, Lewiston, ID
2010 Voices from The Range - Spent seven months on Joe Baker’s Back-forty Bunkhouse chart of Top 20 Western Albums
2010 BEST OF 2010 - The Range Call made Stan Howe’s Best of Songs 2010, Montana Public Radio, Bunkhouse & Honkytonk Folk Show
2009 NCPR ROOKIE - Made the finals in 3 of 4 events and placed in the money in Serious Reciting - National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, Montrose, CO
Talents: Musician, Singer, Songwriter
Nominations:
- 2022 Female Performer of the Year Nominee
- 2022 Traditional Album of the Year Nominee