The University of Illinois Press is set to release a new book that will be of great interest to anyone with a passion for 20th century bluegrass music history.
Buzz Busby – Father of Washington, DC, Bluegrass was written by Kip Lornell and Tom Mindte, and tells of the life and musical career of the man they credit with popularizing the music in and around the nation’s capital.
Starting shortly after WWII, but especially from the 1950s through the 1970s, bluegrass became an important artistic subculture in the region, attracting both working class locals and the government folks who migrated there out to hear it played live. Buzby moved to DC in 1951, recruited into the FBI from his home in rural Louisiana, and brought his love and talent for bluegrass music, playing mandolin and singing in a striking high tenor voice.
There he met another young prodigy, Scotty Stoneman, who was performing with his family. The two were made for each other, musically and personally and they began performing together with Jack Clement. Stoneman and Busby had a tumultuous relationship, and they spurred each other on towards behavior that many believe was detrimental to their well-being.
The book takes all this on, stating their premise right at the start:
“As the title of this book suggests, we intend to make the case that Busby was largely responsible for the birth and popularity of bluegrass music in the nation’s capital. A tragic figure whose musical brilliance was overshadowed by his self-destructive tendencies, Busby is little remembered and appreciated by most of today’s bluegrass practitioners.”
Buzz’s career intersects with many names that will be familiar to a contemporary audience, ones like Roy Clark, Bill Emerson, Charlie Waller, Tom Gray, Don Stover, Dudley Connell, Bill Harrell, Eddie Stubbs, and Eddie Adcock. He appeared regularly on a daily daytime television program on WRC-TV in Washington, which became quite popular in 1954-55. For many folks in that area, it is remembered as the spark that lit the fire for bluegrass in the vicinity.
Buzz Busby – Father of Washington, DC, Bluegrass covers his full professional career, recording and touring, including the accident that put him out of operation for a time, and also led to the formation of The Country Gentlemen.
The book is to be released on June 23, 2026 in cloth, paperback, and ebook editions. Pre-orders are enabled now directly from the publisher, and from many online resellers.
No student of bluegrass history will want to be without a copy, nor anyone interested in the growth and influence of the music in the capital region. It’s a fascinating story of how bluegrass went from dive bars to concert halls in twenty years time.
