James Buckmaster

bought my first guitar in 73 at corder music on meridian st. in huntsville alabama still have it. tho a nice washburn i bought in eighty four at the fret shop on pratt ave got stolen the first week or two i was in nashville, i'm still looking for it. first song i learned to play was "heart of gold". then in early 77 i decided i was going to learn to write songs and haven't looked back, i studied woody guthrie and dylan a lot in my early years, wrote probably more bad songs that anyone in my first four or five years of trying, then i started getting the hang of it, especially after discovering john prine. in 79 i moved to muscle shoals ala. only 60 miles from huntsville, where i mostly grew up. there i was able to learn a lot from being around people like robert byrne,(who was the second person in the business i ever played my songs for, i'd showed up on his doorstep and asked if he would listen and he very politely did) mac mcanally,tommy brasfield, cindy richardson,ava aldridge, who at the time had just had a hit with "sharing the night together" [dr. hook], ava became my mentor of sorts she encouraged me, told me she believed in me and even went so far as to read thru several of my songwriting notebooks and critique all the unfinished songs i had. i just recently found out she had passed away from cancer. lenny leblanc who sang and wrote the top ten song "falling" and who sang the demo of my first song ever published and there were many others in muscle shoals who really took me under their wing to help me. got my first song published by rusty zavitson at his sheffield based cactus studio, who later went on to run millhouse music publishing. in 93 i moved to nashville where i really learned what paying dues is all about and this is where i intend to remain. if the damn city doesn't kill me first. i write and write and write, nothing pleases me more. if i'm not writing a new song i feel like i'm not breathing. and there's so much more to say about the people and places i've seen and been but i guess i'd have to write a book on that ....or some more songs!