Saturday & Tuesday 6pm et

Western Air Waves is a new online radio show featuring western, western country, western Americana, western swing, cowboy music, and cowboy poetry. If you own cows, own horses, work on a ranch, raise livestock, live in the American west, travel in the American west, ride rodeo, watch rodeo, wear cowboy boots or hats, are into the history of gunfighters or pioneers, like or are part of Native American history and culture, enjoy western swing music, live in TEXAS, or like anything to do with people and places in the American West — you need to tune in!

According to her mother, Aspen began writing songs shortly after she learned to speak, evidenced by cassette tape recordings her mother made of Aspen wandering around the house and farm singing  original words and melodies, stream of consciousness. 

Her formal music training began at age 6 with classical violin.  She continued to play violin through early college, in school orchestra and the Maryland Youth Symphony.  She also joined school band (percussion and xylophone/marimba), took piano and voice lessons, sang in the school and church choirs, and performed in community theater. 

Aspen is currently working on a folk & Americana album with award-winning producer, Merel Bregante, in Austin, TX   She is a 5X returning performer through Artists of Note to the Humanities Program in Coffeyville, KS, multiple return performer to the Bixler 108 Listening Room in Unionville, MO, and part of the South Dakota Touring Artists grant.

Aspen Black was first introduced to folk music while still in the womb. Her mother played folk guitar, banjo, and ukulele.  Aspen grew up listening to John Denver records and 8-track in her nursery and later sitting cross-legged at her mother's feet singing along to Peter, Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio, Pete Seegar, and a gazillion other songs her mother played.  

Aspen began writing poetry and stage plays at age 6 and penned her first full-length song at age 12. Inspired by John Denver's use of imagery and love of the land, her songs often speak of freedom, travel, people & places, and love.  

Aspen went to Nashville at age 18, and was signed to a development label. She had two singles that charted on commercial country radio, a music video on CMT, and a song placed on hold by Trisha Yearwood.   She branched into western music after hearing Ian Tyson's “All the Good ‘Uns” album, featuring strong country production qualities with folk storytelling.  she began touring the country in 2014 in a duo now called “The Western Troubadours”, and soon added solo touring as well.  Her 2015 album “Eastern Western Cowgirl” won the Rural Roots Music commission’s Traditional Country CD of the Year, her poetry received a silver will Rogers Medallion in 2019, she was a Western Writers of America Spur Finalist winner in 2024, and “As Cowboy As They Come” went to number 1 on western and indie-country radio, played on mainstream country radio, and won the 2025 IWMA Working Cowboy Song of the Year.