Who are the Sons of the Pioneers and why do they have the audacity to claim to be “Icons of Western Music”?
The short answer is they singularly built a new genre and library of music that is an American original, one that has become synonymous with the American West and Cowboy and one which keeps enthralling generations of audiences. Although others have followed, although others have openly emulated them and although others have subsequently added to the genre of Western music, the Pioneers were the first and the best. They rightfully hold a legendary place in Americana.
What would the West be without it’s own style of music? Think of the term “the West” and you think of natural beauty, a cultural mind-set and a very distinctive type of music. The term evokes the image of the singing cowboy and of songs that paint vivid mental pictures of Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Cool Water, Tall Timber and that Strawberry Roan. The West has always had its heros but until the 1930s a distinct type of music was not part of Western lore. The public did not connect any separate genre of music to the West and the cowboy. Starting in the early 1930s the film and radio industry changed all that forever.
From the earliest days of the film industry the cowboy has been a favorite movie subject. Westerns became the bread and butter of most early studios. When musical segments were added to broaden a movie’s interest the “singing cowboy” was born. It created mega stardom for people like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and Rex Allen. Enter the Sons of the Pioneers in 1934.
The Pioneers were different right from the start. While some screen stars sang traditional sweetheart songs the Pioneers actually sang about the West. The Pioneers’ songs painted unforgettable images and stories of horses, cattle, cowboys, “night herds”, tall timber, cool water, canyons and prairies. The songs were original compositions freshly penned by the original members, Bob Nolan, Tim Spencer and Roy Rogers (then known as Leonard Sly). They created a whole new library of music. The group and their music garnered millions of both national and international fans through appearances in over 90 movies, numerous radio shows, major label recording projects and later television appearances.
Songs from the Pioneer catalog have been recorded and used by a long list of who’s who in the music industry ranging from Bing Crosby to Boston Pops, Frankie Laine, Johnny Cash, Riders in the Sky and Michael Martin Murphy. (There’s even film footage of Elvis Presley warming up for a concert using “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”!) Their signature songs have been recorded so many times by so many different artists that some people lose track of the fact these songs “belong” to the Pioneers.
The Pioneers inspired the creation of countless Western singing groups. As Doug Green of Riders in the Sky put it, “Any of us who sing Western music, it all goes back to the Pioneers.”
The Pioneers have accumulated more types of honors and awards than anyone in Western music. They’ve received coveted awards from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, Western Music Association and National Cowboy Hall of Fame among others.

It’s amazing – even today the Sons of the Pioneers are still mesmerizing long-term fans and creating new ones. They still have sell out crowds and standing ovations. New fans are attracted by the current members’ musical ability, by their songs which haunt you long after the concert and by the mystique of the great American West. “It’s not something that is connected to hit records and charts and fads. It’s just an eternal interest in the American West and they sing about it beautifully and it’s written beautifully and that’s something that just will never go out of style.” as summed up by Doug Green.

Current Members are:

Tommy Nallie is the “trail boss” of the group, a place held by only three individuals before him. As trail boss Tommy is the curator of the famous “Pioneer sound” guaranteeing that every audience will experience the harmonies and music that made them world famous. He is also the archivist of the group owning a copy of practically every recording the group has made. Tommy grew up in a musical family, his brothers Luther and Jack are both prior members of the Pioneers. Luther was with the group for over 45 years and served as the trail boss before Tommy. Currently Tommy plays bass, yodels and provides harmony. He also steps up and does a couple of vocal solos. Tommy has made his home in several places over the Southwest but now resides in the Branson area.

Ken Lattimore is one of the formal musical scholars of the group holding a degree in music from Texas Tech University. Ken is acknowledged as of one of the best tenors in Western music. He also delights audiences with his fiddle solos and duets. Before joining the Pioneers, Ken had a rich experience in a variety of music genres ranging from singing lead tenor in Gilbert and Sullivan productions to performing in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and a country music festival in Austria. Ken continues his diverse musical interests in the “off season” by joining the violin sections of several different symphony orchestras throughout Texas and Louisiana.

People often comment how difficult it must be for Roy “Dusty” Rogers Jr. to stand on stage in his father’s shadow. Dusty quickly responds, “As Roy’s son, it is Not my job to stand in my father’s shadow; but, it IS my job to lengthen it, and that is what I try to do on stage every day.”  Having hung around his Dad and former members of the Pioneers, Dusty is well educated as to the various components that make the Pioneers so popular. Dusty is part of the trio that captivates Sons of the Pioneers audiences with their distinctive harmonies. He provides a little yodeling and acts as M.C. sometimes sharing stories of growing up with his famous parents. Dusty says, “I’m happy to be continuing the tradition of quality entertainment by my family and the Sons of the Pioneers.”

John Fullerton comes from a long family background in the horse and cattle business. He is distantly related to Cowboy legends Rex Allen and Tex Ritter. At age seven, John’s Grandmother took him to a Sons of the Pioneers Branson concert and also introduced him to their 1959 RCA “Cool Water” album. Then and there John decided to make western music his life’s career and has followed the group and their legacy closely ever since. Facinated by every Sons of the Pioneers song, John started learning all the vocal and instrument parts. He can tell you the different arrangements to every song according to how it was recorded from one album to the next. He’s also collected a wealth of Sons of the Pioneers memorabilia and is known as the walking Pioneer Encyclopedia.

And the newest member is Seattle fiddler Paul Elliot ,Paul grew up in a house filled with jazz, classical, and folk music and started playing violin when he was 7 years old. After years of lessons, youth orchestras, and summer music camps he discovered fiddle music as a young teenager. His immediate reaction was “why didn’t somebody TELL me you could do that with a violin?” His initial love of old-time and bluegrass quickly evolved into a love of Western Swing music, jazz, and country, and at 19 he began playing professionally in bands and as a studio musician in the western US and Canada. Paul has since racked up a long list of recording credits that span film, television, and radio, and a long list of CDs. Somewhere along the line he also got a degree in music composition from the University of Washington, with additional months of private study in London with the head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music.