Last update, Feb 19, 2007
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| First posted, Oct, 2006 Last update, Feb 19, 2007 |
Juni FisherIn the central San Joaquin Valley of California, a horse crazy kid to grew up in a farming family, with a grandfather and father whose sideline of selling cavalry remounts was two decades past. But between school and countless singing performances with her two sisters, Juni found a way to have her first horse, and 4-H and FFA honors followed her through out her school years. While studying Equine Science at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, she rode some young horses for neighbors and worked gates at the sales yard. A good "catch rider", she rode through college, with top honors at Intercollegiate and Quarter Horse shows. Meanwhile, she was earning horse show entry money singing big band standards in a dance orchestra.She trained cowhorses from snaffle bitters to bridle horses, winning her first Snaffle Bit Futurity (IARCHA) in '81, her first Bridle Horse Championship in '83 (Monterey Classic) while working on a cow calf operation, and running a roping arena. If there was a campfire gathering with music, Juni was there with her guitar, singing the songs of the west she'd learned from her father. In 1984 she moved to Santa Ynez, CA, to train cutting horses. It was then that she really started to write songs. A local band was quick to ask her to play rhythm guitar and sing leads and backups. Members of the noted Rancheros Vistadores, an elite group of ranchers from across the nation, noticed her singing around town, which led her to working L.A. area clubs with a popular country band, which was also playing western and cowboy music. Juni's ability to ride at speed across the hills found her working as a foxhunting professional, and she accepted a position with a hunt club in Tennessee. Point to point racing, steeplechasing, and horse trials took the place of cowhorses, while she honed her songwriting skills amongst some of Nashville's finest. She and husband Rusty Bane, who works for Purina Mills as their Equine Specialist, keep two favorite horses these days, living in Franklin, Tennessee. She returned to her Western roots in 1999, with her first album release, Tumbleweed Letters" whose title track features a sweetly rendered duet with Ranger Doug. The attention she grabbed with the cutting edge program director, and DJ of the popular "Opry Star Spotlight" on the famed radio station WSM landed Juni on the Ryman stage for the Opry's 75th Anniversary show, and a regular spot on the live radio show. Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival director Gary Brown heard her first album by chance, and though it took him a while to find her , he hunted her down to perform at the 2004 Festival. He shared Juni's music with other promoters and artists, and started the wheels turning for this remarkably talented lady. Juni released a second album, "Sideshow Romance" in the summer of 2004. Juni Fisher is a lot easier to find these days, performing at venues like the 2005 Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, the Salinas Rodeo Gathering, Tinsley Western Museum, Booth Western Museum, and other concert events across the country. Through radio and word of mouth, the work and the kudos keep rolling in. Juni was named the 2005 Academy of Western Artists Female Western Vocalist of the Year, and the 2005 Western Music Association Crescendo Award winner. And justly so.
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