By Allison Peck
Listen to the full interview with Garrison Allen on our Kubota Podcast
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — Long before he ever stepped into an announcer stand, Garrison Allen was just a kid sitting in the stands at rodeos, watching the action unfold in the arena and focusing on one person in particular.
"I always thought the announcer was so cool," Allen said. "I was like, 'Man, I want to do that someday.'"
Today, at just 26 years old, Allen is living that childhood dream. He spends his summers traveling the country announcing professional rodeos and this week returns to North Platte for his fourth year as co-announcer of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo alongside Hall of Fame announcer Randy Corley.
For Allen, working one of rodeo's most historic events remains as exciting as ever.
"The first year I was pretty nervous coming into this," he admitted. "I had to follow Hall of Fame announcers, and those are some huge shoes to fill. But now, some people know me, and I'm a little more relaxed. I just love coming to this rodeo."
Allen, who lives in Oelrichs, South Dakota, grew up immersed in rodeo culture. His father had been involved in the industry since the 1970s, helping produce rodeos and playing a role in the early years of professional bull riding. As a result, Allen spent much of his childhood attending events and absorbing every aspect of the sport.
Still, it wasn't the bucking horses or bull riders that captured his imagination.
It was the voice behind the microphone.
For years, Allen persistently asked his father for an opportunity to try announcing himself. Eventually, his father relented and called Hall of Fame announcer Bob Tallman, one of the most respected voices in professional rodeo.
Tallman invited Allen to shadow him at a PRCA rodeo in Plains, Montana.
At one point during the rodeo, Tallman handed Allen a microphone and gave him an unexpected assignment.
"He said, 'Go ahead, tell them a story,'" Allen recalled. "It was a sink-or-swim moment for me, and I definitely sank."
Fortunately, Allen wasn't discouraged.
His father also happened to be longtime friends with Randy Corley, another Hall of Fame announcer widely considered one of the greatest voices in rodeo history.
Corley invited Allen to join him in Deadwood, South Dakota, where the aspiring announcer was able to observe from the announcer stand, read sponsor messages and learn the intricacies of entertaining a crowd while keeping a rodeo moving.
Over time, Allen transformed from a teenager hoping for an opportunity into a professional announcer in his own right.
He has held his PRCA announcer card since 2020 and has spent the last four years announcing rodeos full time.
Yet even with growing experience and a schedule that takes him to events around the country, Allen says sharing the microphone with Corley still means the world to him.
"Randy started out as one of my heroes, and now he's one of my friends," Allen said. "He's still my hero, but we're really great friends. We talk throughout the whole year."
Perhaps more meaningful than anything else is the fact that Corley continues to ask Allen to join him at rodeos.
"The fact that he continues to choose me to come announce with him is really huge for me," Allen said. "That means more to me than anything else."
One of those stops is North Platte's Buffalo Bill Rodeo, an event Allen says carries a level of prestige that local residents may not always realize.
For those who have grown up attending the rodeo every summer, it can feel like a familiar tradition.
For people in professional rodeo, however, it's much more.
"It's a huge weekend in all of rodeo," Allen said. "Everybody knows of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte, Nebraska. Everybody wants to come here and work it. Everybody wants to come compete at it."
Allen said competitors and rodeo personnel from states including Texas, California, Washington, Oregon and Montana immediately recognize North Platte's rodeo as one of the sport's premier events.
"This is where it all kind of began," he said, referencing Buffalo Bill Cody's 1882 Old Glory Blowout, widely considered America's Original Rodeo.
Allen believes this year's edition could feature some of the strongest competition fans have seen in recent years.
The Buffalo Bill Rodeo is serving as a qualifying event for Cheyenne Frontier Days in Women's Professional Rodeo Association breakaway roping and barrel racing, creating additional incentive for top competitors to enter.
"You're going to notice a huge switch this year in the quality of contestants that are showing up," Allen said.
Several world champions and National Finals Rodeo qualifiers are expected to compete throughout the week, including world champions Tim O'Connell and Jess Pope in bareback riding, along with world champion barrel racer Hailey Kinsel.
For Allen, though, rodeo week is about more than championship-caliber competition.
It's about community.
It's about families making memories.
It's about children meeting rodeo queens, watching bucking horses for the first time, laughing at the rodeo clown and staying for dances after the performances.
And perhaps most importantly, it's about continuing a tradition that has connected generations of rodeo fans.
"Whether you're six or 96, there's something for everybody at the rodeo every single night," Allen said. "Come on out, bring your families, bring your grandma and let's have a party."
The Buffalo Bill Rodeo continues through Saturday at Wild West Arena, with performances beginning nightly at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available through Nebraskaland Days, at the NLD office or at the gate.