Real Riders: Shawn Farmer Raps

July 5

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Video & Words: Bob Klein

We all know Shawn Farmer is a legend. Of course he’s known for his epic trips to AK in the pioneering days of cowboy heli pilots and the freedom of it all. What many people don’t know about Farm, the Fizz, the shizz…..is that he’s virtually done everything there is to do in snowboarding. I first met Shawn in October 1985 when Steve Link let me stay at his house in Silverthorne. Farmer was full of piss and vinegar, tons of energy to go shred everything in sight. We did shuttle runs on the pass, demos at Copper to try and convince them to let us ride the lifts, and Shawn was definitely one of the smoothest, cleanest riders in the scene.

Farm was sponsored by Burton and he took 2nd in the Baker Banked Slalom one year. He has a head for music, even if he’s untrained. He knows melodies, song structure and has a great feel for the music he’s into. I played in a band with him for 3 years and he knows what he wants out of a song. Shawn has built up a great fan base for his offshoot rap career by showing up at house parties, snowboard events and gigs, then proceeds to blow minds with his freestyle ability.

He’s at a turning point in life. He’s not young, but he still has that piss and vinegar going strong. Hitting lines at Squaw that will make you shit your pants and doing it with style only the big mountain Farm has. We’re going to spend some time nailing those big lines and getting it on tape. Now it’s time to turn his sights on the music world. This is the unofficial video for what Shawn says will be the next X Games theme song. Look for the Farm at a snowboard event near you. He’ll put on a show, as always!