Biography
This skilled string player commands proficiency across nearly every plucked instrument. Accomplished on guitar, mandolin, and banjo, Paul Buskirk prompts admirers of his diverse endeavors to debate the ranking of those three, with some placing the dobro at the forefront. He devoted an entire album to that resonator guitar, a rarity that certain collectors have valued at steep prices. For more than six decades he has championed multiple strains of traditional string-band repertoire. A pinnacle of that advocacy arrived with the 1981 Willie Nelson release Somewhere Over the Rainbow, whose standards received hot-jazz treatment from an elite ensemble of acoustic players; Buskirk also produced the finely engineered sessions. His enduring partnership with Nelson has extended in numerous directions, echoing the branching tributaries of the Rio Grande. Buskirk’s foundation lay in guitar and mandolin, yet he took up tenor banjo at the request of bandleader Gene Austin, thereby entering the company of musicians who altered their instrumental roles on someone else’s suggestion—the most dramatic case being jazz drummer Art Blakey, who shifted from piano to drums under the coercion of a local gangster acting as both critic and enforcer. Additional collaborators have included guitar master Chet Atkins, cowboy singer Tex Ritter, Grand Ole Opry figurehead Roy Acuff, and country stalwarts such as Lefty Frizzell and the Louvin Brothers.
Buskirk’s stature as a premier mandolinist dates to the 1940s. Fellow virtuoso Red Rector remembers that, in an era when bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe held sway over the instrument, Buskirk was already recognized for developing an alternative approach. While performing with the duo Johnny and Jack in West Virginia, Buskirk impressed the pair with his technical command and vigorous low-string passages, elements not characteristic of Monroe’s style. Rector later joined Johnny and Jack and, still a teenager, once withdrew from a scheduled Grand Ole Opry appearance out of nervousness; Buskirk stepped in as the replacement. Listening at home, Rector heard the broadcast and exclaimed, “Man alive! I never heard nothing like that in my life!” An earlier alliance involved the Callahan Brothers—Walter, known professionally as Joe Callahan, and Homer, known as Bill Callahan—who had moved to Texas in the late 1930s. There they assembled the Blue Ridge Mountain Folk, whose personnel included former Coon Creek Girls members Esther Koehler and Evelyn Lange, fiddler Georgia Slim Rutland, and Buskirk. The ensemble began incorporating electrified instruments, an innovation that might have prompted Monroe to seek seclusion, yet audiences responded favorably. The group became one of the Southwest’s most popular acts, maintaining regular radio broadcasts in Texas and Kansas while cutting transcription discs aired on Texas and Mexican border stations. In spring 1941 Buskirk and the band recorded seven sides for Decca.
Although Buskirk figured prominently in Nelson projects of the 1980s and 1990s, their association originated much earlier amid the country-and-western club circuits of Fort Worth, Dallas, and Austin, alongside fellow Texas veterans such as Freddy Powers. The freedom Nelson later enjoyed in his private studio stood in sharp contrast to earlier constraints. One such episode centered on the song “Night Life,” co-written by Buskirk, Nelson, and Walt Breeland and destined to become a country standard. At the time, producer Pappy Daily held Nelson under contract and, deeming the number blues rather than country, threatened legal action should it be recorded. Undeterred, Nelson booked an independent Houston studio and assembled his own musicians; a small local label issued the track under the name Paul Buskirk and His Little Men, Featuring Hugh Nelson. The song subsequently scored a major country hit for Faron Young and was later interpreted by Aretha Franklin and Pat Boone. Among Buskirk’s other co-compositions with Nelson that achieved standard status is the gospel piece “Family Bible.”
During the 1950s and early 1960s Buskirk participated in a series of square-dance recordings made in Houston, sessions later viewed by many listeners as underutilizing his abilities even while fulfilling their functional purpose. In 1960 he lent Nelson fifty dollars—the sum then typical for an original Nelson composition when demand existed—facilitating Nelson’s relocation to Nashville. That same year Buskirk joined the newly formed Herb Remington Combo, led by the renowned steel guitarist and specializing in Hawaiian music for Las Vegas casino engagements and island-themed events; the outfit disbanded in 1971. In the early 1990s Nelson again lent support, producing and facilitating the album Nacogdoches Waltz for Buskirk as leader. The project spotlighted Western swing and gave prominence to the mandola, an instrument Buskirk increasingly favored as he entered his seventh decade in music.
Buskirk’s stature as a premier mandolinist dates to the 1940s. Fellow virtuoso Red Rector remembers that, in an era when bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe held sway over the instrument, Buskirk was already recognized for developing an alternative approach. While performing with the duo Johnny and Jack in West Virginia, Buskirk impressed the pair with his technical command and vigorous low-string passages, elements not characteristic of Monroe’s style. Rector later joined Johnny and Jack and, still a teenager, once withdrew from a scheduled Grand Ole Opry appearance out of nervousness; Buskirk stepped in as the replacement. Listening at home, Rector heard the broadcast and exclaimed, “Man alive! I never heard nothing like that in my life!” An earlier alliance involved the Callahan Brothers—Walter, known professionally as Joe Callahan, and Homer, known as Bill Callahan—who had moved to Texas in the late 1930s. There they assembled the Blue Ridge Mountain Folk, whose personnel included former Coon Creek Girls members Esther Koehler and Evelyn Lange, fiddler Georgia Slim Rutland, and Buskirk. The ensemble began incorporating electrified instruments, an innovation that might have prompted Monroe to seek seclusion, yet audiences responded favorably. The group became one of the Southwest’s most popular acts, maintaining regular radio broadcasts in Texas and Kansas while cutting transcription discs aired on Texas and Mexican border stations. In spring 1941 Buskirk and the band recorded seven sides for Decca.
Although Buskirk figured prominently in Nelson projects of the 1980s and 1990s, their association originated much earlier amid the country-and-western club circuits of Fort Worth, Dallas, and Austin, alongside fellow Texas veterans such as Freddy Powers. The freedom Nelson later enjoyed in his private studio stood in sharp contrast to earlier constraints. One such episode centered on the song “Night Life,” co-written by Buskirk, Nelson, and Walt Breeland and destined to become a country standard. At the time, producer Pappy Daily held Nelson under contract and, deeming the number blues rather than country, threatened legal action should it be recorded. Undeterred, Nelson booked an independent Houston studio and assembled his own musicians; a small local label issued the track under the name Paul Buskirk and His Little Men, Featuring Hugh Nelson. The song subsequently scored a major country hit for Faron Young and was later interpreted by Aretha Franklin and Pat Boone. Among Buskirk’s other co-compositions with Nelson that achieved standard status is the gospel piece “Family Bible.”
During the 1950s and early 1960s Buskirk participated in a series of square-dance recordings made in Houston, sessions later viewed by many listeners as underutilizing his abilities even while fulfilling their functional purpose. In 1960 he lent Nelson fifty dollars—the sum then typical for an original Nelson composition when demand existed—facilitating Nelson’s relocation to Nashville. That same year Buskirk joined the newly formed Herb Remington Combo, led by the renowned steel guitarist and specializing in Hawaiian music for Las Vegas casino engagements and island-themed events; the outfit disbanded in 1971. In the early 1990s Nelson again lent support, producing and facilitating the album Nacogdoches Waltz for Buskirk as leader. The project spotlighted Western swing and gave prominence to the mandola, an instrument Buskirk increasingly favored as he entered his seventh decade in music.
Albums