Born Donald August Busch and raised in Connecticut and Maryland, August's love for music
goes back to early childhood, when as a toddler he sat on the floor next to a phonograph
listening to his dad's Classical music collection.
August was in high school in suburban Washington DC when the Country Gentlemen and
The Seldom Scene were the bands in the area, and he says that Folk and Bluegrass music
inspired 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 the living rooms of Memphis, Waverly and Nashville, Tennessee. While he
was working at a steel mill in Pennsylvania, he joined a group 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 & Western dance
bands around the university, and in the 1990s he traveled as bass player with the legendary 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 somehow permanently change
your life.
August allows all of these experiences, and the music of performers like Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, John
Hartford, Rhonda Vincent, Ricky Skaggs and the Isaacs influence his music. These days performances are
more relaxed and personal, not unlike the informal porch or parlor setting of years past.
August's music brings people together and skillfully entertains, leaning heavily on Bluegrass techniques to
celebrate the great music of our past. Bluegrass is his favorite genre and the music he plays best. By
performing it he also 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.
goes back to early childhood, when as a toddler he sat on the floor next to a phonograph
listening to his dad's Classical music collection.
August was in high school in suburban Washington DC when the Country Gentlemen and
The Seldom Scene were the bands in the area, and he says that Folk and Bluegrass music
inspired 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 the living rooms of Memphis, Waverly and Nashville, Tennessee. While he
was working at a steel mill in Pennsylvania, he joined a group 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 & Western dance
bands around the university, and in the 1990s he traveled as bass player with the legendary 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 somehow permanently change
your life.
August allows all of these experiences, and the music of performers like Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, John
Hartford, Rhonda Vincent, Ricky Skaggs and the Isaacs influence his music. These days performances are
more relaxed and personal, not unlike the informal porch or parlor setting of years past.
August's music brings people together and skillfully entertains, leaning heavily on Bluegrass techniques to
celebrate the great music of our past. Bluegrass is his favorite genre and the music he plays best. By
performing it he also 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.
| American Folk, Bluegrass and Old-Time 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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