Cowboy Preacher - Country Singer Dave Talley

by Cindy K. Roberts

Dave and I  met in November 2004, at a Back Country Horseman meeting.  Dressed in black, smoking a cigarette with the Country singer cowboy look...I heard his distinctive, raspy, voice.  I shook his hand and our friendship began. I new then Dave was a man of honor and he had a mission.  

Dave's story begins with growing up in Carthage, Missouri...horses had a major influence on his life.  At the young age of 8 he bought his first pony and he started hauling hay during the summer.  That was when the cowboy addiction began.  At fourteen, Dave went to work for a Tennessee Walking Horse Ranch in Missouri and began breaking horses.  From then on, his heart was roped into the cowboy lifestyle. 

Dave became friends with a long eared creature named Festus that had been shot in one ear with a pistol. Dave figured he could get along with that mule...after all he had one good ear. 

He also bought a mule named "Seth" that had a dark side to him.  The mule had the devious and bad habit of running away with you.  It wasn't an everyday habit mind you.  Nevertheless, it was a habit.  The mule for the most part was cheery and easy to get along with.  Seth would ride obedient and willing for three months or more and then one day...he would decide he had to run.  And there was just no stopping him.  Almost as though the mule were chemically imbalanced.  In other words, Seth had psychotic traits of being bi-polar.   As it went...without warning, Seth's dark side came over him.   Dave knew he was in trouble when Seth started to experience extreme mood swings that day.  The mule stepped out, quickened his pace and then the scenery got blurry real quick for Dave.  That mule took Dave for the ride of his life!  Over the hills and through the woods, dodging tree branches...heading straight for the bluff overlooking the creek.  Dave knew this ride would kill them both and that was when he put the brakes on that mule, fists clinched, arms braced...Dave pulled back on the reins, sat the mule down while cutting Seth's tongue in the process.  Dave then wiped the bugs off his teeth, dismounted and walked that mule back to the barn.  Dave didn't want to see all that racing talent go to waste...he's not big on hay burning yard ornaments either.  Yet, Dave couldn't sell the animal to just anyone not even his worst enemy.  So, Dave met up with a mule breeder that raced mules at the track and it just so happens the mule breeder had a Paso Fino stallion in his barn that he couldn't get along with.  The happy ending is this one bad mule got Dave into the Spanish breed of horses.  Seth is now pursuing his racing career and the horse is happy to boot.   (Sigh.)

Dave did the normal thing of working and raising a family.  He reads his Bible and he follows the word of God.  Dave always wanted to be a preacher but felt like "redneck cowboys" didn't belong behind the pulpit.  As Dave spent a lot of saddle time with his friends, he realized there was a need to start his own ministry.  There were a lot of lost souls wandering around on horseback that were not willing to go to church because of the hell, fire and damnation thing.  That prompted Dave to start preaching in his own reverential words...people aren't perfect, they are forgiven.  His following is non-denominational and Dave holds church every Sunday.  In the summer months church services are held at Hulston Mill Equestrian Campgrounds (north of Springfield, MO).  Church is open to anyone, it just so happens all the members are equestrians. A reflection of Dave tells me you can't get any closer to God then being in the saddle.

Dave has performed ceremonies at cowboy weddings and incorporates the cowboy code in with the marriage vows. Cowboy legend Gene Autry is the official author of the cowboy code and it goes like this: 

• The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
  

•  He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.

•  He must always tell the truth.

•  He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.

•  He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.

• He must help people in distress.
  

•  He must be a good worker.

•  He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.

•  He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws.

•  The Cowboy is a patriot.

Dave wouldn't be preaching the gospel today if it were not for  horses and our inherit beauty of nature that is God's gift to all mankind. Dave remarked, "With that gift comes the responsibility of caring for it.  Back Country Horseman strikes a good balance between horseman and  land owner.  They work hard to protect horse owners ability to use our trails and not to lose them.  They are a wonderful organization and they need our support.  They represent the horse owner of today as well as our children and grandchildren of tomorrow." 

Since Dave has spirit in his soul, he also has the musical gift of having song in his heart.  Dave produced his first country CD "Mountain Trails" in 2000.  His talent helped him write 8 of the 10 songs on that collection. "My Little Cowgirls" (written by Dave) is a song about 2 little girls that passed away untimely.  The song struck emotion in the hearts of listeners and that convinced Dave to do his second CD.  If you can imagine Elvis and Waylon mixed in song, that best describes the sound of Dave Talley's CD.  (Kind of raspy with that country quiver thing.)  

His latest CD Hill Country Hits Vol I  is available through  CDBABY.COM  and www.hillcountryhits.com/  After the release of the CD,  Dave wrote and recorded a single "I Want To Hear Your Heartbeat".  (My knees get weak when I listen to that one.)  Tower Records jumped in to promote Dave's Hill Country Hits CD, he has received interest from two international recording companies since releasing the album and has been approached by one major label.  

Dave is driven by his love of humanity.  He knows we are not in this world alone.  Dave remarks, "I realize there are so many people that are miserable and I like to bring people out of that."  God is close to his heart and, he doesn't live for anything monumental.  Dave admits he doesn't have a design for wealth , wants to live each day loving life, be active and be at peace with God and all mankind when his day is up.  Dave also knows there's more to do in the world beyond this one, called cowboy heaven.  And he lives by the cowboy code. 

Dave can be reached through his web site www.davetalley.com