The story behind "The Beauty of Montana" is unique and special, and one that many who now call Montana home have experienced.

The Beauty of Montana is a special song in many ways.  It's inspiration speaks to the experiences many have enjoyed and felt here in Montana.

The melody and lyrics of  "The Beauty of Montana" were written in the winter of 1992 by Nina H. Russell, a renowned and highly respected jazz artist who made her mark in the dynamic jazz world beginning in the early 1940's and continuing into the '70s.  She retired to Hungry Horse, Montana, a story in and of itself. 

The inspiration for the song and the lyrics was truly heartfelt and spontaneous.  Here are her words as she wrote them the very day she experienced her inspiration:

"While living in Hungry Horse one bright cold wintery day, I had to go into Columbia Falls to do some shopping.   When I drove down the Bad Rock Canyon I saw where someone had poured food coloring over the frozen waterfall.  In the meantime they were letting the water out of the dam that was warmer than that in the North Fork.  In merging together, it caused frost to form on all the bushes and trees.  What with just a slight breeze and the sun very bright, it caused the trees and bushes to look like they were covered in diamonds.  The scene was breathtaking.  This is what inspired me to write this."

She wasted no time transposing her feelings into a song.  As soon as she got home from shopping, she sat down and wrote the music and lyrics. 

The Beauty of Montana

This is the beauty of Montana,

So wondrous to behold.

Each day you see more beauty,

that you missed the day before.

A rainbow frozen water fall,

With frost-covered trees all around.

All sparkling like a million diamonds,

Here Christmas can be found.

This is the beauty of Montana,

A wonder to behold.

Each day you’ve seen more of this beauty,

A beauty waiting to be told.

- Nina H.Russell

1992

A few days later she drove into Columbia Falls to speak with Don Lawrence, one of the first people in the local music community she met upon her arrival in the Flathead Valley.  She asked Don if he would write a big band arrangement to the melody she had composed; and so he did.  Click the video below to hear the instrumental arrangement. 

This first arrangement was an instrumental, with the intent of one day completing the project by creating the companion vocal arrangement.   Much time has passed, but the vocal arrangement is now complete and will be debuted on August 6th of 2026 at the Columbia Falls Lions summer concert series in Marantette Park.

This musical diptych (duology) honors the memories of Nina and Don and continues the legacy they both left to the music community here in the Flathead Valley of Montana.  

With the debut of the vocal version, The Beauty of Montana becomes a two-part musical legacy — a dynamic and stirring instrumental tribute and a lyrical tapestry of Nina H. Russell’s original heart-felt vision of Montana.

The DLO Big Band affectionately refers to The Beauty of Montana as the unofficial anthem of Montana; and now, with the vocal arrangement complete, the beauty of Nina's heart-felt love of Montana lives on in song.

A recording of the vocal arrangement will be forthcoming.  In the meantime, please enjoy the instrumental version below.

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Click the photo of Nina below to read the Daily Interlake article about Nina H. Russell.