Rick Norcross to be inducted into Heroes of Western Swing Hall of Fame

March 13, 2026 |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Rick Norcross. Courtesy photo

Vermont Western Swing bandleader Rick Norcross announced this week that he’s received word he will be inducted into the Heroes of Western Swing Hall of Fame in May.

The honor comes from the Cowtown Society of Western Music, which is holding the annual induction ceremony on May 2 at its 25th annual Western Swing Fest in Mineral Wells, Texas. 

The news came from Billy Bowles, radio host at KSSL-FM’s “Swinging Country” program on March 7, Norcross said in a newsletter to followers. Bowles’ show is broadcast on multiple radio stations and internet Western Swing shows around the world. 

Singer-songwriter Norcross led Vermont’s foremost Western Swing band, the seven-piece Rick & The All-Star Ramblers for some 60 years until his recent retirement. A regular over the decades on WDEV AM/FM programs, Norcross lives in Burlington.

Cowtown Society of Western Music is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting and perpetuating Western Swing/Western Music by honoring musicians, bands, promoters, venues and publications who perform and support Western Swing, known around the world as “The Official Music of Texas,” Norcross explained. 

Rick & the Ramblers won the award for best Western Swing song at the Academy of Western Artists 2014 award ceremony for the song “You Can’t Make It Up,” written by Norcross. It tells the story of attending the 1962 Hardwick Academy junior prom, where the only place to buy a corsage was the town funeral home, he recounts. 

Norcross has a catalog of 13 albums on the Airflyte Records label. Vermont author Stephen Russell Payne documents Norcross’ career in the biography, “Riding My Guitar – The Rick Norcross Story.”

More information on Norcross, his band, and their music is online at rickandtheallstarramblers.com.