This summer has been a year of transitions for the Dan Miller Cowboy Music Revue family. Hannah, who has been playing with her dad every summer evening since she was six years old, has graduated with her Associates Degree from Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, and will be headed to the University of Wyoming in Laramie in the fall.
Dan, Hannah and Wendy feel incredibly blessed to have found an amazing musician right here in Cody who has stepped in and begun to play with the group on Fridays and Saturdays this summer, and will be taking over Hannah’s spot as the fiddle and mandolin player when Hannah leaves for UW.
Shelbi McNeil is a homegrown Cody girl, born and raised on the South Fork of the Shoshone River. As a child, she loved to entertain her neighbors, family and friends with spontaneous songs. As the youngest of five siblings, Shelbi says she had to keep up with her older brothers and sisters – and music was her outlet.
Shelbi’s mom says she picked up the violin at the age of 10… and despite the fact that the local school system didn’t have an orchestra, Shelbi’s abilities grew with practice. She was given the opportunity to play with the Northwest College orchestra when she was 14, and furthered her skills when she joined the Billings Youth Orchestra at the age of 16. As a senior in high school, she traveled with the Cody High School musicians, representing the region in the All-State Orchestra.
Shelbi’s other love, besides her instrument, has always been horses. She was turned on to the Clinton Anderson method of training horses as a teenager, and was given the chance of a lifetime to join Anderson’s Clinician Academy in Texas after she graduated high school.
When she isn’t playing and singing with Dan and Wendy, Shelbi travels around the state giving lessons on horsemanship through her certification as a Clinton Anderson Method Ambassador, and takes in training horses. She has taught in California, Texas, Montana, and now in her home state of Wyoming.
Welcome, Shelbi!
