Discovering roots with Buddy Greene

Buddy Greene had all but written off traditional music in 1973. There was just too much great pop music being released. It took the Allman Brothers Band to change his mind. One day, Greene was listening to a live recording of the Allmans' at the Fillmore East in New York City. The band was playing songs by people Greene had never heard of, like Elmore James and T-Bone Walker. The songs piqued his interest, and he started to dig it.

"Once I heard stuff by folks like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, I was just knocked out by how great the music was," Greene said.

His discovery of the blues led him to other forms of traditional music such as bluegrass and country. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle be Unbroken" inspired Greene to give country music another shot.

"I'd kind of written off country music as being dumb and hokey," he said. "But what I heard was just incredible musicianship."

Greene learned his lesson: one must know where something comes from to truly understand it. It is a lesson he hopes younger generations will continue to learn through his music.

"I think that's real important - to see how art develops," he said. "It's derivative. It comes from all these different sources. You miss so much by just focusing on one thing. That's what makes my day, is finding art that helps me understand the world I'm a part of and my place in it."

Tuscaloosa residents will have the chance to learn a little history along Buddy Greene at the Bama Theatre Thursday as part of the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa's Bluegrass, Big Bands and More series. The show will start at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $25. The show will benefit the Child Abuse Prevention Services of Tuscaloosa.

Greene is excited to mark his first trip to Tuscaloosa with a benefit for an important cause. He said he hopes he can bring out a crowd Thursday night.

"The scars that you suffer from childhood are the kind of things you never get over," he said. "It's great to raise awareness in a community about this problem. It deserves all the attention it can get."

Greene is also looking forward to playing in such a historic building. The Bama Theatre was built in 1938 under Franklin D. Roosevelt's Public Works Administration. Although Greene has never played the Bama, he has played other theatres like it.

"There's no better place to play because usually they're so acoustically wonderful," he said. "It's just fun to look out at the audience in a space like that, and to hear your music that well."

Greene will also bring multi-instrumentalist Jeff Taylor to accompany him at the Bama.

"Between the two of us, we'll make as much noise as we can in that place," he said.

Green collaborates with other musicians every chance he gets, whether it is on the road or in the studio. His latest album, "Happy Man," features guests such as Bill Gaither and Jerry Reed. The eclectic album features styles from bluegrass to western swing and sounds like a big, front-porch party.

"It all kind of felt right," he said. "It felt like a pickin' party."

Greene said he saved seven or eight gospel songs he recorded for "Happy Man" for a gospel album he plans on recording in the future. He said he just needs to find the time and money to record a few more songs.

"I need to sell a few more copies of 'Happy Man' before I can start in on those," he said.

Until then, he said he will just keep playing shows and hoping that one day he will inspire a kid to find out where that pop music they love so much really came from.