Music on backburner for for bareback rider Kody Lamb

Jul. 27—CHEYENNE — Kody Lamb has always had an interest for music as long as he can remember.

"I was the kid who seemed to know the words to every song on the radio," the Sherwood Park, Alberta, bareback rider said Tuesday. "I've always had a keen interest in music."

Lamb started taking guitar lessons when he was 9 years old, and continued to teach himself how to play the six-string after that. That evolved into Lamb writing his own songs in college. Lamb posted videos of himself singing those songs on Facebook when he was a student at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Some of those songs were part of the "Faster Feet & Brighter Lights" EP he released in 2017.

The 28-year-old released his first full-length album, "The Scars to Prove It," a little more than a year ago.

"I've had a couple injuries that had me stuck at home and gave me a lot of time to work on the music," said Lamb, who scored 81.5 points on Rocky Mountain Rodeo's Half Moon. "When I'm rodeoing, I'm focused on bareback riding and doing the best I can out here, and it's hard to work on the music. I hardly play a guitar until I go home at the end of the year."

Lamb keeps a notebook handy, should inspiration strike. He'll scribble down a few lines with the intent to flesh the song out when he is done rodeoing. Lamb finishes those tunes more often than not. He'll scrap a few because the idea isn't as good in hindsight. Occasionally, Lamb struggles to remember where he wanted the song to go.

Lamb describes himself as a perfectionist and his own worst critic. Some songs come together quickly; one took him six or seven years to finish before he recorded it.

"I always want them to be better, but there comes a point when it's counterproductive," Lamb said.

Lamb is far from the first rodeo cowboy to transition from the arena to the recording studio. Chris LeDoux won the 1976 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback riding world championship before becoming an acclaimed country musician. A statue honoring both of his careers stands on the west side of Frontier Park off Hynds Boulevard.

Chancey Williams — who opened for Dierks Bentley on Saturday night — joins LeDoux as the only men to compete at CFD and play in one of its night shows. From Ryan Bingham (bull riding) to Ross Cooper (bareback) and Cody Johnson (high school bull rider), the music world is littered with former rodeo cowboys.

Lamb jokes that LeDoux was all he listened to in high school. Like those before him, Lamb draws inspiration from rodeo.

"I try to write what I know, but I don't want to get pigeon-holed into just writing rodeo songs," Lamb said. "I have a lot more songs to write than just rodeo songs. That's one of my first loves and passions, but I try to write real songs that I've lived instead of run-of-the-mill rodeo songs that anyone could write."

Music could be a viable second career for Lamb, but he isn't thinking about that right now. Lamb is currently No. 27 in the PRCA's bareback world standings. The top 15 contestants in each event qualify for the NFR, and Lamb has finished as high as No. 22 in 2020.

"I'm lucky to have been able to work on music and get that going while I'm still rodeoing," Lamb said. "The music is kind of out there on its own doing its own thing. I haven't really pushed it too hard, but people like it, and I think I'll continue going with it.

"If it continues to grow, I'll pursue it. But it's not something I'm really pushing out there or thinking too much about right now. I'll worry about what I'm doing after rodeo when I'm done with rodeo."

Local hands

Banner, Wyoming, bull rider Clayton Savage scored 86 points to place third in the quarterfinals and advance to the semis.

University of Wyoming bareback rider Donny Proffit from Diamondville, Wyoming, scored 83 points to finish fifth. He was one point away from earning a semifinal bid.

Laramie County Community College cowboy Garrett Long of Valentine, Nebraska, scored 69 points to win Tuesday's rookie saddle bronc riding round. He has 142 points on two attempts and sits fifth in the aggregate.

Former UW roper Clayton Van Aken of Yoder, Wyoming, and heeler Jayden Johnson of Casper, Wyoming, had the top team roping run of the day at 9.4 seconds.

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.