By Bellicose Bullfeather
Staff and Contributors
PUBLISHER
ROB GARNER
RON MCKEOWN, PUBLISHER EMERITUS
EDITORS
CHUCK FLORES, SENIOR EDITOR
ELAINE MCAFEE BENDER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ROB GARNER
FOUNDER
STONEY BURNS
CONTRIBUTORS
ELAINE MCAFEE BENDER, IAN SAINT, KATE STOW, ANDREW DALY, GEORGE BOND, GEORGE GIMARC,
CHUCK FLORES, BRIAN WRIGHT, HANNAH MEANS SHANNON, BELLICOSE BULLFEATHER, KIRBY WARNOCK, COLLEEN GILSON, DARLEEN MCADAMS, JAN SIKES
WEB EDITOR
KATE STOW
PHOTOGRAPHERS
CHUCK FLORES, ROBERT C. MAXFIELD III, ANDREW SHERMAN, TRAVIS CLARK, DARLEEN MCADAMS, MICHELLE SIRCHIO
ARCHIVIST
AIDEN STOBAUGH
Founding and Mission
Buddy Magazine was founded in the early 1970s in Texas by Brent Lasalle Stein – better known as Stoney Burns – along with Rob Edleson. Burns, a notable Dallas counterculture figure, and Edleson launched Buddy with just $2,000 and a bold vision for a regional music publication. The first issue rolled off the press in July 1973, printed at Burns’ family’s Dallas printing shop. They named the magazine “Buddy” as a tribute to rock ’n’ roll pioneer Buddy Holly, about whom Burns said “changed my life”. From the outset, Buddy was conceived as “The Original Texas Music Magazine,” a free bi-monthly dedicated to covering the vibrant music scene of Texas – including rock, progressive country, blues, folk, and more – that mainstream media of the time often overlooked.
Burns and Edleson’s goal was to fill a void in the North Texas entertainment landscape. In the early 1970s, there were virtually no local music magazines or extensive newspaper guides for concerts. As Burns later noted, “There was no such thing as a music magazine… no place to learn about concerts and who was playing where”. Buddy aimed to change that. The magazine’s tone was informal and irreverent – the founders jokingly labeled their early staff as the “staph,” reflecting the scrappy, underground spirit of the operation. Despite its humble start (operating out of a pair of ramshackle Dallas office apartments), Buddy quickly struck a chord with Texas music fans through its passionate coverage and Burns’ maverick personality.
Growth in the 1970s
From its very first issues, Buddy Magazine found an enthusiastic audience and began to make its mark on the Texas music scene. The debut issue’s cover story on the popular duo Seals & Crofts (even though the article was a couple of years old) demonstrated Buddy’s resourcefulness – it helped the fledgling magazine snag a major ad from a concert promoter who had a Seals & Crofts show coming up. Within months, the magazine’s circulation surged. An initial print run of 25,000 copies quickly doubled, and demand kept growing through the mid-1970s. This rapid rise was fueled by Buddy’s on-the-ground coverage of the burgeoning Texas music movements. In 1973, just days after the first issue was printed, Buddy staffers headed to the legendary Dripping Springs “Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic” – the inaugural outing of Nelson’s now-famous festival. There they witnessed hippies and country “rednecks” coming together for a new blend of music, confirming that a Texas music revolution was underway.
Veteran Texas performers Willie Nelson (seated, with bandana) and friends share a light moment on Nelson’s tour bus in 1974, as captured by Buddy Magazine photographer Ron McKeown. The publication’s all-access approach allowed it to feature candid scenes like this in its pages. This kind of unparalleled backstage access helped Buddy Magazine establish itself during the rise of the 1970s “Progressive / Outlaw / Cosmic Cowboy” movement, which blended country and rock and put Texas music on the map.
