Buck "The Big Man"

A gentle giant who sings and plays a beautiful song, whether it be country, cowboy, bluegrass or spiritual, you'll see Buck at music festivals and cowboy church services across Texas, Oklahoma and beyond. He's one of the best...and, like all our Miles of Memories entertainers, a wonderful person to be around.
Buck has performed since he was five years old and includes such venues as the Grapevine (TX) Opry, The Jones Family Theatre, The Royalle Theatre, fairs, festivals, cowboy poetry gatherings, ranch gatherings, and the Fort Worth Stock Show as his training grounds.
His internet-webcast Cowboy Campmeeting show is now in its seventh year, and in years past was involved in radio work of the standard (old-fashioned) kind.
You'll love his good clean humor, his original material, the historical anecdotes behind the music...and of course, his yodeling - Tex and Mary Schutz

A gentle giant who sings and plays a beautiful song, whether it be country, cowboy, bluegrass or spiritual, you'll see Buck at music festivals and cowboy church services across Texas, Oklahoma and beyond. He's one of the best...and, like all our Miles of Memories entertainers, a wonderful person to be around.
Buck has performed since he was five years old and includes such venues as the Grapevine (TX) Opry, The Jones Family Theatre, The Royalle Theatre, fairs, festivals, cowboy poetry gatherings, ranch gatherings, and the Fort Worth Stock Show as his training grounds.
His internet-webcast Cowboy Campmeeting show is now in its seventh year, and in years past was involved in radio work of the standard (old-fashioned) kind.
You'll love his good clean humor, his original material, the historical anecdotes behind the music...and of course, his yodeling - Tex and Mary Schutz

Buck "The Big Man" Helton is a true Texas treasure who has been hidden away too long. With a voice as true as Johnny Horton and a full baritone delivery as smooth as Tennessee whiskey, Buck will take you on a fabulous journey through the eyes of a Cowboy. Leaning toward a gospel theme at times, The Big Man delivers set after set of exemplary western offerings. Stories, poetry, songs, gospel, country and western music are wrapped up in one tall Texas performer. Helton is one of the finest cowboys I’ve met, and his music is soothing, vibrant, and positive. We need more like him. Each disc is a must-buy for true Texas music fans who enjoy the singing cowboys of the Lone Star state, including the instrument-laden Spanish album, “DOS GUITARRES EN ESPAÑOL” which has a few great surprises. No flash, just great music. Now you have five great albums to choose from. Get ‘em all today! - MyTexasMusic.com

Buck "The Big Man" Helton is a true Texas treasure who has been hidden away too long. With a voice as true as Johnny Horton and a full baritone delivery as smooth as Tennessee whiskey, Buck will take you on a fabulous journey through the eyes of a Cowboy. Leaning toward a gospel theme at times, The Big Man delivers set after set of exemplary western offerings. Stories, poetry, songs, gospel, country and western music are wrapped up in one tall Texas performer. Helton is one of the finest cowboys I’ve met, and his music is soothing, vibrant, and positive. We need more like him. Each disc is a must-buy for true Texas music fans who enjoy the singing cowboys of the Lone Star state, including the instrument-laden Spanish album, “DOS GUITARRES EN ESPAÑOL” which has a few great surprises. No flash, just great music. Now you have five great albums to choose from. Get ‘em all today! - MyTexasMusic.com

“Whenever I’m booking a show in TX or OK Buck is one of the first ones I call.”
Debra Coppinger Hill
AWA Poet of the year
Executive Producer “Love of the West”

“Buck makes the fanciest yodels sound effortless; such fun to work with.”
Devon Dawson
Grammy Award Winning
Western Recording Artist
“You can record anything of mine, anytime you like!”
Wylie Gustafson
Wylie & the Wild West

“He’s got a voice like hot fudge; Sweet, rich, and deep.”
Jinelle Boyd
Co-Founder
My Texas Music.com

“I love working with him, such a great voice”
Ginny Mac
AWA Western Swing
Artist of the year 2003
- varied

