Bud Buckley
Music Interview with Bud Buckley
Music Now Artist/Band Spotlight Weekly Series
Photo by Dick Stevens
By: Isaac Davis Jr., BGS, MBA
Bud Buckley is one of those rare treats that you do not want to miss out on within the music industry. He sings with passion and soul that clearly shows why he is meant to make music. The critically acclaimed singer/songwriter is also a masterful guitarist and many of his skillful playing can be heard throughout his music. In this recent spotlight with our Webzine, Bud speaks candidly about his music. Here is what developed.
Isaac: We'd love to know about your inspirations growing up. I hear so many influences in your music. How old were you when you first discovered music? Is there any kind of musical history in your family?
Bud: I often dread this question because the truth is there are too many influences to mention. I’d have to leave people out. I’m a product of everything that has passed in front of me. That being said, even while in the womb, the radio was always playing and it was everything from big band to modern jazz to earlier rock and even show music. I steadfastly avoided church music and opera, however. Which is only a shame in that most of my friends who grew up in Southern Baptist churches…learned to harmonize during those marathons Sunday services. But, it probably wouldn’t have worked for me because I have a natural tendency to rebel against any kind of organized belief system. My father and sister played piano and violin. My Mom worked hard to learn piano on her own. My older brother pretended to play piano to make us laugh. My younger brother was a natural and became quite an accomplished jazz bass player.
Isaac: What drew you to pick up an instrument in the first place?
Bud: The example of my family made me want to play but the nuns and my tendency to be more of a daydreamer than a disciplined learner, held me up for many years. The nuns told me I was too stupid to learn piano and couldn’t sing and I obediently believed them. I was forced to overcome these obstacles by the necessity to have a classroom tool when I became a teacher. I didn’t know much about teaching and needed a gimmick. So I bought a hock shop Gibson and an easy Beatles book and taught myself out of the need for survival. The kids loved it way better than when I tried to teach math or spelling.
Isaac: As you hit your teenage years, did you know that this was what you would be doing for the rest of your life?
Bud: When I hit my teenage years all I could think of was attracting girls, earning enough to buy cars and playing the radio. Learning an instrument was even harder work than that so it had to wait. After all, I still believed in my stupidity. I didn’t think about turning pro until I was near the end of my teaching career.
Isaac: Is there a performer in any genre of pop culture that you would like to work with?
Bud: I absolutely adore working with Helen Avakian, my producer who can span any genre. Same is true with the rest of my studio band. They have helped me put together two great CDs. If I were to branch out it, I would need to find somebody to give me a groove I haven’t played around with much yet on my own. Truth is…I like going solo because it is less complicated than trying to schedule rehearsals and dealing with competing egos. Helen and I have come to a very workable accommodation, though, built on openness and trust. If I found another person like her, I’d certainly have a go. But just listen to her back up vocals and guitar on my CDs and you’ll see what I mean.
Isaac: Who are some musicians that you really like, present or past?
Bud: Ah, here we go with the threat of leaving somebody out again. Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Dylan, John Melencamp, Tom Petty, Paul Simon—those are the names I’m often associated with. I’m waiting to see what Pandora comes up with. Neil Young and Jackson Browne are two old favs of mine as is Bruce Springsteen. I like John Mayer a lot as a writer and singer. I never had a need to match any dude’s licks on the guitar, though. I just express myself the way I do. I’m still evolving there. I like Damien Rice a lot as an emotional singer/songwriter. Rob Thomas has a voice I really enjoy. I’m gonna stop there because I’ve already left out too many.
Isaac: What is your ultimate goal with your music career?
Bud: I’m open to small regional tours with the occasional big festival thrown in. That’s why you see me doing Musikfest up in Bethlehem, PA with a lot of little concerts in the northeast built around that. I’m doing the Orion Indie Music Fest to kick off the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January. I’ll be doing three gigs there. Then I’m doing a showcase at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA in February. If anything develops out of those things, fine but I’m not a fan of cold weather. That’s why I moved out of New York to be in southwest Florida. My ultimate goal is to sell some music to sync with movies and TV. I’m listed in a lot of agencies for that but it’s maddening that people who pick that stuff wants you to sound like everybody else who is already hot. They seem happy with doing the same damn thing over and over and over. My favorite review of me is by Chris Propfe of Muse’s Muse who said, “Bud Buckley plays music I want to hear on the radio which is why I don’t listen to the radio.”
Isaac: What have been some of the obstacles to getting this far in your career?