By positioning itself at the heart of the outlaw country and “progressive country” scene, Buddy quickly gained credibility. It championed artists like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Ray Wylie Hubbard during the outlaw country rise, giving those musicians critical early coverage in Texas. At the same time, the magazine did not shy away from rock & roll – early notable issues included an ambitious multi-part feature on Bob Dylan and a star-studded “Kinky Friedman All-Star Issue” in January 1974. Such high-profile content, alongside local music news, helped Buddy build its reputation as an authority on music. By 1975, its circulation had swelled to about 40,000 copies, and observers noted that Buddy was spreading the gospel of Texas’s progressive country sound to a wide audience. Major media took notice: the Austin Chronicle later dubbed Buddy “the North Texas equivalent of Crawdaddy,” comparing it to the famed national rock magazine for its pioneering coverage of regional music.
As the decade progressed, Buddy Magazine became deeply enmeshed in Texas’s live music culture. Its writers and photographers enjoyed open access to concerts and performers – a fact that Buddy staff credit for the magazine’s rich content. (One Buddy photographer even managed to talk his way into a dressing room with British rock star Peter Frampton, using quick thinking to avoid confiscation of his film, illustrating the magazine’s knack for getting the story behind the scenes.) By the late 1970s, Buddy had grown into a key source for music information in North Texas, publishing extensive club listings and concert schedules in each issue. The magazine’s reach expanded through partnerships with local FM radio: in 1977–78 Buddy was affiliated with Dallas rock station KZEW-FM (“The Zoo”), and by 1979 another rock station (KTXQ “Q102”) had actually taken over management of Buddy, which by then boasted a circulation of around 100,000 copies. In 1982, Buddy was even tapped as the official magazine of the massive Texxas Jam rock festival in Dallas, underscoring its prominence in the state’s rock scene. What began as a local underground venture had, by decade’s end, become a powerhouse of Texas music journalism.
Influence in the 1980s
Entering the 1980s, Buddy Magazine reached even higher influence and visibility. In 1978, founder Stoney Burns and editor Kirby Warnock launched a signature Buddy Magazine tradition – the “Buddy Texas Tornados”, an annual designation recognizing outstanding Texas musicians (particularly guitarists). The first group of Texas Tornados, selected in ’78, included guitar heroes like Rocky Athas, Jimmie Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Billy Gibbons, John Nitzinger, and Bugs Henderson, with a young Stevie Ray Vaughan added to the list in 1979. Over the years this roster grew to hundreds of inductees, and being named a Buddy Texas Tornado became a badge of honor for Lone Star State players. Burns also inaugurated “The Texas Music Awards” (nicknamed the “Buddies”) and even organized a Texas Music Hall of Fame – all of which reflected Buddy’s clout in the music community by the early ’80s. At the 1980 Buddy Awards show, for example, the lineup of talent spoke to the magazine’s stature: Willie Nelson, Delbert McClinton, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Joe Ely performed, Jimmy Dean and James Brown served as award presenters, and rock ’n’ roll legend Roy Orbison made an appearance as a special guest. Few purely regional magazines could command the presence of such stars – Buddy had truly become the insider voice of Texas music during this era.
During this period, Buddy Magazine was publishing multiple regional editions – including separate issues for Dallas, Houston, and Austin/San Antonio – supported by a staff of nearly two dozen writers, editors, photographers, and salespeople. The magazine’s pages covered an eclectic range of content: one issue might feature a blues legend like Chuck Berry or a Texas songwriting great like Townes Van Zandt, and the next issue might spotlight rising rock bands or pivotal music events. This broad coverage helped solidify Buddy’s influence across genres. Importantly, the magazine continued to break new artists. Buddy often profiled performers before they hit it big – for instance, it ran features on then-unknowns like Joe Ely, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, and even heavy-metal band Pantera long before they gained national fame. By championing homegrown talent and celebrating Texas’s rich music heritage, Buddy Magazine shaped the narratives around many artists who would later become icons.
Continuing through various musical genre popularity changes, one area where Buddy remained immediately relevant was blues. The magazine’s writers (notably blues expert Tim Schuller) and photographers threw a spotlight on the Dallas-Fort Worth blues circuit, helping to resurrect the career of 1950s bluesman Zuzu Bollin and introducing mainstream audiences to local fixtures like guitarist Roger Boykin and singer R.L. Griffin. This dedication to Texas’s musical roots maintained Buddy’s credibility and legacy, even as its mass appeal faced new competition.
