Buddy is a free monthly music magazine serving the North Texas and Northeast Texas regions. It was first published in Austin, Texas, in October 1972 as a free bi-monthly. Stoney Burns (pseudonym of Brent Lasalle Stein; 1942âÂÂ2011) and Rob Edleson (né Lewis Robin Edleson; born 1946) were the founders. The magazine's name is a tribute to Buddy Holly (1936âÂÂ1959), who Burns said "changed my life". Buddy is described as a rock music magazine but, from its beginning, has included news and feature articles about performing artists and events of other genres, namely Texas progressive country, blues, jazz, folk, punk, and garage band music.
Stoney Burns, before co-founding Buddy, published and edited Dallas Notes from 1967 to 1970, an underground bi-weekly newspaper. Christopher Gray of the Austin Chronicle, in 2000, likened Buddy as "the North Texas equivalent of Crawdaddy. Gray later wrote that writers for Buddy magazine who covered the blues scene in the Dallas-Fort Worth area helped resurrect the career of Zuzu Bollin and introduced mainstream music fans to notable regional blues artists, including jazz guitarist Roger Boykin (né Roger Mitchell Boykin; born 1940) and blues singer R.L. Griffin (aka "Fat Daddy;" né Raymond Lewis Griffin; born 1939) and the late pianist Boston Smith, brother of Buster Smith. At its peak, Buddy published editions in Dallas, Houston, and Austin/San Antonio and had a staff of almost two dozen.
Early notable issues included "The Bob Dylan Story", "Plus Kinky Friedman All Star <sup></sup> Issue" (as featured on the cover), January 1974. Buddy chronicled many performing artists before the emergence of their first albums, including, in 1975, Ray Wylie Hubbard, who was already popular as a Texas progressive country artist. That same year (1975), KAFM radio host Chuck Dunaway reported that Buddy, with a circulation of 40,000, was helping spread the positive aspects of progressive country. In 1977, 1978, Buddy was affiliated with KZEW-FM (a Dallas radio station known from 1973 to 1989 as "The Zoo"). By 1979, KTXQ took over Buddy, which had a circulation of 100,000. In 1982, Buddy was the official magazine of the Texxas Jam, a rock festival held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Beginning around 1982, Buddy was issued in tabloid size and format.
The Texas Tornado List, billed as "The greatest players in Texas. Perhaps in the world", is an annual hall of fame roster, since 1978, listing the top musicians in Texas. The name, Texas Tornados, is also the name of a band founded by 1986 Texas Tornado inductee, Doug Sahm.
Buddy's Texas Music Awards ("The Buddies") is an annual readers poll survey that debuted 1973. The awards were presented at a black-tie event. The new act categories are chosen by music journalists.