Bud: Really, the biggest was the lack of belief in myself when I was young. That still haunts me from time to time. Now it’s a case of having started so late in life to go pro, I’m competing with a younger crowd for attention. Too many people don’t buy music, they steal it. Many older people don’t seem to be open to anything that doesn’t sound like what they were listening to when their radios broke in 1972. People like to latch on to what’s already popular. So artists like me need to just keep creating and hope to catch the right kind of attention. It takes inordinate amounts of time to play the web that way. I’m hip to what I have to do; I’d just have to give up sleeping eating and being married to get it done very soon. So I keep looking for what I think might be my best shot.
Isaac: Would you recommend this "field" to others who are aspiring to be musicians like you?
Bud: If they are willing to do what I just described, yes. I’ve seen so many talented young people invest their entire lives in trying to reach stardom only to be left without a career or any other skills they can market at an advanced age. My younger brother is a tragic prime example. He passed away recently. So I think it’s absolutely essential to have a day job that could take you into retirement comfortably. To ignore that is a serious mistake.
Isaac: Describe one piece of advice you've have been given to by others in the music industry.
Bud: Besides “Don’t Quit Your Day Job?” Be passionate, be different but be you, work your ass off, don’t wait to get discovered, find your niche, network. Sing in the right key for your voice. I know that’s eight, right? I’ve never been accused of being smart.
Isaac: What genre of music do you consider most of your music?
Bud: Acoustic rock but I can get a little folky, a little country and even a little Bosa. I don’t like to stay in the same playground on the same swing set. As a very young child, I wandered all over Philly and later South Jersey on my own. I didn’t wander into places that were not safe and I’m the same with music. I like to sample different things but I’m not gonna feel safe in metal, jazz, hip hop, gospel, old timey folk, blue grass or the most stereotypical kind of country, show tunes or opera. My feeling is that people who like those genres aren’t gonna want to listen to me messin’ with them.
Isaac: What has been your favorite piece of work?
Bud: I don’t pick favorites very comfortably. It’s an old teacher thing. My songs are my kids. I like all my work or I wouldn’t play it. If I fall out of love with it, and there are a few of those, I stop performing it. I might not even put it up for adoption.
Isaac: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Bud: I’m all over the place. My main site is http://budbuckley.com,
You can get two of my CD's for $10 if you join my fan site at Reverbnation:
http://www.reverbnation.com/budbuckley?add_email=true
My promo video is www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkSFn8niDk
You can hear my entire CD at http://itsabouttime.com
My electronic press kit (EPK) is http://sonicbids.com/budbuckley
My CDs and downloads are at CDBaby.com/budbuckley
I’m also found at Amazon.com
I’m on too many web radio stations to mention and of course I’m on iTunes,
Rhapsody and all those download sites.
Google me and there are pages and pages of ME ME ME
Isaac: Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
Bud: My wife, Cathy Lewis, is the soul of everything I do. Without her there is no inspiration or even movement away from the snack bar. She is the center of my life. I’ve already mentioned Helen Avakian, dear friend and mentor. I need to point out the influence of Davis Turner, an astounding musician who plays mostly the Amelia Island and that North Florida, South Georgia scene. He was the first to insist that I could play out and generously gave me the stage at his gigs on Amelia many years ago. I have many close family and friends who have given me their love and encouragement. I have written about or am writing about all of them. They all show up in my songs in one form or another. I’m still close to many students I taught in public school years ago. One in particular, Kathy Feeney, is a co-writer of mine and a frequent muse. And Jenny Elliott has communicated with me every day since she was about 12. Makes me realize my day job was important. And again, I get to the point where there are just too many people to mention. I have dear friends that are like family and I have family who are dear friends. It’s a lucky man who can’t name them all on one page.
Isaac: Any last words?
Bud: Teaching and music have both taught me that in any crowd, somebody will love you and somebody won’t. I’ve learned not to take myself too seriously. I have no regrets—only some hard learning experience. I used to be afraid of dying. Now I understand that you live on this particular plane as long as somebody remembers your smile and the sound of your laugh or your song. So I don’t feel like I’ll ever be gone.
See Bud's Promo Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkSFn8niDk
Click here to listen to Bud's entire new CD http://ItsAboutTimeCD.com
Click here to join Bud's Fan Club and be eligible for frequent freebies!.
http://www.reverbnation.com/budbuckley?add_email=true
Bud's Electronic Press Kit: http://www.sonicbids.com/BudBuckley
Bud's Web Site http://budbuckley.com
Music Now Artist/Band Spotlight Weekly Series
By: Isaac Davis Jr., BGS, MBA
Bud Buckley is one of those rare treats that you do not want to miss out on within the music industry. He sings with passion and soul that clearly shows why he is meant to make music. The critically acclaimed singer/songwriter is also a masterful guitarist and many of his skillful playing can be heard throughout his music. In this recent spotlight with our Webzine, Bud speaks candidly about his music. Here is what developed.