“Whenever I’m booking a show in TX or OK Buck is one of the first ones I call.”
Debra Coppinger Hill
AWA Poet of the year
Executive Producer “Love of the West”

“Buck makes the fanciest yodels sound effortless; such fun to work with.”
Devon Dawson
Grammy Award Winning
Western Recording Artist
“You can record anything of mine, anytime you like!”
Wylie Gustafson
Wylie & the Wild West

“He’s got a voice like hot fudge; Sweet, rich, and deep.”
Jinelle Boyd
Co-Founder
My Texas Music.com

“I love working with him, such a great voice”
Ginny Mac
AWA Western Swing
Artist of the year 2003
- varied

Shay Burk
sburk@hastingstribune.com

Play with anyone who will let you, anywhere, anytime.
That was the advice musicians Buck the Big Man Helton and Fiddlin’ Jake Simpson shared with a group of about 20 fans at the Miles of Memories Country Musicfest Thursday.
The event, which runs through Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds, features a variety of country and western musicians, who participate in concerts, jam sessions and workshops.
“The chief thing you need to remember in this is to have fun,” Helton said. “That’s why everybody wants to be in show business because we get paid to have fun.”
Forty-two-year-old Helton and sixteen-year-old Simpson shared their experiences of getting into the music scene during an afternoon workshop.
“I come from a musical family,” Helton said. “My mom and aunt were professional entertainers. I’ll be glad to pass along things I’ve learned, although I don’t know exactly how much will apply to you because I literally don’t know any other way of life.”
Helton said he starting singing before he could talk and made his public debut singing at a bluegrass festival at age five.
“They let me get up and do “Home on the Range” and I’ve been mixing up styles ever since,” he said.
The next year he made his television debut becoming a regular on the children’s show “Romper Room.” However, his inappropriate language learned on the road from “hillbilly musicians” almost got him kicked off.
Helton said the best advice he could give to someone wanting to learn a musical instrument is to not practice.
“Practice is not fun. Practice is boring,” he said. “You’re sitting here doing scales and trills and music theory, all of which you need but you’ll pick it up as you go along.”
Instead both Helton and Simpson agreed the best advice for someone starting out is to just play with anyone anywhere. Helton said find places to play like a local steakhouse, church, nursing home or bar.
Those were the places Simpson said he started performing. He was bitten by the music bug at age 3 after visiting Silver Dollar City, a late-1800’s theme park, in Branson, Mo.
“There was an old man who played the fiddle, Grandpa Vern. He let me sit on his knee and he’d help me play fiddle,” Simpson said. “I thought it was pretty fun so I begged my parents to get me a fiddle.”
At first his parents wouldn’t buy him the fiddle, so his mother made him a fake guitar with a cardboard box and rubber bands. Simpson said he would go around singing “Don’t Fence Me In” and “The Bull Frog Song.”
When he turned five, a family friend bought the boy a fiddle. Simpson immediately started taking lessons from a classically trained violin player. The fiddle and violin are the same instrument with the only difference being the style of music that is played.
After realizing he still wanted to learn more bluegrass and country music, instead of classical, Simpson said he attended a number of fiddle camps across the country.
One of the most memorable experiences for Simpson as a beginning fiddle player was when he played in his cousin’s bar around closing time. The house band said he would play anything he wanted.
“So I started playing “Amazing Grace,” he said. “My cousin said, ‘You can come back and play any time you want, just don’t play them gospel tunes at closing time,’.”
After his not-so-great experience at the bar, Simpson has gone on to play at numerous music festivals and events across the country. He recently was invited to play as a guest at the Oklahoma Centennial Rodeo Opry. After that event, he became a member of the Oklahoma Opry house band.
“It also helps that this boy could pick up an exhaust manifold and squeeze music out of it,” Helton said of Simpson’s talent.
To date, Simpson has released four fiddle music albums, including his latest gospel album, “Down at the Church house.”
In his short time as a musician, Simpson said he has always loved to play music and he only practices when he has to.
“I need to know the scales so I do practice but only when I want to,” he said. “If I get tired of it, I put it away because I don’t want to get burnt out on it.”
“Playing scales is not fun. Jamming is fun,” Helton said just before the two held an impromptu jam session.
The workshop ended with the two leading the group in singing “Amazing Grace.”
The music festival runs through Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds. For more information on this event, visit www.texandmary.com.
- Hastings tribune

