From Dolly Parton, to Lionel Richie, to Taylor Swift, to Kenny Chesney… Coming to Nashville from South Africa is a unique musical path. Nick Buda’s mom didn’t want their family to have anything to do with apartheid, and she didn’t want her kid to be drafted into the South African army. Music was an important part of the family; so the family, with a 12 year old Nick Buda, came to the United States. Photos by Jill Trunnell and Melvin Fults MD: How did the music of South Africa influence you at a young age? NB: In my earlier years of playing, a couple things happened in my life that made me realize that I innately knew something about playing South African music because it was all around me as a kid. When I first got out of college, one of the first guys I started playing was a Nigerian […]

August 2024 Issue