Busby and Pike, Along with Donnie Bryant, Scotty Stoneman and Lee Cole on bass won first place in the contest. In the summer of 1954, Busby, Pike and the band entered the National Country Music Championship in Warrenton, Virginia. The comedy act 'Ham & Scram,' alter-egos of Pike and Busby, was also featured weekly. The radio show featured lightning-fast renditions of popular bluegrass and country songs, usually performed in a key or two higher than the original. Busby and Pike added Donnie Bryant on banjo and became Buzz & Pete and the Bayou Boys. Simultaneously, they performed every weekend on radio station WGAY in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1953, Busby and his new partner Pete Pike (guitar) began playing at Pine Tavern, a DC night club.

In the early 1950's Bill Carrol managed Busby and booked his shows. Clement returned home to Tennessee after their shows in Boston ended. Busby, Clement and Scotty Stoneman played locally at first, then did stints at WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia and WCOP in Boston. The group had no trouble finding jobs in 19, Buzz recalled playing four to five nights a week during this time. Roy Clark joined the group for a while on banjo. It was through Stoneman that Busby met Jack Clement, who was then in the military and stationed in the Washington area, and they formed the Tennessee Troupers, named for Clement's home state. Their friendship was marked by boyish bickering and spats, as well as their unspoken closeness and closeness. The two started a friendship that would last all the way to Stoneman's death in 1973. Shortly after his arrival in Washington while still working his day job at the FBI, Busby met Scotty Stoneman. In June 1951 Busby moved to the Washington DC area to begin his career with the FBI. Because he was valedictorian of his class, Busby was recruited by the FBI, which was seeking gifted young people at that time.

Busby honed his mandolin and vocal skills by performing the music of Bill Monroe around the West Monroe, Louisiana area.īusby graduated from Eros High School in 1951. In the late 1940s, Busby started a band with high school friend and guitarist Rot Fuller. Buzz would eventually settle on the mandolin, and his complex style was born. His mandolin playing was heavily influenced by a jazz mandolin player named Paul Buskirk, and I haven't heard him play like that again- or maybe I was just easily impressed then.' Buzz picked up the guitar first, learning chords and simple runs from his brothers, Wayne and Lemoyne, who were playing guitar-fiddle duets and singing Monroe Brothers harmonies around their community. Buzz recalled:'Back in those days Monroe played pretty fast the hottest mandolin playing I ever heard, and I haven't heard it since. However, he had never heard the mandolin played in the style that Bill Monroe played it. It was likely Busby's first experience with the mandolin came when his neighbor, Allen Crowell, would bring his mandolin over to play during his early childhood. Busbice and his siblings, some of whom were also musicians (notably Wayne Busbice), spent their Saturday nights listening to WSM's Grand Ole Opry and playing for dances with other area musicians. In addition to running the family cotton farm, Oates was involved in local politics and Talithe (Fay) was a school teacher. Busby was born near Eros, Louisiana, the eighth born of the nine children of Oates Oliver (1893-1943) and Talitha Fay (1894-1956) Busbice.

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