Wylie Gustafson has released 10 albums, has performed on the Grand Ole Opry 46 times and has fielded questions from the Cartoon Network’s talk show host, Space Ghost.

You might not know his name, but you have probably heard the 43-year-old Dusty,

Wash., rancher, cutting horse owner and 2004 Yodeler of the Year perform his “biggest hit” many times.

The lead singer and guitarist of Wylie and the Wild West, is the voice behind the yodel heard in every Yahoo! commercial. His brief but distinctive “Ya-hoo-ooo-ooo” consistently echoes from coast to coast and around the world.

“It’s the only hit I’ve written so far,” he jokes

Gustafson will not say how well Yahoo! compensated him for an audio company logo heard everywhere from America to the Philippines and China. The one-time fee that allows Yahoo! to use up to 10 versions of him yodeling the same word did build a large horse arena at his ranch. It also helped him and his wife, Kimberley, purchase some good horses.

“The yodel has been very good to me,” Gustafson said. “It has allowed me to get into cutting at this level.”

“This level” includes buying and consistently winning with a talented big bay gelding, 6-year-old Irish Whiskey Sugar, that has helped Gustafson earn most of his $23,569 in career National Cutting Horse Association earnings over three years.

Wylie and his 15.2-hand partner won the British Columbia Cutting Horse Association’s 5/6-year-old Non-Pro event last September. They have placed near the top at many aged events. They finished third and won $3,944 during an October Non-Pro Classic at the Lammle’s Cutting Futurity in Calgary, Alberta, Can.

Spending time away from his job as a singer-songwriter and guitarist with a touring and recording act does not hurt his work, Wylie said. Wylie and the Wild West released its 10th album, “Hooves of the Horses,” in June. Another album is scheduled for release this month. More information about the music is available on his website, www.wylieww.com.

“I think you need an inspiration to write good music, whether it’s horses or the cowboy lifestyle or whatever you are writing about,” Wylie said. “I sing Western music and I think it is important that I live the Western lifestyle. If you listen to Hooves of the Horses, a lot of those songs were inspired by sitting on a horse.

Wylie and Kim have been married 15 years. They live on a 600-acre ranch and own 15 horses, plus 25 mother cows. They recently hired a trainer who will specialize in starting young horses. He will take on some outside horses, Wylie said.

Kimberley Gustafson, who has won $4,414 as a cutter according to NCHA statistics, said her husband bought his first big winner as a roping horse prospect four years ago. Wylie bought Irish Whiskey Sugar, a son of Paddy’s Irish Whiskey out of My Little Sugar Babe by Sons Doc O Sugar at a John Scott Ranch auction in Billings, Mont. Before following his wife into the cutting pen as her frequent turnback man, Wylie often competed as a team roper.

“I looked at the papers and I said, Oh, he could be more than just a rope horse,” Kimberley said. “I started him and that was about the last time I got to sit under him, except in the loping pen.”

A strong connection between Wylie and the big bay horse was soon undeniable. “That horse is really remarkable,” Kimberley said. “Wylie and the horse just clicked. It brought out Wylie’s competitive spirit and his love for the sport.”

With Irish Sugar Whiskey’s assistance, Wylie won the Washington Cutting Horse Association’s year-end Non-Pro Champion trophy belt buckle. He also won Open and Non-Pro champion’s buckles in the Blue Mountain Cutting Club.

“He’s not just a show horse, he can do the ranch work,” Wylie said of his undisputed favorite. “People were passing this horse up because he was too big to be a cutting horse,” Wylie said. “He stands about 15-2 hands now and he was probably 15 hands when I bought him as a yearling. He’s just been doing great.”

Kimberley won the Washington Cutting Horse Association’s 2004 buckle as its top $2,000 Limit Rider and the Blue Mountain Cutting Club’s year-end buckle as its top $10,000 Amateur rider. She grew up around cutting horses and she started competing on cutters while her husband roped.

"An aunt of mine loved cutting and my grandfather loved cutting,” Kimberley said. “They got me interested. I went to some clinics and Wylie would come along with a turnback horse.” While helping his wife and others cut from the turnback position, Wylie watched and learned. "It was just an invaluable experience,"

Wylie said. “You see so many things that go on that it’s hard to see if you are cutting a cow. You keep seeing the same mistakes and seeing the same things go on and you see the same people winning. You get to just analyze everything.”

how must go on. He still likes to rope, but Wylie said cutting is his first choice. That is because he and his wife can travel and compete at the same events. In addition to helping Wylie run the ranch, Kimberley sells CDs through his web site and mails them out each day.

He spends considerable time away touring with his four-piece band. The band travels around the country and performs its blend of country-western, rock-a-billy, and of course, yodeling, at everything from cowboy poetry gatherings to dances. "You have to earn the entry fees somehow, because this is a tough game to support financially, but I think finding a balance between work and cutting is important,” Wylie said. “I think cutting allows us (Wylie and Kimberley) to find that balance, have a little recreation and have a little fun. Frequently, Wylie books shows for his band near where he is cutting. That way, he can earn at least one guaranteed check.

In July, he took a trip to Fort Worth to pick up an award from the Academy of Western Artists as its 2004 Yodeler of the Year, then he stuck around town to watch part of the NCHA Super Stakes competition. At five cutting events so far this year, Wylie has competed as a cutter that day, then performed with his band that night.

Fellow cutters and Washington state neighbors Bob and Nina Lundgren frequently host cutting events at their Eltopia, Wash. ranch. When they do, they make a point of playing Wylie’s music in the background, Nina said. "They (Wylie’s songs) are excellent,” Nina said. “He says we are his best promoters. He sells a lot of CDs at our shows.”

A growing fraternity of established musicians also ride horses in competition. Many of them have one goal in common. “We all want to write a song that is the ultimate horse song that means something to a horseman,” Wylie said. “When a horseman comes up to me and says, ‘Your song really knocked me out,’ that’s as big a compliment as I can get.”