Bud Smith

“I have played music all of my life. My brothers and sisters were into music and they taught me everything. We had piles of records. We listened to everything from Hank Snow and Hank Williams to Jim Morrison. I was six when I started playing drums. I now play guitar, bass, accordion, mandolin, violin and piano. I have about 60 instruments. I have had odd jobs to make ends meet, but it has always been about music. I have played in Spain, Egypt, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Belgium. We have busked on the streets in many of those places and the last 6 or 7 years Kris has done it with me. Busking is great and they always like us. One of our first places was the Opera Cafe in Paris and they kept asking us back. The operatic singers came in and loved our ‘hillbilly music.’ In Zurich, they filled my hat with big, silver coins. We have a new song named ‘Amstel Sky,’ from our time in Amsterdam that I love to play. I also like our song ‘Yellowstoned,’ about our trip to Yellowstone. We do what we like.”

“I am a classic rock guy and have been playing professionally since I was 14. I played with Everclear several times and sat with Chris Cagle and played for John Prine. My favorite memory was playing with Everclear in front of 100,000 people in Chattanooga. I did the back line for them and started talking to the techs. They made it look like they just pulled up a guy to play. We bonded after that. I played drums Warren Wolf’s ‘Buzz Me’ album and did guitar and vocals for Sam Baylor’s solo album. I also did sound for the Eagles at a private party.”

“I am having to take it slow and can’t play as much as I want to. The cancer seems to be OK right now, but it’s the bronchitis that is giving me problems and keeping me from breathing normally. The scar tissue from my tumor has me where I can’t eat much. Music has been my whole life and it has taken me around the world. It has been fun and I can’t complain.”

“Bud and I skipped school in 8th grade and played ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Reed’ for three hours. Bud had a black Les Paul and it blew my mind that he knew how to play David Gilmour and Jimmy Page. I didn’t know how to play any of that.” (Will Kimbrough)

“When Bud was 12, I told him if he could play Neil Young’s ‘Cortez the Killer’ then he could prove to me he was a real musician. Within about two hours he nailed it. When he was about 6, he got a little electric guitar and an amp for Christmas. A few days later, the family was gathered in the den on Sunday morning and he plugged his little amp and guitar in outside the hall where we couldn’t see him. He leaped into the room like Eddie van Halen and hit the chords for Three Dog Night and sang out the first line “Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog.” We all died laughing, and he played the whole song.” (Theresa, Bud’s sister)