APRIL 2018 BUDDY 13
Doug Baker“LIKE AN IRON CURTAIN FALL-ing on a performer on stage BrentStein was hit with a possession ofmarijuana charge that then couldcarry a life sentence in prison for anyamount; and an “inciting to riotcharge” from a gathering at Lee Park.Brent did time in Huntsville as theHenry Wade railroad mainlined toHuntsville, with Brent sentenced toten years and a day to foreclose onserving less time. Iconoclast workedfor a pardon from the then Governorof Texas, Dolph Briscoe, that withothers influenced the Governor torelease Brent — at this point betterknown as Stony Burns; and the Gov-ernor did.”
Kim Martin Pierce“STONEY WAS MANY THINGS TOmany people, but I’ll always remem-ber him as a mentor — yeah, a men-tor. He took a raw, young writer andblitz-schooled her in magazine pub-lishing – caption to byline, X-acto toblue line.
Mike Rhiner, Kim Martin Pierce, Roband Lynne Edleson. Rob was the firsteditor. Kim took over while Stoneywas imprisioned for a few joints.
He hadn’t intended to do this. Asit happened, the day in fall 1974 thatthe final appeal on his felony mari-juana conviction was denied – whichmeant jail time – he hired me at $100a week to be his editor. Only, hemade that hire before he found outhe was Huntsville-bound. (His wasthe last felony marijuana convictionof its kind before the law was changed,and the sentence was meant to senda message: 10 years and a day. Over10 years and you gotta serve thetime.)
We were at the Fairmont HotelVenetian Room watching a red hotTina Turner show when the newscame down. Without skipping a beat,he turned to me and Jan Gallimoreand said, “You’re going to publishthe magazine while I’m gone.” Therewas no way to know whether wewere talking months or years.”
Melody SyerDURING BUDDY HOLLY WEEK weheld parties ever night at a differentclub celebrating Buddy’sBithday.Stoney’s passion for blondessometimes got the better of him some-times in his bed Some made a sexyfront cover and some we put to workat Buddy but they didn’t last longand Stoney would ask me politelyfire them.
Melody Syer
Stoney was a celebrity.Putting on the awards show at
Tango on Greenville Ave black tieevent. It fabulous to part of.Therewas a lot of confusion the time wehad hired Mark Von Zenick. Stoney’sdad didn’t care for his enormous
colored Mohawk and I had got apetition together due to no air condi-tioning and a horrible stench of inkmost of Mr Steins staff we scared ofhim . Some signed just an X.
I put it on his desk and there wasa note to see me the next morning onmy immediate arrival He ordered meand all the Buddy staff to leave..Stoney wasn’t even mad at me … Itworked out ok Mark workedfreelance writer and I was the sales,calendar editor associate publisherwe all worked from home.
Stoney and I stayed connected itwork out fine
Original Buddy artist Steve Brooks
Steve BrooksI FIRST MET STONEY IN THEspring of 1970. I had just designedthe Lee Park Massacre poster he askedme to help contribute to Notes. Lateron we worked together with DougBaker at Iconoclast. Lots of late nightpaste up and add tweaking. Samesituation at BUDDY, with theexception...BUDDY was such a groovyvibe and we always had a great timeworking and playing.
Ed Miller“AS TIME GOES BY, BUDDY MAGA-zine and those wonderful local TexasMusic stories we once lived and wroteand read about all those years agoseem now more important to methan ever before. It’s amazing, giventhe way we lived then, that anyoneactually survived. But here some ofus remain, still not dead yet, four anda half very strange decades later.
Many other Buddy writers cameinto the Texas Music Scene throughrock and roll. My own entry pointwas country music. I was 18 in1961, an innocent young disc jockeyat KPCN, Dallas first fulltime coun-try music radio station. While manyothers listened to the Beatles or Roll-ing Stones, I was spinning records byBob Wills, Ernest Tubb, George Jonesand Ray Price every day live on theradio. Each Saturday night I wasdown on Industrial Blvd at theSportatorium for the Big D Jambo-ree, then on to Dewey Groom’s Long-horn Ballroom.
Ten years later, as my musicbroadcasting gave way to music jour-nalism, I was led to Buddy and its’weekly contemporary the Iconoclast.By then, I had made another transi-tion similar to the one Willie alsomade, from straight old-time coun-try music into Texas ProgressiveCountry Music.
Ed Miller was the magazine’sResident Hairbilly.. is now apromoter
We all had hair down on ourshoulders and were passin’ jointsinstead of half pints of whiskey. Thescene had its own radio stations,KAMC and KAFM. We had comehome to the Armadillo. Buddy’s staff
masthead back then listed me as themagazine’s Resident Hairbilly.”
