Tom Swearingen (Tualatin) is a cowboy poet with a long family history of ranching and farming. Tom’s works celebrate the people and the land of the American West with infectious rhythm and rhyme.
Bio
Oregon horseman Tom Swearingen is an award-winning cowboy poet from Tualatin who tells stories of the people and land of the American West through original poetry that is often inspired by his own experiences and observations from the saddle. With ranching and farming on both sides of his family tree, Tom’s love of the cultural tradition and art form of western and cowboy poetry began at an early age. Writing and performing poetry himself comes from a desire to continue the tradition, and his western lifestyle provides much inspiration. Tom brings his stories to life with rhythm and rhyme and a style that makes him a popular performer not only at cowboy gatherings and horse camps, but at libraries, historical centers, private functions, and wherever else you find folks who appreciate the cultural heritage of the West. Swearingen was named 2019 International Western Music Association Male Poet of the Year and is a two-time winner of the National Finals Rodeo Cowboy Poetry Contest. He has also been nominated for Male Poet of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists. Nearly thirty of Swearingen’s poems have been published in contemporary cowboy poetry anthologies and publications. His own book, Reflection, was named the 2020 International Western Music Association Cowboy Poetry Book of the Year. He has recorded three live concert CDs, each nominated for IWMA Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year. His 2019 album Language of the Land reached #1 on Western Radio. Tom has been a headline and featured performer at major western music and cowboy poetry festivals throughout the West including the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, NV.
