michael robinson music

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Cowboy Poetry, Cowboy Music, Country Music, Country Western Music, Cowboy Poetry, Cowboy MuBiography

After hearing Michael perform, cowboy-legend Waddie Mitchell said, "Michael "Boots' Robinson is one of the freshest, signature, new talents I've had the opportunity to come across, in all of my travels." Some people say that Michael “Boots” Robinson is the Wordsworth of cowboy poetry. Some say he’s a sort of Will Rogers of today’s West. Others say his music is somewhere in-between the Sons of the Pioneers, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash.. But all who have heard his shows agree that he’s a superlative writer and performer.

Philosophically astute, musically adept, poetically polished, and humorously delightful, his shows have captured the hearts of thousands. From Kragero, Norway, to Pincher Creek, Alberta... from Nevada to cruise lines on the seven seas, there’s been knee-slappin’, heart-rendin’, and gratifying agreement with his simple philosophy. “When you have the sky, the mountains, and the sprawling expanses of grass and sage,” he reflects, “you’re the richest man alive.” It is that love of nature and creation that inspires much of his prize-winning poetry and songs.

An adopted Utahn for over forty-seven years, Michael attended the University of Utah for both undergraduate and graduate studies. During college, he tried his hand at horse-shoeing and training, performed with the Utah Opera Company, and was a newscaster for KUER, FM.

For the next twenty years, the needs of his children and business kept him unproductive, as a writer. Finishing only a few poems and a children’s book, many projects were left dangling and incomplete. But, in 1996, he retired from work, and began writing again. To date he has completed about five-hundred poems, short stories, magazine articles, and songs; has been honored by poetry societies and music associations; included in musical compilations; published in magazines and anthologies; and featured in numerous shows and events.

His first public appearance was the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering of 1996. Stage-fright ruined his performance. Grabbing his notes, he shook uncontrollably as he read. He was mortified, and wondered if he could ever be a performer. That question was answered, as he began performing his cowboy works at smaller, regional events. Today, though he can “feel” his nerves, crowds only feed his passion for excellence. A six-year veteran of the Utah Performing Arts Tour, he’s performed on public television and radio, both in the U.S. and Australia, been a four-time winner of Western Legends Roundup—the nation’s biggest purse, cowboy poetry event--and participated in over eleven-hundred shows. In 2002, Michael did a show for the International Winter Olympics, and has performed on the exclusive Cunard/Seabourn and Eastern & Orient Cruise Lines.

Until 1999, Michael only wrote poems. One night, a member of the audience approached him, saying, “That poem sounded more like a song. Have you ever thought about putting it to music.” In the following two-and-a-half years, Michael wrote and recorded close to one song per month. Release of his sixth album, "Michael "Boots" Robinson, Live" is scheduled this year. His clever hooks and endearing sentiment are reflected in lines like, “I must not be a cowboy, ‘cause a cowboy doesn’t cry.”; “Don’t be leavin’, just believe in me.”; “Ain’t no reason I need to go sailing, ‘cause I’m already three sheets to the wind.”; and “And, when life is fin’lly over, and ya face yer last amen, will ya smile as ya say it, Yup, I’d do it all, again.”

In the entertainment world, Michael is an anomaly. Other author-songwriter-performers are well seasoned by their fifties. Michael’s poetry didn’t get rolling until he was over forty-nine years old. Writing music began when he was fifty-one. He's an inspiration to his contemporaries in embarking on their own new hobbies or businesses. His poem, “Fences”, inspires others past the obstacles that, inevitably, stand in one’s way: “Fences high, fences low, they control where ya go,/so it’s worth sproutin’ wings, you will find,/“cause the only un-climbable fence, in a sense,/is the one you create in your mind.”

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