—ED MILLER
Rick Koster authored Texas Musicreleased on St. Martins Press. He iscurrently a music writer for The Day
Rick KosterTHE FIRST RECORD REVIEW Iever got paid for was one I wrote forBuddy. It was of a single by Austin’sToo Smooth. I’m sure “Mamie Mama”was the A side and probably “WhereHas All the Magic Gone” was the B-side. At that point, the band wascomprised of Jeff Clark, Chris Skiles,Ron Ward and Don Townsley (RIP).In the printed review, I misspelledthe name of every guy in the band.
Occasionally, I’ll look back overthe yellowing pages Buddy that Ibrought with me when we movedfrom Dallas to Connecticut. I keptthem not because I had stories inmany of them, but more becauseBuddy has provided an astonishingreal-time history of the almost freakyand distinct magic of Texas music —artists and songs that could neverhave happened anywhere else.
Intricately intertwined with thisall of this is the fact that Buddy hasbeen a sort of farm system for aspir-ing music journalists — many ofwhom have gone on to wonderfulcareers. I’m so proud to be part ofthat history. Great, great stuff.
Corey Michael MayoBY THE TIME I STARTED WRIT-ing for Buddy in the early ’90s, DeepEllum was a cresting wave that hadbeen building momentum for yearswith the Island Records release of the1987 scene-defining compilation,The Sound of Deep Ellum, featuringthe future Mrs. Paul Simon, EdieBrickell.
Corey Michael Mayo
In the ’80s, Deep Ellum was adangerous chunk of dirty real estateconfined by three streets andcrouched under highways like thehomeless community it shared thespace with. But by the early ’90s,Deep Ellum was drawing large, vi-brant crowds to watch original mu-sic being played by hopeful youngbands, such as Tripping Daisy, Old97s and the Toadies. The stories ofskinhead altercations were noweclipsed by tales such as the “NirvanaTrees incident” and the electric feel-ing that Dallas now had its ownversion of the late ’80s Seattle Grungescene. The cresting wave finally brokeand rolled back, but it was a magicaltime to be young, living in DFW, andin love with live rock and roll.
What I remember the most is thegraciousness of the bands and musi-cians I covered. It could and should
be a much longer list, but my sincerethanks go out to the following fortheir time and kindness: Spyche, poppoppins, Course of Empire, DaveAbbruzzese of Pearl Jam, Paul Quigg,Todd Lewis and Lisa Umbarger ofthe Toadies, Jim Heath of ReverendHorton Heat, and Sam McCall ofBrutal Juice.
Jackie Don LoeAS A WRITER, I WAS ALWAYS Afan of Jack Kerouac and the Beats.His influence on my desire to tell astory and a style to write in a free andspontaneous form was a big inspira-tion. The hope to one day get pub-lished was just a dream. In 2004, Ibegan writing for SW Blues Magazinewhere I wrote dozens of stories andover fifty “Guitar Workshop” col-umns until it folded in 2012. Soonafter I was asked to write for Buddy.It was a dream come true to inter-view and write about some of myguitar heroes such as Andy Timmons,Van Wilks and Ian Moore. In July of2007, I actually had a story writtenabout me in Buddy by Tim Schuller,asking if had I reinvented the jam? Asthe sad poet once lamented, “It is mycurse to write but a triumph to bewritten about.”
Jackie Don Loe is a Buddy TexasTornado and accomplished writer
As a guitarist, I was only twelve yearsold in 1978 the first year of BuddyMagazine’s Texas Tornados. I hadjust started playing guitar, bangingout “Smoke on The Water” on thetop E string alone in my room withmy record player and the radio. I wasdetermined to be a guitar player andnever looked back. I was lucky toland a gig with Al “TNT” Braggs in1990 and graduated his musical bootcamp.
Colleen“Bradford” Morgan
WHEN A SUBURBAN NEWSPAPERgives a high school drop out theopportunity to write about a bur-geoning Deep Ellum music scene,why not take it? I started writing aweekly article featuring local music(The Loco Gringos were the first) forthe Plano Star-Courier in June 1989,and it was perhaps a year or so laterthat I began a monthly column …“Colleen’s Corner,” on this massiveMac while Ron McKeown wouldwheel and deal with advertisers.
Colleen Morgan as Necrophilia,former Buzzmonger publisher
My first major article was“Kitchen Magician” about Renais-sance man Josh Alan Friedman... thiswas in the days of recording phoneinterviews on cassettes and pains-takingly transcribing and assembling
an article. My other tasks includedrecord reviews, show reviews andthen I began to edit. Having had mywork slashed by unkind editors atthe newspaper (especially after let-ters insisting I was promotingSatanism to the good children ofPlano by touting metal bands), I tooka gentle approach.
JD Robb, funded the first fewissues of my monthly open forum’zine Buzzmonger from March 1994-late 1997. I became Necrophilia, Divaof the Dead of ghoul jazz quintet TheNecro Tonz.