Shay Burk
sburk@hastingstribune.com

Play with anyone who will let you, anywhere, anytime.
That was the advice musicians Buck the Big Man Helton and Fiddlin’ Jake Simpson shared with a group of about 20 fans at the Miles of Memories Country Musicfest Thursday.
The event, which runs through Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds, features a variety of country and western musicians, who participate in concerts, jam sessions and workshops.
“The chief thing you need to remember in this is to have fun,” Helton said. “That’s why everybody wants to be in show business because we get paid to have fun.”
Forty-two-year-old Helton and sixteen-year-old Simpson shared their experiences of getting into the music scene during an afternoon workshop.
“I come from a musical family,” Helton said. “My mom and aunt were professional entertainers. I’ll be glad to pass along things I’ve learned, although I don’t know exactly how much will apply to you because I literally don’t know any other way of life.”
Helton said he starting singing before he could talk and made his public debut singing at a bluegrass festival at age five.
“They let me get up and do “Home on the Range” and I’ve been mixing up styles ever since,” he said.
The next year he made his television debut becoming a regular on the children’s show “Romper Room.” However, his inappropriate language learned on the road from “hillbilly musicians” almost got him kicked off.
Helton said the best advice he could give to someone wanting to learn a musical instrument is to not practice.
“Practice is not fun. Practice is boring,” he said. “You’re sitting here doing scales and trills and music theory, all of which you need but you’ll pick it up as you go along.”
Instead both Helton and Simpson agreed the best advice for someone starting out is to just play with anyone anywhere. Helton said find places to play like a local steakhouse, church, nursing home or bar.
Those were the places Simpson said he started performing. He was bitten by the music bug at age 3 after visiting Silver Dollar City, a late-1800’s theme park, in Branson, Mo.
“There was an old man who played the fiddle, Grandpa Vern. He let me sit on his knee and he’d help me play fiddle,” Simpson said. “I thought it was pretty fun so I begged my parents to get me a fiddle.”
At first his parents wouldn’t buy him the fiddle, so his mother made him a fake guitar with a cardboard box and rubber bands. Simpson said he would go around singing “Don’t Fence Me In” and “The Bull Frog Song.”
When he turned five, a family friend bought the boy a fiddle. Simpson immediately started taking lessons from a classically trained violin player. The fiddle and violin are the same instrument with the only difference being the style of music that is played.
After realizing he still wanted to learn more bluegrass and country music, instead of classical, Simpson said he attended a number of fiddle camps across the country.
One of the most memorable experiences for Simpson as a beginning fiddle player was when he played in his cousin’s bar around closing time. The house band said he would play anything he wanted.
“So I started playing “Amazing Grace,” he said. “My cousin said, ‘You can come back and play any time you want, just don’t play them gospel tunes at closing time,’.”
After his not-so-great experience at the bar, Simpson has gone on to play at numerous music festivals and events across the country. He recently was invited to play as a guest at the Oklahoma Centennial Rodeo Opry. After that event, he became a member of the Oklahoma Opry house band.
“It also helps that this boy could pick up an exhaust manifold and squeeze music out of it,” Helton said of Simpson’s talent.
To date, Simpson has released four fiddle music albums, including his latest gospel album, “Down at the Church house.”
In his short time as a musician, Simpson said he has always loved to play music and he only practices when he has to.
“I need to know the scales so I do practice but only when I want to,” he said. “If I get tired of it, I put it away because I don’t want to get burnt out on it.”
“Playing scales is not fun. Jamming is fun,” Helton said just before the two held an impromptu jam session.
The workshop ended with the two leading the group in singing “Amazing Grace.”
The music festival runs through Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds. For more information on this event, visit www.texandmary.com.
- Hastings tribune