We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Becky Buller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Becky thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Although creating music consumes me, I assumed something else, namely teaching, would be my “real” profession and I’d have my weekends and summers to play music.

Then I got to East Tennessee State University and had to face my intense fear of public speaking; the thought of sounding stupid in front of all the those kids and parents gave me extreme anxiety. A friend was pursuing public relations; I followed her lead. (That wouldn’t require much public speaking, right?) Honestly, my focus was on writing songs and playing fiddle; I was just bumbling along where the rest of my life was concerned.

Just before graduating, I was offered a position playing and singing harmony with a band in the Nashville area. I ended up spending ten years touring all over the world with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike.

Val is a former school teacher; I will always be grateful to her for mentoring me. She would say, “You need to know how to do this because you WILL have your own band someday.” I didn’t believe her. I’m an extreme introvert who is happiest and most comfortable when helping others, especially behind the scenes.

I’m also stubborn and persistent and intent on being a straight A student. So, at Val’s insistence, I worked in her Bell Buckle Records office and learned the ropes, trying my hand at just about everything music industry related: band and radio promotion, photography, graphic design, song licensing, etc. I found I wasn’t up to driving the bus and I don’t have a heart for booking. When she had some health issues, I even led the band. It was the ultimate Bluegrass biz boot camp.

A health scare of my own made me realize I needed a break from the road, but it wasn’t long before I was touring with another group. At this point, I was about five months pregnant with our daughter. Not long after Romy was born, I started working on my first album for the Dark Shadow Recording label; other folks had been cutting my original songs, but I hadn’t had a solo album in 10 years.

Then Romy started walking. My patient, wonderful, kind, laid back, extremely supportive husband, who had been taking care of her AND holding down his full-time job while I was gigging, finally said, “We can’t do this anymore.”

I was painted into a corner. We couldn’t afford the childcare it would take for me to continue in someone else’s band; I couldn’t take Romy on the road; and I was under contract to the record label with a brand new album to sell.

Over the years, folks had told me I needed to start my own band, some even got angry with me for not doing it sooner. But I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have funding, I didn’t have a team, I knew how stressful being a band leader was and I was sure I wasn’t up to it.

I wasn’t ready when I started my band in 2015, either. I just never allowed myself the option of quitting. I’m very glad it didn’t happen before it did. It’s certainly not been an easy road and, at one point, it very nearly took me out. I was completely amazed at the people who stepped up to help me, though: booking agents, the band leaders willing to share their wisdom, the incredible musicians who’ve joined my band or filled in, heroes who were up for being heard on records with me… I have been given “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over” (Luke 6:38); I am so incredibly blessed and I am grateful to be right here, right now sharing my story and music with y’all.

In answer to your question about when I chose to pursue music as a career? I didn’t. Music chose me before I can even remember and I’ve been clinging to it ever since; it entwines every fiber of my being.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Fiddling singer/songwriter Becky Buller is the winner of ten International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards, including:

2016 IBMA awards for Fiddler and Female Vocalist Of The Year 
(the first person ever in IBMA award history to win in both instrumental AND vocal categories as well as the first woman to win Fiddler Of The Year)

2020 IBMA Collaborative Recording and Song Of The Year

She is currently nominated for two 2023 IBMA awards!

Becky has written songs for Grammy award-winning albums by Molly Tuttle, the Travelin’ McCourys, and the Infamous Stringdusters.

She lives in Manchester, Tennessee, but she’s originally from St. James, Minnesota, just became one of the newest members of the Minnesota Music Hall Of Fame.

In addition to touring with her fantastic band, Becky teaches private music lessons in her music studio and online around the world, and serves on the boards of the IBMA Foundation and the ETSU Alumni Association.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Because of my own struggle with debilitating stage fright and anxiety, I’ve made it one of my missions to help others with the same plight. I do wish I’d had more tools in my kit to help fight the stress earlier on in my musical journey, but I have some now and I’m happy to share. One simple thing is to deliberately practice breathing while playing music so that you more apt to do that when you’re in performance and the adrenaline is rushing. It’s such a simple thing; breathing is automatic, right? Not when your dander is up! And when we’re not breathing well, we just won’t think right; when we’re not thinking right, we don’t play well…

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Although music is such an important part of who I am, the true order of importance in our home is God, family and Bluegrass music. May everything that I do and say and all that I am point to our incomparable Creator, who is even now singing this universe into being. To Him be all honor, glory and praise.

Contact Info:

• Website: BeckyBuller.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/beckybullerofficial
• Facebook: Facebook.com/beckybullerofficial
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FiddlerBeckyB
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/beckybullermusic

Image Credits
Becky playing fiddle publicity shot: Scott Simontacchi Grand Ole Opry: Madison Thorn Song Of The Mountains: Lorenz Klug First Ladies Of Bluegrass with Reba McEntire: Country Music Hall Of Fame Becky with The Fairfield Four: Courtesy Of Huckabee / TBN Becky with some of her music students: Jeremy Reimer Becky with a fan: Patrick Marsh (aka Swamp) Becky circa 1991 Becky Buller with daughter, Romy, and husband, Jeff Haley