Buzz Busby

Father of Washington, DC, Bluegrass

By: Kip Lornell, Tom Mindte

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Paperback | 23 June 2026

At a Glance

Paperback
288 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.9

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Buzz Busby's move to Washington, D.C., in 1951 helped launch bluegrass in the nation's capital while the intensity of his mandolin playing drew raves for its unrelenting pace and innovative style. His high lonesome singing rivaled that of Bill Monroe. Kip Lornell and Tom Mindte draw on interviews and some fifty hours of Busby speaking about his life to tell the story of a largely forgotten bluegrass virtuoso. Busby and his band the Bayou Boys stood front and center on a mid-1950s D.C.-area TV show that, though short-lived, catalyzed the formation of the city's bluegrass community. Time with the Louisiana Hayride and classic if little-heard bluegrass sides like "Lonesome Wind" seemed to promise a bright future. But a devastating car wreck and a host of legal and personal troubles triggered a long decline into drug and alcohol abuse that undermined Busby's career and led him to sum up, "I started at the top and diligently worked my way to the bottom." Entertaining and vivid, Buzz Busby tells the story of a musician's musician and his hardscrabble life in bluegrass.

Industry Reviews

"Buzz Busby approached performance and life with maximum intensity. Kip Lornell and Tom Mindte's definitive biography captures both the tragedy that hobbled his career and the artistry that made him a cult figure among bluegrass aficionados." -Fred Bartenstein, coeditor of Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio's Musical Legacy "Finally, an in-depth account of this hugely talented but troubled bluegrass pioneer. Straightforwardly written, it often includes his own down-to-earth recollections." -Tom Ewing, author of Bill Monroe: The Life and Music of the Blue Grass Man

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