Isaac: We'd love to know about your inspirations growing up. I hear so many influences in your music. How old were you when you first discovered music? Is there any kind of musical history in your family?
Bud: I often dread this question because the truth is there are too many influences to mention. I’d have to leave people out. I’m a product of everything that has passed in front of me. That being said, even while in the womb, the radio was always playing and it was everything from big band to modern jazz to earlier rock and even show music. I steadfastly avoided church music and opera, however. Which is only a shame in that most of my friends who grew up in Southern Baptist churches…learned to harmonize during those marathons Sunday services. But, it probably wouldn’t have worked for me because I have a natural tendency to rebel against any kind of organized belief system. My father and sister played piano and violin. My Mom worked hard to learn piano on her own. My older brother pretended to play piano to make us laugh. My younger brother was a natural and became quite an accomplished jazz bass player.
Isaac: What drew you to pick up an instrument in the first place?
Bud: The example of my family made me want to play but the nuns and my tendency to be more of a daydreamer than a disciplined learner, held me up for many years. The nuns told me I was too stupid to learn piano and couldn’t sing and I obediently believed them. I was forced to overcome these obstacles by the necessity to have a classroom tool when I became a teacher. I didn’t know much about teaching and needed a gimmick. So I bought a hock shop Gibson and an easy Beatles book and taught myself out of the need for survival. The kids loved it way better than when I tried to teach math or spelling.
Isaac: As you hit your teenage years, did you know that this was what you would be doing for the rest of your life?
Bud: When I hit my teenage years all I could think of was attracting girls, earning enough to buy cars and playing the radio. Learning an instrument was even harder work than that so it had to wait. After all, I still believed in my stupidity. I didn’t think about turning pro until I was near the end of my teaching career.
Isaac: Is there a performer in any genre of pop culture that you would like to work with?
Bud: I absolutely adore working with Helen Avakian, my producer who can span any genre. Same is true with the rest of my studio band. They have helped me put together two great CDs. If I were to branch out it, I would need to find somebody to give me a groove I haven’t played around with much yet on my own. Truth is…I like going solo because it is less complicated than trying to schedule rehearsals and dealing with competing egos. Helen and I have come to a very workable accommodation, though, built on openness and trust. If I found another person like her, I’d certainly have a go. But just listen to her back up vocals and guitar on my CDs and you’ll see what I mean.
Isaac: Who are some musicians that you really like, present or past?
Bud: Ah, here we go with the threat of leaving somebody out again. Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Dylan, John Melencamp, Tom Petty, Paul Simon—those are the names I’m often associated with. I’m waiting to see what Pandora comes up with. Neil Young and Jackson Browne are two old favs of mine as is Bruce Springsteen. I like John Mayer a lot as a writer and singer. I never had a need to match any dude’s licks on the guitar, though. I just express myself the way I do. I’m still evolving there. I like Damien Rice a lot as an emotional singer/songwriter. Rob Thomas has a voice I really enjoy. I’m gonna stop there because I’ve already left out too many.
Isaac: What is your ultimate goal with your music career?
Bud: I’m open to small regional tours with the occasional big festival thrown in. That’s why you see me doing Musikfest up in Bethlehem, PA with a lot of little concerts in the northeast built around that. I’m doing the Orion Indie Music Fest to kick off the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January. I’ll be doing three gigs there. Then I’m doing a showcase at the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA in February. If anything develops out of those things, fine but I’m not a fan of cold weather. That’s why I moved out of New York to be in southwest Florida. My ultimate goal is to sell some music to sync with movies and TV. I’m listed in a lot of agencies for that but it’s maddening that people who pick that stuff wants you to sound like everybody else who is already hot. They seem happy with doing the same damn thing over and over and over. My favorite review of me is by Chris Propfe of Muse’s Muse who said, “Bud Buckley plays music I want to hear on the radio which is why I don’t listen to the radio.”
Isaac: What have been some of the obstacles to getting this far in your career?