Challenges and Evolution in the 1990s
By the early 1990s, Buddy Magazine had to adapt to a changing media landscape. After nearly two decades at the helm, Stoney Burns was ready to step back. He handed over the reins of publisher/editor to Ron McKeown – Buddy’s longtime photographer and a key staff member since the beginning – around 1989. Under McKeown’s leadership, the magazine forged ahead into its third decade, albeit in a leaner form. This period saw the rise of alternative weeklies (like the Dallas Observer) and mainstream newspapers boosting their entertainment coverage, which meant Buddy no longer had the field to itself. To stay relevant, McKeown focused on what had always set Buddy Magazine apart: deep coverage of the local scene and world-class music photography. Seasoned contributors such as Chuck Flores, Tom Geddie, Kirby Warnock, and others continued to write for Buddy Magazine, keeping its voice alive in the Texas music community.
During the 1980s and ’90s, Buddy also moved its base of operations to reflect the evolving music scene. The magazine had an office in Dallas’s Deep Ellum district during the early stages of that neighborhood’s music renaissance. From there, Buddy Magazine was one of the first publications to champion the folk-rock troupe Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (long before that band’s breakout hit in the late ’80s). Burns later joked, “Buddy moved out of Deep Ellum before the Observer even moved in,” highlighting that Buddy was ahead of the curve in covering Dallas’s alternative music explosion. In the 1990s, Buddy relocated its office to Lower Greenville in Dallas, another area known for live music venues. There, in a modest space, Ron McKeown famously photographed a young Dixie Chicks for what would become the group’s first-ever magazine cover – appearing on Buddy Magazine – well before the Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) shot to country music stardom. Moments like that reinforced Buddy’s role as an incubator and documenter of Texas talent across generations.
Through the late 1990s and 2000s, Buddy Magazine scaled down but persevered. It remained a free publication, circulating primarily in music stores, clubs, and eateries around North Texas. McKeown ran the operation with a tiny team, often wearing multiple hats himself. By the 2010s, he was publishing Buddy out of his home in Sulphur Springs, TX, keeping the magazine alive on a shoestring budget out of pure dedication. Even in reduced form, Buddy continued to produce issues and maintain its presence at music events. Its photographers still captured local concerts, and its writers interviewed both up-and-coming and veteran artists. This persistent, DIY ethos carried Buddy into its 45th year, celebrated in 2018, as one of the longest-running regional music magazines in the country.
Notable Interviews, Covers, and Features
Over its long run, Buddy Magazine has been known for numerous memorable interviews, cover stories, and special features that cemented its reputation. Some of the major highlights include:
- 1974 (January): Buddy published “The Bob Dylan Story” along with a Kinky Friedman “All-Star” issue featured on the cover – an ambitious move that brought national star power into a Texas magazine. These pieces demonstrated Buddy’s editorial boldness and helped attract a wider readership.
- Mid-1970s: The magazine championed the outlaw country and progressive country movement with profiles of artists like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. In 1975, Buddy ran a feature on Hubbard (already a Texas favorite) even before his first album was released, and covered the burgeoning “Cosmic Cowboy” scene as it happened. Such coverage positioned Buddy as the chronicler of the era’s country-rock fusion.
- Late 1970s: Buddy introduced readers to future legends of Texas rock and blues. Notably, the magazine gave early exposure to Joe Ely (West Texas rocker) and blues-rock guitarist Bugs Henderson, and even featured young Arlington, TX heavy-metal band Pantera years before they achieved international fame. These early spotlights on local talent show Buddy’s knack for spotting important artists on the rise.
- 1978: Buddy launched the “Texas Tornados” feature, an annual selection of top Texas musicians (primarily guitarists) to watch. The inaugural Texas Tornados list included names like Jimmie Vaughan (of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame) and Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) among others. The following year, a young Stevie Ray Vaughan was added to the Tornados roster. Highlighting these artists early not only boosted their profile but also solidified Buddy’s standing as an authority on Texas guitar music.