Jan SikesAS PROBABLY THE NEWESTmember of the Buddy Magazine writ-ing staff, I can honestly say that theopportunity to come on board liter-ally fell in my lap.
Acclaimed author Jan Sikes
I love interviewing the artists andsupporting Texas music and musi-cians. Some of the interviews I’vedone particularly stand out. When Igot together with Andrew Jr. BoyJones, armed with my recorder, atthe Rustic, I had no idea the amazingstories he would share with me. Iknow my mouth must have fell openwhen he talked so casually aboutFreddie King taking him under hiswing when Jr. was only a teenager.He went on to share story after storyincluding a dressing-room conver-sation with the great B.B. King.
Texas is full of music treasuresand there is nothing much morerewarding than finding and sharingthem. It is my goal as a journalist andinterviewer to uncover things aboutthe music artist that can’t be found ina Google search. An example of thatis the recent interview I did with SueFoley. I wanted to know her feelingsand emotions about being asked toplay with the legendary Billy Gib-bons, Jimmie Vaughan, MikeFlannigin and Chris Layton as part ofthe “Jungle Show.” It’s the emotionin the artist and their songs that Iwant to convey through my features.
I can honestly say that every in-terview I’ve conducted has been dif-ferent. Besides interviewing some ofthe most talented singer/songwriters/musicians on the face of the planet, Iget to hear some extremely cool musicbefore it is released to the public.
Tom GeddieWHEN I BEGAN WRITING ABOUTTexas music for Buddy Magazine inthe mid 1990s, and then for otherpublications, I was so ignorant that Ithought I’d know most of the musi-cians in Texas within a year or so.That, of course, never happened. Somany, and so many good ones.
All of the CD reviews, featurearticles, and “Americana, Texas” col-umns were honest. Nearly all werepositive.
From 1995 to 2015, I got to hear,meet, talk with, and share opinionsabout many of the pioneers of so-called “redneck rock” and many ofthe best of the young up-and-comerswho shared stages with them to be-gin carving their own futures. I madesome good friends and, as far as Iknow, only a handful of “enemies” in20 years; I am grateful for all of them.
I feel privileged to know thesecreative people, whatever their – our– flaws. I know some more than
a
others, of course, and sometimes Ithink I know them but I really don’t.I do know this: The gift they give usis a bit of themselves. If it is honestmusic, it is often emotionally vulner-able. The soul of a song is bothpowerful and fragile. The creativeprocess – tension and release, fillingand emptying, being distant enoughto see and close enough to feel–– is atthe same time joyous and dreadful.
Kate Hearne, Tom Geddie and TerriHendrix. Tom has publishednumerous poetry books
I liked introducing people to newmusic and musicians as much as Iliked writing about the longtimers.Ron McKeown reminded me byphone the other day that I’d pushedhim to publish features on MarenMorris when she was 12 or 13, andon Kacey Musgraves when she wasstill, I think, a teenager. And HeatherMorgan, who was still in college atthe time but who, just a very fewyears ago now, co-wrote BMI’s coun-try song of the year. Don’t ask me thename of that song, because I don’trecall. I’m happy for Heather and forher family who supported her dream.
One caution, which is true in anymusic, I suppose: If you want to lastin music, don’t copy other musi-cians. Create your own sound thatwill set you apart … Quality floats tothe top, and I mean that in the mostpositive sense.
Mary Jane FarmerONE OF MY MAIN GOALS IN LIFEis to let as many people as I can knowabout the great music and musiciansout there. Why? As Jo-el Sonniersaid, “Music is good nourishment.”
For decades, I have been able toaccomplish this through writing,event production, and photography.Magazines, newspapers, festivals, it’snot all about Facebook! After retir-ing from my last job, I contacted Ronabout writing for Buddy.
Scene in Town publisher Mary JaneFarmer, who also writes for the ParisNews
I have been honored to have writ-ten about local/area musicians suchas Dustin Perkins, Billy Joe Shaver,Big Gus Samuelson, and so manyothers; also had chances to interviewsome, before many people knew theirnames. Nowadays, Cody Johnsonalways gives me a hug. And then, thebig stars. Ray Price, Don Henley,Neal McCoy, Terry McBride. There’sbeen some hard to write, those InMemoriams, including that for myevent production mentor RodKennedy of the Kerrville Festivalswho died on the palindromic date of4.12.14; the late Ray Price; and morerecently for your friend and mine,Brandon Jenkins. Tough writing, withtears sometimes blurring the thoughtsand the words. One of my favorite towrite is my “Texas Nexus.”
W R I T E R S , A R T I S T S A N D O T H E R B U D D Y C O N T R I B U T O R S D U R I N G 4 5 Y E A R H I S T O R Y
