by DSU student Hailey Entze and Seth Moerkerke
To most, Jerilyn Wiseman might seem like just an average student. Little do they know that behind the scenes this senior agriculture student from Baker, MT, actually has a busier schedule than most adults. On top of being a student, Wiseman is also on the Blue Hawk Rodeo Team. If rodeo practice and homework don’t keep her busy enough, she added playing the fiddle for the local band Breaking Eight this year.
Becoming a part of Breaking Eight had never crossed Wiseman’s mind until Beni Paulson ’99 approached her. Paulson is the lead bass player and vocalist for the band. He found out through the DSU Rodeo Facebook page that Wiseman had been playing the fiddle since she was little. While Paulson was helping the college bull riders, he asked fellow DSU alum, Justin Ward ‘18, about Wiseman’s fiddle playing skills. Ward, according to her, lied and said she was really good. It couldn’t have been too big of a lie as she got the job of playing fiddle for the band as well as singing the female vocal parts. She’s been with the band since October of 2018.
Wisemen decided she wanted to learn to play the fiddle when she was around seven years of age after her best friend started taking lessons. “It was really cool until about middle school and then I decided it was pretty nerdy,” Wiseman said. Her younger self never thought that she would ever be playing the fiddle professionally. Her fiddle teacher was in a band in the Grand Ole Opry where he played fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and some other string instruments. He had a select number of students that he wanted to see go on to play professionally, and Wiseman was lucky enough to be one of them. After spending her childhood practicing for four hours a day and taking lessons two to three times a week, she got burnt out. Once she moved to Montana her junior year of high school and found no other fiddle players in sight, she hung up the bow. Wiseman hadn’t played for close to eight years when she was approached by Breaking Eight.
In an effort of improvement, Wiseman has tried to find out how to get back in touch with her old teacher since joining Breaking Eight. “I’d really like to get back in touch with him and actually have him help me get better or at least back to where I was,” Wiseman said.
When Wiseman first joined the band, balancing the separate pieces of her life proved to be quite challenging. She was in 23 credits at the time, working at a coffee shop, and practicing for three rodeo events. Add on trying to learn 40 to 50 songs for the band, Wiseman’s days were pretty jam packed. “I’d get to bed by around 1:30 am if I was lucky…but it’s slowed down quite a bit since then,” she admitted.
Out of all those songs she had to learn, Wiseman does have a few favorites. Out of the originals she enjoys playing “Lucky One” written by Ty Taylor who is also an alum of DSU. As far as covers, her favorite to sing is “The Cowboy Song” by Garth Brooks, and everyone else seems to be responding well to it too. “I’m really passionate about Garth Brooks. I know every song,” she said. She also admitted that the crowd’s favorite song is, of course, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” made famous by Charlie Daniels.
Since joining Breaking Eight, Wiseman has gotten the chance to travel all over the region performing with the band. They even got the chance to perform in Las Vegas twice and recently played in Pendleton, OR. Though she enjoys performing in any environment, Wiseman said playing the Professional Bull Riding World Final was her favorite. “That was just a really cool atmosphere,” Wiseman said.
She has even had the opportunity to make a few TV appearances. One was on the regional NBC affiliate’s Country Morning Today as well as Outside the Barrel hosted by Flint Rasmussen, the famous rodeo clown.
Outside of the band, Wiseman stays busy competing in her senior season of college rodeo in barrel racing, team roping, and breakaway. She’s excited to capitalize on the hard work she’s put in. Due to injures with her horses over the years, she doesn’t feel that she has had the chance to show what she’s truly capable of which makes her excited to use the rest of this season to show what she’s got.
Wiseman now has a healthy and happy barrel horse, Peppy. Peppy was the first horse Wiseman ever bought for herself at the age of five. Since he wasn’t where she wanted him under the bridle, she rebroke him and started him as a rope horse and goat horse. She never thought he would be fast enough to run barrels. After her barrel horse injured himself, she brought in Peppy, who’s been surprising her ever since.
After spending the past four years as a Blue Hawk, Wiseman credits everything she’s been able to accomplish to the opportunities that Dickinson State University has presented to her. She said she never would have made her barrel horse if it weren’t for DSU. Since Beni Paulson is an alum, she probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to be a part of Breaking Eight either. Another opportunity that has changed her along the way is DSU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “The FCA group has been a huge part of my life the past year. If I wouldn’t have had that I probably wouldn’t be the same person I am today, so it’s just opportunity, big time.”
As for her future in the band she said, “If they don’t kick me out, I’ll stay with the band.” This summer they’re playing in Wibaux and Beach and hope to go back to Vegas. She’s not giving up on rodeo either. Peppy’s young enough that she’s hoping to get a pro permit within the next few years and join the rodeo circuit. Part of the rest of her ten-year plan includes being able to support herself by raising and training horses. With the few colts she has and another on the way, she’s already on her way there. So, whether it’s for her skills in training horses or strumming out fiddle melodies, Jerilyn Wiseman is a name you’ll want to watch out for in the future.
