Buddie Gene Emmons was born January 27, 1937 in Mishawaka, Indiana. In his mid-twenties, he changed the spelling of his first name to “Buddy” and he’s also known as “The World’s Foremost Steel Guitarist.” Buddy is known for playing instruments such as the regular guitar, the lap steel guitar, and the pedal steel guitar. He has also contributed to the design, development, and evolution of the pedal steel guitar as a musical instrument.
Buddy’s love for playing music was sparked when he was just eleven years old. His father bought him a six string lap steel guitar and signed him up to take lessons at the Hawaiian Conservatory of Music in South Bend, Indiana. He only attended lessons for about a year, after which he began to figure out how to play the country music he listened to on the radio on his own. He has said that his major influences include Jerry Byrd and Herb Remington. By the time he was fifteen years old, his talent had progressed so much that his parents got him a triple-neck Fender “Stringmaster” steel guitar. Buddy performed with local bands in South Bend such as The Choctaw Cowboys until he quit high school and moved with a childhood friend to Calumet City, Illinois. There, he was hired by Stony Calhoun to play in his band. When Buddy was seventeen, he moved to Detroit in order to play with musician Casey Clark.
In 1955, Buddy was heard playing with Casey Clark by Little Jimmy Dickens. Dickens offered him a job with his band. At the age of eighteen, Buddy moved to Nashville, Tennessee. At that time, Little Jimmy Dickens’ band, “The Country Boys,” was considered to be one of the most popular country bands. The Country Boys recorded music for Columbia Records. They recorded three of Buddy’s originals. Two of these, “Raising the Dickens” and “Buddie’s Boogie” became steel guitar standards.
Sometime in the year 1956, Buddy and Shot Jackson formed a company to design and build pedal steel guitars. They called it the Sho-Bud Company. Later, during 1956, Buddy created the “split-pedal” setup which is now the standard pedal arrangement. In 1957, the Big E joined the Texas Troubadours. The first recording he did with the Texas Troubadours became a hit record and has become a classic country standard. In 1958, Buddy left the Troubadours to move to California, only to return to Nashville eight months later and rejoin the Texas Troubadours as their lead guitarist for five months.
In 1962, after leaving the Texas Troubadours, Buddy joined Ray Price in the Cherokee Cowboys. For several years, Buddy was Price’s bandleader and created many of the arrangements on his recordings. In 1963, after his failed attempts to get Shot Jackson interested in his new guitar designs, Buddy left Sho-Bud Company. As a result, he formed the Emmons Guitar Company and for most professional steel guitarists, the Emmons steel guitar became the instrument of choice. In 1967, after having problems with alcohol, pills, and taxes, Buddy moved to California to play bass in Roger Miller’s band.
Buddy returned to Nashville with his wife Peggy in 1974 where he became a regularly featured performer at the annual International Steel Guitar Convention in St. Louis. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Throughout his lengthy career, he has played with such artists as The Carpenters, Nancy Sinatra, Ray Charles, George Strait, and Ricky Skaggs. He toured with the Everly Brothers in 1991 until 2001. He still records with musicians he has known for many years such as Ray Price, Johnny Bush and Willie Nelson.