Buddy Jones (bluegrass musician)

After the war, Jones continued what he had started in 1949, and began pursuing a music career again. He recorded, sang, played guitar, and eventually produced for and promoted clients. He and his brother Ralph both became songwriters, and had hits that were on the charts during the same time. While he and his brother did not always actually record their own songs, their music has also been recorded and reproduced by various artists such as: Kitty Wells, Marty Robbins, Janie Fricke, Hank Lockin, and Patsy Cline. Jones also played with various artists such as; Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell, Earl Scruggs & Lester Flatt, Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, and George Jones.

In 1958 he joined the bands Toby Stroud & Jane and The Blue Mountain Boys, and also did performances with affiliated musicians Wilma Lee and Stony Cooper. He made a deal with bluegrass music distributor and entrepreneur Caz Walker in Fitchburg, and from 1959 into the 1980s he frequently traveled from his home in Fitchburg to places across New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic regions, down to Tennessee and the Carolinas.

Art for the Rainbow Valley Boys' 1965 album "Authentic Bluegrass Music"

Art for the Rainbow Valley Boys' 1973 album "Sing and Pick Bluegrass Favorites"

In 1961, Jones and his close friends Louis Arsenault, Bob French and his wife formed the band The Rainbow Valley Boys & Sweetheart. Most of Jones' (and the other band members) musician success came during their time in the band. Beginning in 1963 Buddy and other band members began to perform on radio shows, and local television programs quite frequently throughout the Northeast, including appearances on "The Coffee Drinking Night Hawk" with Lee More, a program based out of New Jersey, WWVA Jamboree, and WSTJ White River, where they would later sign with Vermont Records in Quechee. Their first album, entitled "Rainbow Valley Boys Bluegrass" was released in 1963 by Vermont Records. Their second album, "Authentic Bluegrass Music" was released in 1965 by record label Diplomat, and the band's third and final full album, "Sing and Pick Bluegrass Favorites" was released in 1973 by record label Jessup Records. In 1977 Jones signed with Tanya Tucker and toured several venues in places such as Nashville, Knoxville, and Elizabethtown. In 1979, Bob French and his wife left the band, leaving only Jones, Arsenault, and an ever-changing female band member to play the role as "Sweetheart". The band continued with less success until Buddy Jones left in 1982 and the band officially disbanded in early 1984.

In the mid-1980s, after his musician career, Buddy proceeded to sell, promote, and distribute other's music through B.J. Promotions and Northern Music Distribution, respectively. Later into the 1990s he would sell records, CDs, cassettes, and tapes through his business Tapes Unlimited.