Dec. 4, 2025
FORT WORTH, TX - Winners of 18 awards from the Academy of Western Artists for outstanding 2024 work were announced on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025 at two awards ceremonies in Fort Worth. Held at Billy Bob's 81 Club in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, the ceremonies included performances from a number of finalists, both vocalists and poets.
The evening ceremony also included a presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to Red Steagall for his many years of work as a songwriter, singer, poet, TV and radio personality, film actor, event producer, and more.
Awards for Poets, Authors, Artists, Artisans, and Chuckwagons (1 PM)
2024 Chuckwagon
Bobby Burleson
Burleson Chuckwagon, Weatherford, Texas
2024 Western Short Nonfiction
Natalie Bright
"Trying to Save the Texas Panhandle"
published in RANGE magazine
2024 Silversmith
Gregg L. Clark
Hide Town Silver, Mobeetie, Texas
2024 Cowboy Poem
Betty Lynne McCarthy
"The Couldnt's"
2024 Cowboy Poetry Book
Betty Lynne McCarthy
Etchings
2024 Male Cowboy Poet
Kye Rieff
2024 Female Cowboy Poet
Teresa Burleson
Awards for Musicians & Lifetime Achievement (7 PM)
2024 Western Swing Song
Micki Fuhrman & Douglas Green
"Swing on By"
2024 Western Country Song
Jessie Veeder
"Hard on Things"
2024 Western Country Single
Larry Cann
"Only A Cowgirl"
2024 Western Country Album
Jessie Veeder
Yellow Roses
production: Bill Warner, LuckySky Music, Nashville, Tennessee
2024 Western Country Female Vocalist
Micki Fuhrman
2024 Western/Cowboy Song
Matt Robertson
"The Letter"
2024 Western/Cowboy Single
John Lowell
"Snow on the Wineglass"
2024 Western/Cowboy Album
Matt Robertson
Arizona
production: Tom Frear and Casey Shelden, Cottonwood Studios, Rapid City, South Dakota
2024 Western/Cowboy Music Video
Jessie Veeder
"Red Barns and People Get Old"
2024 Western/Cowboy Female Vocalist
Kristyn Harris
2024 Western/Cowboy Male Vocalist
Matt Robertson
Lifetime Achievement
Red Steagall