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The Cowboy Way is a trio of award-winning musicians from New Mexico consisting of Mariam Funke, Doug Figgs, and Jim Jones. They have been named Western Group of the Year four times by the International Western Music Association and have taken home numerous individual awards from the IWMA, the Western Writers of America, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Academy of Western Artists, among others. Their music captures the spirit of the West…the past, the present, the future; the values, challenges, and allure, while their lively shows feature tight harmonies, high energy and smokin’ instrumentals. These prolific songwriters take you on the ride of a lifetime as they honor traditional cowboy songs then bowl you over with their dynamic contemporary original Western tunes. The Cowboy Way presents professional, crowd-pleasing entertainment.
Jim Jones is a native Texan, a student of the West and a life-long devotee of all things cowboy.  His award-winning songwriting, guitar-picking and unique vocal style keeps him in demand at music venues throughout the country.  Jim has produced eight Western Americana albums and three award-winning children’s character education videos.  He has written three Western novels, Rustler’s Moon, (2009); Colorado Moon, (2011) and Waning Moon, (2013).  His eighth Western Americana album, Borrowed Time, released in April of 2012, produced Western Writers of America 2013 Spur Award winning Western Song of the Year, “Texas is Burnin’” and 2014 Western Writers Spur Finalist for Western Song of the Year, “Race with the Wind”.  His song, “Cowboys of New Mexico,” was the New Mexico Music Awards 2009 Western Song of the Year.  Jim was named the Western Music Association Male Performer of the Year for 2014 and won the Academy of Western Artists 2015 Western Song of the Year with “The Fires of Goliad”. In 2017 "Halfway Down the Devil's Road" ( written by Jim Jones and Allan Chapman) from "The Cowboy Way" CD won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best Western song.
Mariam, a native of Germany, jokingly states:  “I always felt I was accidentally switched at birth and grew up in a strange land far, far away, where there were no roaming cattle, no wide open spaces, no singing cowboys.”  Making the best of his “dis-location”, Mariam cut his musical teeth on a wide variety of musical styles, from Classical, Jazz and Pop to Rock, Country and Blues.  He enjoyed a colorful career as a multi-instrumentalist, at home on stage as well as in the recording studio.  He gained a reputation as a diverse session player, award-winning arranger and producer.  When his travels brought him to New Mexico, he felt he’d finally returned to his true home land.  Realizing how much he loved horseback ridin’, backporch pickin’ and two-steppin’ on Saturday nights, he quickly caught on to the cowboy way. Currently calling Socorro, New Mexico home, Mariam is a private music teacher, collaborator on Doug Figgs’ projects and provides the lead guitar and 3rd harmony vocal for The Cowboy Way.