BUDDY KILLEN

Without question, Buddy Killen has always been a man of vision and goals but most important of all, he is a big dreamer. And ultimately, it's because Killen has had the gumption to go after his dreams that he has also been able to enjoy them.
To make them happen.
To see them through.

Even as a kid back in Florence, Alabama, he used to skip school to play music gigs, only imagining his success at the time. But it was just 24 hours after his high school graduation that young Killen was already seeing his first real dream-come-true. That's when he was offered a job on the Grand Ole Opry playing bass for a couple of black-faced comedians called Jam Up & Honey.

Naturally, he took the job immediately, moved to Nashville and went to work as a free-lance musician traveling with a lot of big name acts such as Jim Reeves, Ray price, moon Mullican, George Morgan, Cowboy Copas, and Hank Williams, Sr.

However, Buddy Killen wasn't a "happy camper." His music wasn't making his life a dream after all and he was, in fact, struggling to survive. Success simply seemed to elude him. Then, during the time he was pickin' as a sideman on the Wheeling Jamboree in Wheeling, W. VA, something happened to change his life.
GMAC took away his car.

"...I immediately made up my mind to never let that happen again. I moved back to Nashville and began working at every music job in sight. I played on the Opry, I played on the road, sometimes I played all night for only $10. But believe me, I've never been without work for even a day since that terrifying time."

Killen never stopped hustling, he was always eager to work. Jack Stapp spotted that unique quality in him right away. He hired him, put him on the payroll for $35 a week to plug songs for a new publishing company he was starting called Tree.

In the beginning, neither of them even knew what a music publishing company was all about. But by the time they had their first international hit "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis, it was Katie-bar-the-door all the way!

Killen's keen taste for talent brought such names to the Tree family as Dottie West, Roger Miller, Joe Tex, Dolly Parton, and countless others. He also added his own writing skills to the Tree clan and created a number of big songs for their catalogue including the gigantic hit "Forever."

In 1959, Tree was doing so well that one week they owned 7 of the Top 10 hits on the country charts. In 1964, the company had its first million dollar year. And eleven successful years later, in 1975, Killen was named President. In 1980, when Stapp passed away, Killen purchased sole ownership of Tree and continued to nurture its growth as Chief Executive Officer.

Over the years, Killen also made a name for himself as one of the industry's most highly-acclaimed record producers. Among artists he as put in-the-grooves are Exile, T.G. Sheppard, Bill Anderson, Doug Kershaw, Dinah Shore, Burt Reynolds, Jack Palance, Diana Trask, Louise Mandrell, Ronny Robbins, Paul Kelly, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Bonnie Guitar, Jimmy Holliday, Joe Tex, Dottie West, Gunilla Hutton, Dolly Parton, Donna Meade and Ronnie McDowell.

In 1989 Killen sold Tree International to CBS and was to remain at the helm for at least 5 years. But that plan didn't pan out. Killen never seemed to hear the drum of corporate life. So, he managed to negotiate his way out of the contract, said sayonara to a lot of longtime friends at Tree and began pursuing Buddy Killen enterprises in 1991.

This energetic executive sits in control of his multi-faceted corporation, still working 14-hour days while never blinking an eye. His focus is fine-tuned but far reaching encompassing everything from numerous music publishing companies, to record production, to talent management, to owning a major state-of-the-art recording studio, to owning a restaurant that's ranked in the Nation's Top 50, to co-owning a large travel agency, to writing books, and raising Arabian horses.

A seemingly tireless individual, he also spends an enormous amount of time serving his "adopted" hometown, working with Nashville's Chamber of Commerce, city officials, financial institutions, charities, the arts, state government, and has literally dedicated his fife towards helping the Easter Seal Society.

Buddy Killen remains positive proof that the American dream lives.