- 1980: As its influence grew, Buddy organized the first Buddy Texas Music Awards (“The Buddies”). While an event rather than a magazine feature, the lead-up coverage and post-event stories in Buddy were themselves significant. The 1980 awards issue featured coverage of performances by Nelson, Walker, Ely and more, and celebrated Texas music history with icons like Roy Orbison participating. This event coverage in Buddy underscored the magazine’s central role in the state’s music community.
- 1980s (mid): From its Deep Ellum offices, Buddy was one of the first publications to feature the New Bohemians (the Dallas band fronted by Edie Brickell) and other alternative rock acts in the area. Buddy’s articles and photos documented the rise of Dallas’s underground rock scene at a time when few others paid attention, further boosting its credibility among musicians.
- 1994: Buddy ran a cover story on The Dixie Chicks, marking the first time the group ever appeared on a magazine cover. Photographer/publisher Ron McKeown’s shoot with the then-local trio was a scoop that preceded the Dixie Chicks’ breakout by a few years. It’s a prime example of Buddy giving exposure to Texas artists on the cusp of major success.
- Iconic photography: All along, Buddy’s pages were filled with exclusive photographs of music legends. For instance, Buddy photographers captured Elvis Presley’s Dallas concert in 1975, Bruce Springsteen’s early Texas tours, a young U2 on their first Texas visit, and Led Zeppelin’s 1970s arena shows. These images (often appearing on Buddy covers or center spreads) became part of the historical record of live music in Texas. Many decades later, the magazine’s archive of photos by Ron McKeown, Chuck Flores, and others would be featured in documentaries, museum exhibits, and books, attesting to their significance.
Each of these interviews, stories, and images played a part in shaping Buddy Magazine’s outsize reputation. Buddy developed an identity as a magazine “by and for music lovers” that could score big-name content while still nurturing local talent. Its editorial highlights spanned genres and generations, always circling back to the core mission of celebrating Texas music culture.
Hiatus and Revival in the 2020s
After nearly 47 years of continuous publication, Buddy Magazine hit an unexpected pause in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a harsh blow to many print media outlets, and Buddy was no exception. The magazine’s last monthly issue came out in March 2020, just as the pandemic began to shut down concerts and businesses. Faced with the ensuing lockdowns (and the evaporation of live music events and advertising), Ron McKeown was forced to suspend publication. This effectively ended McKeown’s long tenure as publisher. For a time, it appeared that Buddy might finally fade away, especially coming on the heels of Burns’ passing in 2011 and other challenges.
However, Buddy was not destined to “not fade away.” In late 2022, the magazine staged a comeback. Longtime reader and Texas musician and music devotee Rob Garner took over as the new publisher, determined to keep the Buddy legacy alive. In September 2022, Garner and a team of Buddy veterans (including McKeown in an advisory role) released a new issue of Buddy Magazine, proudly announcing the publication’s “non-demise”. Under Garner’s leadership, Buddy has shifted toward a hybrid model: a stronger online presence with a revamped website featuring regular content, plus limited print editions a few times a year. (Given financial realities of print publishing, they opted not to return immediately to a monthly print schedule; instead, the goal is to publish semiannual special issues while keeping the website active.) As of 2023, Buddy Magazine proudly celebrated its 50th year of publication, a milestone marked by retrospective features and an ongoing project to digitize its vast archive of past issues.
Despite the hiatus, Buddy’s core mission remains intact. “We want to preserve what founder Stoney Burns, Ron McKeown, Kirby Warnock, and many others have built,” Garner wrote in his relaunch publisher’s note. The revived Buddy continues to spotlight Texas artists – past, present, and future – ensuring that the magazine’s influence in the state’s music and entertainment industry lives on. In an era of digital media, Buddy Magazine retains its legendary status as a Texas music institution, proving the truth of the saying (borrowed from Texas songwriter Robert Earl Keen) that “the road goes on forever, and the party never ends.”
—