Songwriter Jessie Veeder in Ranch & Reata magazine.

The latest issue of Ranch & Reata magazine is out, and among the many fine articles inside its covers is a story I wrote on North Dakota singer and songwriter Jessie Veeder.

My musical and poetic friend from the West River Country Jessie also calls home, DW Groethe, is quoted in the article saying this about composers who write about the West and about Jessie: “There are those who write all around it and then there are the few, steeped in the life, who reach out, grab it, raise it high and say, ‘Here it is. Take it or leave it.’”

Jessie’s songs certainly “raise it high,” and once you hear her words and music, you’re more likely to take it than leave it, if only because her songs stick with you. Read all about it in the new issue of Ranch & Reata (www.ranchandreata.com).