Born 88 Years Ago Today in Pennsylvania, the Grammy-Nominated A-Team Fiddler Who Recorded With Virtually Every Major Country Star Across Three Decades

Name a country music A-lister who recorded between 1960 and 1989, and chances are they have enlisted Buddy Spicher’s master fiddler skills. A member of the vaunted Nashville A-Team session musicians, Spicher has recorded with the likes of Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Paycheck, George Jones, Ray Price, and Willie Nelson—just to name a few. You can also hear his distinct style on the 1970 Linda Ronstadt hit “Long Long Time”.

Today, we’re diving into the life and career of Norman Keith “Buddy” Spicher. He was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania, on this day (July 28) in 1938.

Buddy Spicher Owes His Career to This Country Legend’s Widow

Growing up on a farm roughly 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Spicher learned to play rhythm guitar from his brother, Bill, and fiddle from his uncles.

By age 13, he was playing with local bands on radio station WCED. At 15, he joined the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia, as a staff musician. Not long after, he began playing professionally with Dusty Owens.

Three years later, Audrey Williams—widow of Hank Williams—invited Spicher to move to Nashville. He spent the rest of the 1950s and much of the 1960s on the road, playing in the touring bands behind Williams, Hank Snow, and other stars.

Additionally, he played in the the staff band on The Wilburn Brothers Show as the resident fiddler.

As a touring musician, Buddy Spicher has shared stages with Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, the Osborne Brothers, Ray Price, and Faron Young.

A Prolific Session Career

After spending the better part of two decades on the road, Buddy Spicher returned to Nashville as a full-time session musician in 1968.

He would go on to record with hundreds of country music’s biggest names. Spicher’s resume includes Country Music Hall of Fame members Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Roger Miller, Charley Pride, Marty Robbins, the Statler Brothers, Hank Thompson, and Bob Wills.

Additionally, Spicher performed with the Nashville supergroup Area Code 615. Consisting mostly of younger session musicians, the group’s members included Charlie McCoy, Bobby Thompson, and Weldon Myrick.

Area Code 615 recorded two albums, one instrumental and one with vocals, before disbanding.

In 2008, the Country Music Hall of Fame named Spicher as one of the “Nashville Cats”, a designation given to musicians important in country music history.

However, Spicher didn’t only limit his talents to country music. He has recorded on songs by Rosemary Clooney, the Monkees, Joan Baez, Ian & Sylvia, and J.J. Cale.

[RELATED: 5 Country Songs by The Monkees]

An adjunct professor at Nashville’s Belmont University until 2016, Buddy Spicher continues to tutor; and produce, write, and arrange songs.

Featured image by Beth Gwinn/Getty Images

The post Born 88 Years Ago Today in Pennsylvania, the Grammy-Nominated A-Team Fiddler Who Recorded With Virtually Every Major Country Star Across Three Decades appeared first on American Songwriter.