WesternMusic.org
Title
Western Music Association - WMA
Description
The Western Music Association is a 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation whose purpose is to preserve and promote the traditional and contemporary music of the American West and the American Cowboy. The WMA’s Board of Directors is made up of elected volunteers who might be performers, western music fans, music business people, ranchers, or working cowboys, and many of the most noted individuals in western music comprise the WMA’s Advisory Board. The work of the Annual Western Music Festival committee and other WMA activities are accomplished with many hours of volunteer dedication and sponsor contributions.
The WMA is committed to the community at large, and WMA members take western music, history and literature to the children of our communities to teach them about the American West – a history and heritage that all Americans can call their own. Through our Western Way magazine, we preserve the stories and songs of western music performers from the past and we give voice to our current crop of songwriters and musicians. Articles about our music heritage are published side-by-side with reviews of new recordings and information about cowboy gatherings, concerts and festivals. Access to our website, www.westernmusic.org, is completely free to the public and provides information about the organization and links to our performing members.
In August 1988, a group of western music performers and fans met in Las Vegas, Nevada to organize an association and present a festival. They incorporated the Western Music Association as an Arizona non-profit corporation in 1989 and the organization has presented the International Western Music Festival every November since then. Since its inception, the WMA has expanded to include several state and regional chapters, and it’s been among the forces that are responsible for the current popularity of western music around the world.
