Bud Truax

Sheldon "Buddy" Truax (1923-2007) was a hillbilly guitarist and fiddler, jazz saxophonist, and vocalist who performed locally primarily in Vermont, New York, Quebec, and New Hampshire. Born in Dunkin, Quebec to a musical family, Truax and his family moved to North Troy, Vermont in the early 1930s where he grew up. Starting his musical career in the mid-1930s, he formed The Newport Ramblers in 1936 to play local honkytonk gigs. In 1940 he was invited by Don Fields (4) to become the guitarist for his band, Don Fields And His Pony Boys. When World War II began, Fields left for military service and Truax became the leader of The Pony Boys until he too signed up for service a few months later and the band was put on hiatus. Joining the Army in 1942, Truax was assigned to the Special Services Unit whose duty was to perform for the troops. Buddy quickly learned to incorporate and embrace the cosmopolitan sounds of jazz and modern dance music. As the war wore on, he was exposed to and was given various opportunities to perform with musicians including Glenn Miller, Mel Powell, Stan Kenton, Louis Armstrong, Cozy Cole, Earl Hines, and Jack Teagarden. At the conclusion of the war, Truax returned home to Vermont and settled in St. Albans. Throughout the late 1940s he returned to performing with a number of local hillbilly bands including The Broncho Busters, The Old Sheriff, The Western Aces (2), and The Down Homers. In 1950 he briefly re-joined the newly re-formed Pony Boys before forming his own band in 1953. Truax' new band, "The Playboys", comprised Smokey Carey, Andrew "Zeke" Zelonis, and Barb Izzo (Buddy's sister). The Playboys performed on Waterbury's radio station WDEV and performed locally from Cherry River, Quebec to Chazy and Ticonderoga, New York to Keene, New Hampshire. By the mid-1950s, the Playboys were regularly performing on "The Real Chrome Roundup" for Burlington's WCAX. The Playboys disbanded in 1962 and Truax joined his wife Evelyn ("Emmy") to run a restaurant for many years. Buddy continued performing intermittently until the 1980s. He died in 2007.