One of the great pleasures of any music really but especially American music because of its vast influences and so many different styles regionally and ethnically, is finding older musicians who maybe you didn’t know as well.

For many, Buddy Holly was a contemporary but for most people today, he is a distant figure.

Born in 1937 in Lubbock, Texas, Holly grew up as radio and automobiles began to truly spread. He was also close enough to Mexico to listen to some of the early stations that moved there to avoid the US regulations on power, among other things, and blasted their programming across much of the Lower 48.

So he was probably exposed to a vast variety of influences as he grew up. He made his first TV appearance in 1952 at the age of 15 and a few years later was opening for a rising star named Elvis Presley.

Read more at DukeBasketballReport.com