Bud: Really, the biggest was the lack of belief in myself when I was young. That still haunts me from time to time. Now it’s a case of having started so late in life to go pro, I’m competing with a younger crowd for attention. Too many people don’t buy music, they steal it. Many older people don’t seem to be open to anything that doesn’t sound like what they were listening to when their radios broke in 1972. People like to latch on to what’s already popular. So artists like me need to just keep creating and hope to catch the right kind of attention. It takes inordinate amounts of time to play the web that way. I’m hip to what I have to do; I’d just have to give up sleeping eating and being married to get it done very soon. So I keep looking for what I think might be my best shot.
Isaac: Would you recommend this "field" to others who are aspiring to be musicians like you?
Bud: If they are willing to do what I just described, yes. I’ve seen so many talented young people invest their entire lives in trying to reach stardom only to be left without a career or any other skills they can market at an advanced age. My younger brother is a tragic prime example. He passed away recently. So I think it’s absolutely essential to have a day job that could take you into retirement comfortably. To ignore that is a serious mistake.
Isaac: Describe one piece of advice you've have been given to by others in the music industry.
Bud: Besides “Don’t Quit Your Day Job?” Be passionate, be different but be you, work your ass off, don’t wait to get discovered, find your niche, network. Sing in the right key for your voice. I know that’s eight, right? I’ve never been accused of being smart.
Isaac: What genre of music do you consider most of your music?
Bud: Acoustic rock but I can get a little folky, a little country and even a little Bosa. I don’t like to stay in the same playground on the same swing set. As a very young child, I wandered all over Philly and later South Jersey on my own. I didn’t wander into places that were not safe and I’m the same with music. I like to sample different things but I’m not gonna feel safe in metal, jazz, hip hop, gospel, old timey folk, blue grass or the most stereotypical kind of country, show tunes or opera. My feeling is that people who like those genres aren’t gonna want to listen to me messin’ with them.
Isaac: What has been your favorite piece of work?
Bud: I don’t pick favorites very comfortably. It’s an old teacher thing. My songs are my kids. I like all my work or I wouldn’t play it. If I fall out of love with it, and there are a few of those, I stop performing it. I might not even put it up for adoption.
Isaac: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Bud: I’m all over the place. My main site is http://budbuckley.com,
You can get two of my CD's for $10 if you join my fan site at Reverbnation:
http://www.reverbnation.com/budbuckley?add_email=true
My promo video is www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkSFn8niDk
You can hear my entire CD at http://itsabouttime.com
My electronic press kit (EPK) is http://sonicbids.com/budbuckley
My CDs and downloads are at CDBaby.com/budbuckley
I’m also found at Amazon.com
I’m on too many web radio stations to mention and of course I’m on iTunes,
Rhapsody and all those download sites.
Google me and there are pages and pages of ME ME ME
Isaac: Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
Bud: My wife, Cathy Lewis, is the soul of everything I do. Without her there is no inspiration or even movement away from the snack bar. She is the center of my life. I’ve already mentioned Helen Avakian, dear friend and mentor. I need to point out the influence of Davis Turner, an astounding musician who plays mostly the Amelia Island and that North Florida, South Georgia scene. He was the first to insist that I could play out and generously gave me the stage at his gigs on Amelia many years ago. I have many close family and friends who have given me their love and encouragement. I have written about or am writing about all of them. They all show up in my songs in one form or another. I’m still close to many students I taught in public school years ago. One in particular, Kathy Feeney, is a co-writer of mine and a frequent muse. And Jenny Elliott has communicated with me every day since she was about 12. Makes me realize my day job was important. And again, I get to the point where there are just too many people to mention. I have dear friends that are like family and I have family who are dear friends. It’s a lucky man who can’t name them all on one page.
Isaac: Any last words?
Bud: Teaching and music have both taught me that in any crowd, somebody will love you and somebody won’t. I’ve learned not to take myself too seriously. I have no regrets—only some hard learning experience. I used to be afraid of dying. Now I understand that you live on this particular plane as long as somebody remembers your smile and the sound of your laugh or your song. So I don’t feel like I’ll ever be gone.
See Bud's Promo Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkSFn8niDk
Click here to listen to Bud's entire new CD http://ItsAboutTimeCD.com
Click here to join Bud's Fan Club and be eligible for frequent freebies!.
http://www.reverbnation.com/budbuckley?add_email=true
Bud's Electronic Press Kit: http://www.sonicbids.com/BudBuckley
Bud's Web Site http://budbuckley.com
Posted by Isaac J Davis Junior at Monday, January 18, 2010 9:53 PM 
Categories: Music Now Artist/Band Spotlight Weekly Series
Tags: Bud Buckley
Categories: Music Now Artist/Band Spotlight Weekly Series
Tags: Bud Buckley
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