Buzz Busby
Buzz Busby (September 6, 1933–January 5, 2003) was an American bluegrass mandolinist. Born Bernarr Graham Busbice in Eros, Louisiana, he relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1951 to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation before pursuing music full-time. In 1954, he formed Buzz Busby and the Bayou Boys who played on the daily WRC-TV program Hayloft Hoedown and were regulars on the Louisiana Hayride. In 1957, Busby and banjoist Eddie Adcock were injured in a devastating car accident; the substitute band hastily assembled to cover their slated club bookings subsequently coalesced into The Country Gentlemen. His career was heavily disrupted by lifelong battles with drug and alcohol addictions, leading to periodic incarcerations, though he continued to record sporadically for indie labels and tour with the Busby Brothers, Mac Wiseman, and Leon Morris.
In the newsletter
- No. 9 Fall 1996