Rod Taylor, originally from Lubbock, Texas, has been playing music for more than 30 years both as a solo artist and with regional bands including The Rounders and currently The Rifters. He has performed at many cowboy music and poetry gatherings around the country including: The Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering, Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. His unique combination of being well versed in cowboy lore, traditional western music, as well as a working cowboy, enables him to bring an authenticity to the musical craft. Rod started his cowboy career while in High School/College at both the C Bar and Philmont Ranches. Rod left Texas Tech to pursue the cowboy life and has worked at the Vermejo Park/WS, TO, UU Bar, and Little Horn Ranches. He currently cowboys on the Philmont Ranch which is owned and operated by the Boy Scout of America. Philmont has 300 horses, 250 cows, 100 burros and 100 buffalo on 137,000 acres. Rod is responsible for the cowherd and lends a hand with the additional livestock. Starting in 1990, with release of the album "Riding Down the Canyon", Rod has continued to work on music projects that include the 1995 album "A Philmont Collection", the self titled Rifters initial release of mostly original tunes, and his latest album entitled "Here, There or Anywhere". His artistic work also includes acting and has been in film projects that include The Missing (directed by Ron Howard), the Stephen Frears’ film Hi - Lo Country, the Angel Maker Episode of Lazarus Man, and other projects from Tish Honojosa’s CMT music video, to television commercials, to PBS Documentaries. Rod currently cowboys on the Philmont Ranch in New Mexico and lives with his wife Patty and has been active in coaching baseball and the Cimarron Maverick Club (that sponsors the Nation’s oldest open 4th of July Rodeo). Rod and Patty have two sons who also have added an artistic edge to their lives with one an accomplished sculptor and painter, and the other an accomplished musician and prolific songwriter.