Chuckatuck native Tim Buppert dreamed of moving to Nashville to write songs and perform but he needed some assurance he could make it in the music business.
When his demo tape got in the right hands, the phone call that changed his life didn’t exactly begin with encouraging words.
“I don’t think anybody would record these songs. …” is how the conversation started but not how it finished. "But I can tell you know what you're doing. If you came to Nashville, I believe you'd find success."
That was enough of a carrot for Buppert to load up a U-Haul in 1991 and leave behind a comfortable life that included the house he grew up in alongside Route 10 near Chuckatuck Creek. The singing drummer returns home as part of the four-member band Vinyl Radio performing at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts on Jan. 11.
Every time he makes it back here, it’s special. This is the third time Vinyl Radio has played locally, returning “at our patrons’ request,” according to the center.
“I consider it an honor really,” Buppert said. “For years I never would think too much about coming home because the people you grew up with, you wonder, ‘Do they really care? Or do they remember the stupid little kid who wanted to skip school?’”
That youngster whose father gifted him a drum set from Woolworth’s for Christmas at age 8 has built quite a musical resume. Buppert is one of Nashville’s premier session vocalists, having recorded more than 8,000 demos and singing on albums with Trisha Yearwood, Kevin Sharp and Billy Ray Cyrus, to name a few. He wrote “She’s Sure Taking it Well,” which hit No. 1 for Sharp in 1997.
“When something like that happens, there’s a piece of you that is like, ‘Of course,’” he said. “But there’s an equal part that cannot believe that it happened to you.”
There’d be more hits, including George Strait’s recording of “One Night at a Time.” His song “Another Nine Minutes” reached No. 11 on the country charts in a recording by Yankee Grey.
When the rise of streaming services changed how songwriters make money, Buppert returned to the drums, which has since morphed into his playing for seven bands. Vinyl Radio, together since 2011, is the most prominent and performs roughly 30 times a year.
“The first time we got together we played at somebody’s birthday party,” Buppert said. “We didn’t even rehearse.”
They lean heavily on guitars and grooves, playing a mix from the ’70s – Eagles, America, Queen, Led Zeppelin, even a little Boston, but no disco. They’re regulars at 3rd And Lindsley in Nashville’s Soho District, a venue Buppert considers the best in Music City. They play 30 dates a year and will start 2025 with the Suffolk date.
Most of the audience will know all the words for Vinyl Radio’s Birdsong Theater show. A slideshow of the original artists will be ongoing in the background.
“We won’t do the songs we would do in a club or a dance situation,” he said. “This is more like a concert.”
While home for Buppert and his wife, Stephanie, is Nashville now, Tim anticipates 30 relatives and 50 or more close friends turning out for the show. He mingles with the audience before, after and even during the set break. He usually flies when he travels but he kept his eye on the weather this week so he could make the 700-mile drive to spend more time in his hometown.
“I like to come a little early and stay a little late,” Tim said. “I want to make sure everybody who comes has a great time.”
Vinyl Radio performs Jan. 11 at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts. For ticket and event information, visit the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts online.
