Kerry Grombacher and Aspen Black, both award-winning solo artists, have worked together as a duo since 2014. Influenced by the English ballad tradition, the string-band music of Aspen’s Appalachian home, and the corridos of the desert Southwest, where Kerry has lived and worked, their songs tell stories of the people and events that shaped the West.

Kerry Grombacher plays guitar and mandolin. His song “Range of the Buffalo” was named the 2021 Song of the Year by the International Western Music Association. He’s been featured on the ABC-TV adventure travel show, “Born to Explore,” and on the internationally-released Putumayo World Records CD “Cowboy Playground.” Kerry has released six albums of original songs, and his songs have been recorded by artists such as Jim Jones, Belinda Gail, The Texas Trailhands, Gary Prescott, and Trails & Rails. There’s a room named for him at the Sands Motel in Grants NM, on Historic Route 66.

Aspen Black plays guitar and bass. Her song, “Born to be a Cowgirl” was a Finalist for the Western Writers of America’s 2024 Spur Award, and she’s a Will Rogers Medallion winner for her 2018 Cowboy Poetry CD, “Tales From the Road.” Aspen’s “Lovin’ the West” CD was the Rural Roots Music Commission’s 2017 Classic Western CD of the Year, and her “Eastern-Western Cowgirl” was the RRMC’s 2015 Female Country-Western CD of the Year. She is a multi-year Top Five finalist for the International Western Music Association’s Female Poet of the Year, and both her 2018 “Tales From the Road,” and her 2016 “Invisibility,” were Top Five finalists for the IWMA’s Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year.

The NMM Live! Series is made possible by the USD Student Government Association and the South Dakota Arts Council through the Department of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts.