August 8, 2025 • 6 mins
See Champion Bull Riders at 'Bulls, Bands & Barrels' in Lincoln Tomorrow
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got Alex Gowens on our phone line today who's
also a champion bull rider, and Alex thanks so much
for calling us.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today, sir, thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
All right, let's talk about your story here because I
started this with Ben and I'm sure you guys have
run into each other quite a bit on the circuit here.
But you know, everybody kind of has a story of like, hey,
you know what, I want to make a living riding bulls?
How does that happen for me?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I have everyone. I was three years old, my dad
got me started running sheep, and I just fell in
love with it from a young age and have been
falling it ever since.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
So you were a mutton buster, is what you're saying, Yes, sir,
all right? So uh, like, how do you fall in
love with that? I mean, I fell in love with
some activities I enjoy that. Did you have like some
early experiences where you just felt like you were good
at it or you kind of liked the physicality when
you'd get knocked off? Like, like, what about it appealed
to you even at a young age, the.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Sensation of being able to win and knowing you're the
sole winner and better than any guy out there on
the dirt. That was it for me.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, I see there you go. Now we're getting somewhere.
This is mental forth too. This isn't coach speak here,
this is like somebody who actually knows what it's like
to be driven to win, and I like winners. Tell
me about your backstory, because I know that this isn't
the only thing that you've done. You actually have quite
an impressive background.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Here.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Tell me about your story and some of the things
that you've done in your life besides just jumping on
some rowdy bulls.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So got back into bull writing at the age of
sixteen and high school, went all the way out to
world finals in Wyoming in twenty eighteen, ended up thirty
fourth in the world. And then after high school, I
actually ended up joining the military. Took a path completely
different from bull writing. So it put a whole on
(01:41):
my career on that. And it's been about five years
in the service and just got out at the beginning
of this year and I was like, you know what,
I want to go back full time bull writing. So
here we are been loving it ever since. It's been
living a dream and this is actually my full time job.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
That's unbelievable. Alex Gowen's is joining us a professional? Can
we talk about your service a little bit? What inspired
you to join the army?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So, my grandfather's a Vietnam Vette and ever since he
always told us the stories, always told us about what
honor was and how much he loved serving his country,
and I just wanted to follow his flits ups a
little bit because after high school, I wasn't sure what
I was going to do. So I decided to go
to the army route. Make sure you set up a
career a path for myself in the future that would
(02:27):
be good to build on. And I don't regret that
at all, but I do love that I got back
to a bull riding.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, it's really interesting. Alex is going to be a
part of the Bulls, Bands and Barrels Show, which you'll
see at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Saturday. Just
to you know, like, I'm always fascinated by talking to
people who got, you know, enlisted and they wanted to serve.
What kind of job did you do? Is this something
that you just kind of figured out after you did
your you know, your basic training and just kind of decided,
(02:56):
you know, what you wanted to do. How did you
come up with, you know, what you actually wanted to
be when you got into the military.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Is it? When I went to the recruiting office, I
wasn't necessarily sure what I wanted to be, but I
know I wanted to work with my hands. I'm really
good mechanics outside of everything else than when I was
in high school, I was really good with construction. So
I went in with that kind of mindset and they
offered me a dro mechanic job. I was like, well,
that sounds pretty cool. Let's do it. And do you
(03:23):
not regret that at all? That was actually the best
thing I could have done to set me up to
be able to work with aircraft at any point now.
And that's been a blessing because I absolutely love the
job and super cool.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, I think that, you know, it's underrated some of
the stuff that has to go into just making sure
all of the jobs are filled. And it sounds like,
you know, you felt quite fulfilled by doing the job
that you had there. I just wonder what it's like
to you know, you did you get a chance to
like do any rodeo stuff, riding horses or stuff for
the five years that you were in the military or
was it just one of those things where, you know what,
(03:58):
I just want to get back on top of all, I.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Tried to be my best to ride bulls during the military.
It was kind of hard sometimes with the restrictions of travel,
but every time they had a rodeo local or one
that I could travel to, I was definitely going to
it to keep myself in the game, I guess you
could say, and definitely kept my dream alive for one
to go back into it full time. So I've wasted
(04:23):
my time and then now I've just been able to
hit up rodeos all over these states.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, Well, here he is. Alex Gowen is going to
be a part of the Bulls, Bands and Barrels Tour
in Lincoln Tednacle Bank Arena on Saturday. So take me through.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
We talked to Ben Johnson. He kind of gave us
his description of what he thinks about Bulls, Bands and
Barrels and what people can expect when they go check
this show out. How can you best describe what people
can expect when they go to Lincoln on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
It is a party from the start to all the
way to the finish. There's not a point that you
are not having fun, that the energy is never going
down because port Chok doesn't job on the dirt to
make sure all the audiences engage no matter what time.
And then in the end the two concerts is an
absolute blast and TOIY Myers is one that you're not
(05:09):
going to want to miss.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, no doubt. Pinnacle Bank Arena, you can get the
tickets still available. Bulls bands and Barrels dot com and
of course that bull riding the barrel racing, which is
always a lot of fun, and you'll see some of
the world champions, some of the best that do this
absolutely insane job of riding bulls, like Alex Gohens. Alex,
Before I let you go here, what would be one
thing that if I got some people listening from all
(05:32):
various backgrounds, and maybe they got some kids who might
be interested in kind of dipping their toes, not just
in watching the rodeo, but being a part of it
in some way, what would be your first tip to
maybe a family who has a young one that might
be interested in this.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Definitely go to their local rodeos where you see the
flyers up fair rodeos and go there and ask them
that they have entries available because a lot of times
us fellow rodeos or people who have kids in rodeos
who were very much willing to let other people borrow
gear just so they can even try it out just once.
And if I'd say, if their kid loves it, and
go ahead and invest the money to get your gear
(06:07):
and just look around for more local rodeos and get
into associations. Associations vary from state to state, but it's
easy to look up online the figure it out.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That's awesome and Alex Gowins will be rooting him on
with the entire group over there, gonna give us a
good show with Bolls, Bands and Barrels Pinnacle Bank Arena
in Lincoln on Saturday night time. Meyers and bottom Land
will be the two musical guests there as well. Alex,
this is awesome, great to chat with you, thank you
for your service to our nation and can't wait to
see what happens in Lincoln on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Get there, hope see all there.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, fantastic stuff And again the website there is Bulls,
bandsand Barrels dot com. First thing will pop up is Lincoln,
Nebraska and that get tickets button if you're interested, going
to be an awful lot of fun.
We got Alex Gowens on our phone line today who's
also a champion bull rider, and Alex thanks so much
for calling us.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today, sir, thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
All right, let's talk about your story here because I
started this with Ben and I'm sure you guys have
run into each other quite a bit on the circuit here.
But you know, everybody kind of has a story of like, hey,
you know what, I want to make a living riding bulls?
How does that happen for me?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I have everyone. I was three years old, my dad
got me started running sheep, and I just fell in
love with it from a young age and have been
falling it ever since.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
So you were a mutton buster, is what you're saying, Yes, sir,
all right? So uh, like, how do you fall in
love with that? I mean, I fell in love with
some activities I enjoy that. Did you have like some
early experiences where you just felt like you were good
at it or you kind of liked the physicality when
you'd get knocked off? Like, like, what about it appealed
to you even at a young age, the.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Sensation of being able to win and knowing you're the
sole winner and better than any guy out there on
the dirt. That was it for me.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Yeah, I see there you go. Now we're getting somewhere.
This is mental forth too. This isn't coach speak here,
this is like somebody who actually knows what it's like
to be driven to win, and I like winners. Tell
me about your backstory, because I know that this isn't
the only thing that you've done. You actually have quite
an impressive background.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Here.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Tell me about your story and some of the things
that you've done in your life besides just jumping on
some rowdy bulls.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So got back into bull writing at the age of
sixteen and high school, went all the way out to
world finals in Wyoming in twenty eighteen, ended up thirty
fourth in the world. And then after high school, I
actually ended up joining the military. Took a path completely
different from bull writing. So it put a whole on
(01:41):
my career on that. And it's been about five years
in the service and just got out at the beginning
of this year and I was like, you know what,
I want to go back full time bull writing. So
here we are been loving it ever since. It's been
living a dream and this is actually my full time job.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
That's unbelievable. Alex Gowen's is joining us a professional? Can
we talk about your service a little bit? What inspired
you to join the army?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So, my grandfather's a Vietnam Vette and ever since he
always told us the stories, always told us about what
honor was and how much he loved serving his country,
and I just wanted to follow his flits ups a
little bit because after high school, I wasn't sure what
I was going to do. So I decided to go
to the army route. Make sure you set up a
career a path for myself in the future that would
(02:27):
be good to build on. And I don't regret that
at all, but I do love that I got back
to a bull riding.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, it's really interesting. Alex is going to be a
part of the Bulls, Bands and Barrels Show, which you'll
see at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Saturday. Just
to you know, like, I'm always fascinated by talking to
people who got, you know, enlisted and they wanted to serve.
What kind of job did you do? Is this something
that you just kind of figured out after you did
your you know, your basic training and just kind of decided,
(02:56):
you know, what you wanted to do. How did you
come up with, you know, what you actually wanted to
be when you got into the military.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Is it? When I went to the recruiting office, I
wasn't necessarily sure what I wanted to be, but I
know I wanted to work with my hands. I'm really
good mechanics outside of everything else than when I was
in high school, I was really good with construction. So
I went in with that kind of mindset and they
offered me a dro mechanic job. I was like, well,
that sounds pretty cool. Let's do it. And do you
(03:23):
not regret that at all? That was actually the best
thing I could have done to set me up to
be able to work with aircraft at any point now.
And that's been a blessing because I absolutely love the
job and super cool.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, I think that, you know, it's underrated some of
the stuff that has to go into just making sure
all of the jobs are filled. And it sounds like,
you know, you felt quite fulfilled by doing the job
that you had there. I just wonder what it's like
to you know, you did you get a chance to
like do any rodeo stuff, riding horses or stuff for
the five years that you were in the military or
was it just one of those things where, you know what,
(03:58):
I just want to get back on top of all, I.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Tried to be my best to ride bulls during the military.
It was kind of hard sometimes with the restrictions of travel,
but every time they had a rodeo local or one
that I could travel to, I was definitely going to
it to keep myself in the game, I guess you
could say, and definitely kept my dream alive for one
to go back into it full time. So I've wasted
(04:23):
my time and then now I've just been able to
hit up rodeos all over these states.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, Well, here he is. Alex Gowen is going to
be a part of the Bulls, Bands and Barrels Tour
in Lincoln Tednacle Bank Arena on Saturday. So take me through.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
We talked to Ben Johnson. He kind of gave us
his description of what he thinks about Bulls, Bands and
Barrels and what people can expect when they go check
this show out. How can you best describe what people
can expect when they go to Lincoln on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
It is a party from the start to all the
way to the finish. There's not a point that you
are not having fun, that the energy is never going
down because port Chok doesn't job on the dirt to
make sure all the audiences engage no matter what time.
And then in the end the two concerts is an
absolute blast and TOIY Myers is one that you're not
(05:09):
going to want to miss.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, no doubt. Pinnacle Bank Arena, you can get the
tickets still available. Bulls bands and Barrels dot com and
of course that bull riding the barrel racing, which is
always a lot of fun, and you'll see some of
the world champions, some of the best that do this
absolutely insane job of riding bulls, like Alex Gohens. Alex,
Before I let you go here, what would be one
thing that if I got some people listening from all
(05:32):
various backgrounds, and maybe they got some kids who might
be interested in kind of dipping their toes, not just
in watching the rodeo, but being a part of it
in some way, what would be your first tip to
maybe a family who has a young one that might
be interested in this.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Definitely go to their local rodeos where you see the
flyers up fair rodeos and go there and ask them
that they have entries available because a lot of times
us fellow rodeos or people who have kids in rodeos
who were very much willing to let other people borrow
gear just so they can even try it out just once.
And if I'd say, if their kid loves it, and
go ahead and invest the money to get your gear
(06:07):
and just look around for more local rodeos and get
into associations. Associations vary from state to state, but it's
easy to look up online the figure it out.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That's awesome and Alex Gowins will be rooting him on
with the entire group over there, gonna give us a
good show with Bolls, Bands and Barrels Pinnacle Bank Arena
in Lincoln on Saturday night time. Meyers and bottom Land
will be the two musical guests there as well. Alex,
this is awesome, great to chat with you, thank you
for your service to our nation and can't wait to
see what happens in Lincoln on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Get there, hope see all there.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, fantastic stuff And again the website there is Bulls,
bandsand Barrels dot com. First thing will pop up is Lincoln,
Nebraska and that get tickets button if you're interested, going
to be an awful lot of fun.
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