Buffy Lawson is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer formerly part of the music duo

Bomshel Bomshel (pronounced "bombshell") was an American country music duo founded in 2005 by lead vocalist Buffy "Buf" Lawson and backing vocalist/fiddle player Kristy Osmunson. Signed to Curb Records in 2005, Bomshel's original lineup charted four sin ...

. Bomshel was started in 2004 by lead singer Buffy "Buf" Lawson and

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

player Kristy Osmunson, and together they signed with

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of M ...

. Bomshel's original lineup charted four

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts and recorded an unreleased album called ''Bomshel Stomp''. One of their songs, "The Power of One", was included in the soundtrack to the film ''

Evan Almighty ''Evan Almighty'' is a 2007 American fantasy comedy film that is a spin-off and sequel of '' Bruce Almighty'' (2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, based on the characters created by Steve Koren and Mark ...

''. Lawson departed in December 2007 and began her solo career signed under Wrinkled Records.

Bio

Buffy Lawson was born in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

and began entertaining from an early age. She would drag every chair out of the family home into the back yard, charging neighbors five dollars to attend her shows. After graduating from high school Buffy moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee.Allmusic Guide Bio
Retrieved on 2013-07-24 She began by singing demos for aspiring songwriters, then began to write her own songs, which led her to a staff writing positions at several publishers in Nashville. He voice caught the ear of producer

Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the ban ...

, who teamed her with

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

to duet on "Marry Me" from his 1996 album, '' Tennessee Moon''. While attending a gig as

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. ...

's back-up singer brought her to the attention of a music industry executive who was putting together a duo.

signed

to a recording contract. Opening slots for acts like

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

and

Trace Adkins Tracy Darrell Adkins (born January 13, 1962) known professionally as Trace Adkins, is an American country music singer and actor. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the album ''Dreamin' Out Loud'', released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since t ...

followed. "We had a fabulous band and a custom built bus, and I was able to play rock star," says Lawson. But after three years, Lawson made the decision to re-focus on her career as a songwriter. Soon after leaving

, she had songs recorded by

Bo Bice Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice Jr. (born November 1, 1975) is an American singer and musician who was the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to auditioning for ''American Idol'', Bice released a solo ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

. And then, after nearly 20 years in Nashville, she left and returned to Lexington. One of her friends, Sandy Knox, started a label called Wrinkled Records and signed her. Songwriter

Walt Aldridge James Walton Aldridge Jr. (born November 12, 1955, in Florence, Alabama) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, engineer and record producer. Aldridge is known primarily as a Muscle Shoals songwriter, having had songs recorded by a divers ...

joined the team to produce the album. The first time she heard back her deeply personal "I'm Leaving You for Me", she knew she had made the right decision. "I just let go for these sessions. I sang from a place in my heart that didn't care if anyone heard it. I'm not chasing the magic anymore. I'm letting the magic find me."

History

Buffy Lawson and Kristy Osmunson are the original members of the country group

. Prior to meeting, the two worked as songwriters in Nashville, with Lawson's writing credits including tracks for Mila Mason and

Linda Davis Linda Kaye Scott (née Davis; born November 26, 1962) is an American country music singer. Before beginning a career as a solo artist, she had three minor country singles in the charts as one half of the duo Skip & Linda. In her solo career, Dav ...

. Osmunson met Lawson at a fan fair in Nashville. Lawson and Osmunson found that they worked well together, and decided to perform together. Buffy Lawson has toured nationally with such artists as

Montgomery Gentry Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo/solo act founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Count ...

and

Joe Nichols Joseph Edward Nichols (born November 26, 1976) is an American country music artist. Between 1996 and 2001, he held recording contracts with the Intersound and Giant Records (Warner), Giant labels. In 2002, he signed with Universal South Records, ...

among others. From duets with

, to writing songs for award-winning artists like

and

, to touring as one half of the hit country duo

, Buffy Lawson makes a mark wherever she points her manicured finger.

2006–2008: ''Bomshel Stomp''

The duo first performed at

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge Tootsie's Orchid Lounge is a honky-tonk bar located on Lower Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee behind the Ryman Auditorium, home in past years and occasionally in the present to the stage and radio show ''The Grand Ole Opry.'' Tootsie's has three ...

in Nashville, Tennessee, where they would set up on Thursday nights to play their songs. Later, they began to play at several clubs throughout Nashville as well. By 2006, Bomshel was signed to

. Bomshel's first single, "Country Music Love Song", was released in early 2006, followed by the release of "Ain't My Day to Care". Respectively, these songs reached No. 49 and No. 44 on the country singles charts. Bomshel's third single was titled "Bomshel Stomp". Originally written as a joke on Osmunson's birthday, "Bomshel Stomp" was intended as a "rave groove with a hillbilly song." While "Ain't My Day to Care" was charting, "Bomshel Stomp" was tested on radio stations throughout the state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. During mid-2006, it became the most-requested song on country radio stations in the state. It was then released as the duo's third single, peaking at No. 46. It was succeeded by "The Power of One", a cut from the soundtrack for the film ''

''. Also in 2006, the duo released an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

entitled ''Bomshel Stomp'' which featured the title track, "Country Music Love Song" and "Ain't My Day to Care". In December 2007, after "The Power of One", Lawson left the duo. She was replaced by

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

native Kelley Shepard,.

2012–present: ''I'm Leaving You for Me''

In 2012, Lawson released the album ''I'm Leaving You for Me'' on Wrinkled Records, a Nashville label headed by songwriter Sandy Knox.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Buffy American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Musicians from Lexington, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Country musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Women musicians from Kentucky Singers from Kentucky 21st-century American women