Rob:  All across rural America, eighty-nine percent of all farm income comes from off farm sources; essentially, people working second and third jobs just to make ends meet.  And while such ambition is nothing new, the gentleman in our next story has taken his drive to an all new level.  Our Betiel Michaels introduces us to the flying cowboy who can sing.
(singing)
Betiel:  You could say Roy Lee Scott wears a lot of different hats.  On any given weekend you can find the six foot cowboy playing his guitar and singing a tune.
(singing)
Betiel:  Based out of Altus, a homegrown singer/songwriter can also be called a road-warrior, as he travels throughout Oklahoma headlining rodeo dances and honkey tonk bars.  This Saturday was no different from most, we met up with Roy Lee at Shepler's in Oklahoma City.  He was doing what he's been doing for years, crooning audiences and having a good time.  Playing music amongst an endless row of boots, you got the feeling he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Roy Lee:  It doesn't matter if there's ten people, or ten thousand, as long as I'm connecting and we're, you know we're having a good time, I live for that.
Betiel:  But if you think you've got Roy Lee pegged as just another singing cowboy think again, cause when Monday rolls around he's got a different gig.
Roy Lee:  And I'm quite the aviation enthusiast, flying, maintenance, anything that has to do with airplanes; and so it eventually it finally came around to where they said, Roy Lee why don't you come out here and teach for us and I made that transition a year ago in August and I should have done it ten years ago, I really love it.  I actually got into flying because my family's been in it for probably as long as anybody in Oklahoma, between sixty and seventy years.  My dad was a spray pilot, crop duster, and he sprayed for 50 years during his life.  And I've been doing it about 30 years and in the process I also became a mechanic about that long ago.
Betiel:  Hince the other name he goes by, the Flying Cowboy, which also happens to be the title of his first CD.
Roy Lee:  The title, the name the Flying Cowboy, and the song, and the video, it actually came about while I was flying, you know just out there kind of humming and singing to myself and just having a good time.  And when I got ready to do an album I thought, you know what, I'm going to get serious and go ahead and record this and do a video and it was awesome, it worked out great.  If you'll listen to the lyrics it basically tells a story about how grounded I am, as far as sticking with my family and you know until my son gets grown up and in flying you know, its got lyrics about, you know, gotta get up early boys so don't book the gig too far.  I've always been real blessed that I can stay at home and take care of my family and still play music with some of the finest musicians around; just real fortunate.
Betiel:  While he still loves flying, these days it's taken a backseat to teaching the next generation of aircraft mechanics at Southwest Technology Center.
Roy Lee:  I have students from seventeen to fifty-seven and we're just having a great time learning together.  And I love to see the enthusiasm of these people, of course we're doing maintenance, but you can't do maintenance around airplanes without talking about flying.  So I can lend a little bit more to the program than your average mechanic in that I've got so many years in a crop duster, a spray plane, about thirty years, sixteen thousand hours.  The cool thing about what I'm doing is I'm helping to train people that are my age, and around that, to better themselves and the community.  And Altus Airforce Base has got a great place for them to go to work on aircraft.  I'm very thankful for all the opportunities that I have.  Again, I get to do what I like to do, I love to fly airplanes, I do maintenance on them, and I take pride in my work there.  I really love entertaining.  I've never claimed to be the best singer or player out there, but I like what I do.  I'm happy being me and I've got friends that make me feel really welcome on stage.  It's a great feeling, a great feeling, you know I couldn't ask for more.
Rob:  Well, Roy Lee's latest CD is called 'Let's Go Parking.'  If you'd like to learn more about it, we do have a link to his website at okHORIZON dot com.
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