Born Donald August Busch and raised in Connecticut and Maryland, August's love for music
started as a toddler when he sat on the floor next to the record shelf with a phonograph
listening to his dad's Classical music collection.
August finished high school in suburban Washington DC when the Country Gentlemen and
The Seldom Scene were the hot bands in the area, and credits Folk and Bluegrass music
for inspiring him to learn guitar in his teens. The 5-string banjo followed while he served
in the US Army in the 1960s. After Army days he found lots of country musicians gathered
on the porches and in living rooms of Memphis, Waverly and Nashville, Tennessee. He later
joined a Pennsylvania Bluegrass band known as The Ramblin Cut-ups playing 5-string banjo.
In the mid-1970s several folks asked August to teach them how to play acoustic stringed instruments, so
he rented space at a music store and gave half-hour lessons with a weekly schedule of 30 students, one of
whom became a banjo-picking statewide champion.
Also in the 1970s, August started traveling as a bass player with Jack and Lera Niman, who sang Gospel
music for regional audiences. By 1976, he had moved to The Habbershon Family, and in the late 70s he
traveled the eastern US with The Four-Fold Gospel Quartet. In the 1980s there were other groups, most
notably the Gospel group Lightship, which featured a number of younger musicians, some of whom his
former students.
In the 1980s he went to Penn State University to earn degrees in English, The Humanities and Technical
Writing. While in school and after graduation he played bass in Classic Rock and Country dance bands
around the university to help with expenses, and in the 1990s he traveled as bass player with Bobby
Freeman playing R&B and Delta Blues from Memphis to Las Vegas. After the Bobby Freeman band job, he
and his wife Barbara moved back to Nashville, where the culture and friends permanently change your life.
August allows all of these experiences, and the music of some great past performers influence his music.
These days his time with audiences and church groups is more relaxed and personal, not unlike the way it
was in the old days.
August still performs Folk and Country at cafés, dinner parties and such, and he visits churches of all
denominations leading worship and singing Old-Time Gospel music. He also maintains a regular schedule
performing at area retirement homes. He loves the way old-time music unites people around the values
and memories of the past. He uses music to bring people together, and he hopes to inspire people to learn
to play live music again, the way we did before we had electronic devices to create our fun for us.
If you or your organization would like to experience some good picking and singing, call or e-mail today.
started as a toddler when he sat on the floor next to the record shelf with a phonograph
listening to his dad's Classical music collection.
August finished high school in suburban Washington DC when the Country Gentlemen and
The Seldom Scene were the hot bands in the area, and credits Folk and Bluegrass music
for inspiring him to learn guitar in his teens. The 5-string banjo followed while he served
in the US Army in the 1960s. After Army days he found lots of country musicians gathered
on the porches and in living rooms of Memphis, Waverly and Nashville, Tennessee. He later
joined a Pennsylvania Bluegrass band known as The Ramblin Cut-ups playing 5-string banjo.
In the mid-1970s several folks asked August to teach them how to play acoustic stringed instruments, so
he rented space at a music store and gave half-hour lessons with a weekly schedule of 30 students, one of
whom became a banjo-picking statewide champion.
Also in the 1970s, August started traveling as a bass player with Jack and Lera Niman, who sang Gospel
music for regional audiences. By 1976, he had moved to The Habbershon Family, and in the late 70s he
traveled the eastern US with The Four-Fold Gospel Quartet. In the 1980s there were other groups, most
notably the Gospel group Lightship, which featured a number of younger musicians, some of whom his
former students.
In the 1980s he went to Penn State University to earn degrees in English, The Humanities and Technical
Writing. While in school and after graduation he played bass in Classic Rock and Country dance bands
around the university to help with expenses, and in the 1990s he traveled as bass player with Bobby
Freeman playing R&B and Delta Blues from Memphis to Las Vegas. After the Bobby Freeman band job, he
and his wife Barbara moved back to Nashville, where the culture and friends permanently change your life.
August allows all of these experiences, and the music of some great past performers influence his music.
These days his time with audiences and church groups is more relaxed and personal, not unlike the way it
was in the old days.
August still performs Folk and Country at cafés, dinner parties and such, and he visits churches of all
denominations leading worship and singing Old-Time Gospel music. He also maintains a regular schedule
performing at area retirement homes. He loves the way old-time music unites people around the values
and memories of the past. He uses music to bring people together, and he hopes to inspire people to learn
to play live music again, the way we did before we had electronic devices to create our fun for us.
If you or your organization would like to experience some good picking and singing, call or e-mail today.
| Old-Time Country and Gospel Music 814-274-8205 august@radiowcpr.com Let the music take you back! |
| August Busch Biography |
| Boots Haskins photo |
| August Busch |
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