Born into a family band in Nicholas County, West Virginia, by 1971 Buddy Griffin had learned guitar, bass, banjo, and autoharp. In 1972, he fell in love with the fiddle when he heard and worked with Joe Meadows. In 1973, he got a job in the staff band on the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, where he came in contact with Landon Williams, who lured him to Cincinnati to play in his band, The Hard Times. He and banjo player Jeff Roberts became friends and band-mates in the Katie Laur Band in 1975. During the same era, Buddy played with the Goins Brothers as well as gigs with Jeff Roberts. He later worked as an engineer at Vetco Records in Cincinnati and played in Charlie Sizemore’s band. He recorded with Mac Wiseman and has worked with Jim and Jesse, Larry Sparks, the Heckels, Senator Robert Byrd, and Jesse McReynolds, after Jim’s death. He played in Branson, Missouri, for several years and in 2002 he began administering the Bluegrass Music Certification Program at Glenville State College in West Virginia, which eventually became a Bluegrass Bachelor of Arts degree, the first in the country. In 2016, he was playing fiddle with Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press.
GRIFFIN, BUDDY MASON (1948-)