Don Edwards (March 20, 1939 – October 23, 2022) was an American cowboy singer, guitarist, and recording artist who specialized in Western music. Two of his albums, Guitars & Saddle Songs and Songs of the Cowboy, are included in the Folklore Archives of the Library of Congress. Edwards released more than a dozen solo albums from 1980 through 2010, as well as a greatest hits collection. He also recorded the album High Lonesome Cowboy with Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, and Norman Blake, three leading bluegrass musicians.

Biography

Edwards was born in Boonton, New Jersey, on March 20, 1939. He left home at the age of 16 to work on Texas oil fields and experience the western life. He made his professional debut in 1961 after he was hired as a singer, actor, and stuntman at the newly opened Six Flags Over Texas. He worked there for five years before moving to Nashville to seek a recording contract. In 1993 he appeared on Nanci Griffith's Grammy Award winning album Other Voices, Other Rooms on which he accompanied Griffith on a Michael Burton song entitled "Night Rider's Lament". In 2005, Edwards was inducted into the Western Music Association Hall of Fame. Edwards died on October 23, 2022, at the age of 83.

In popular culture

Edwards played the character Smokey in Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer. Edwards also performed the song "Coyotes" that plays during the final minutes of the documentary Grizzly Man.

Discography