Women in Bluegrass Newsletter Archive, Reader’s Edition

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James "Goober" Gilbert Buchanan

James Gilbert "Goober" Buchanan (1908–2008) was an American country music entertainer, multi-instrumentalist, character actor, and radio comedian whose career spanned the vaudeville, tent-show, and early television eras. Born in Simpson County, Kentucky, he began working as a radio disc jockey and announcer in 1936. Alongside his wife, Iola Mae "Dixie Belle" Moore, he fronted Goober and his Kentuckians, a popular 1940s traveling hillbilly music and comedy troupe that combined traditional acoustic string music with theatrical vaudeville skits on major regional radio stations and national tent-show circuits. A versatile performer and World War II Army veteran, Buchanan later worked as a stage manager, spent five years touring with country icon Porter Wagoner, performed as a mainstay at Kentucky's historic Renfro Valley Barn Dance, and published his autobiography, The Original Goober: The Life & Times of James G. Buchanan, in 2004.

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