Good times remembering Bud Hoskins

Getting old just isn’t fun.  This week the man that gave me my first-ever haircut passed away, Bud Hoskins.

“Bluegrass” Bud or Bud “The Barber” known by both names throughout this county, was truly one of a kind.

I have many fond memories going to see Bud growing up.  The bubble gum he always gave me after a cut and the mounds of wrestling magazines I’d look through while he cut my dad’s and brother’s hair.

As I got older and started going on my own, the conversations turned to Kentucky basketball and the rivalry with Louisville.

During that time Jimmy Brown had a chair and cut hair with Bud.  Of course, I was growing a mullet like everyone else in the late 80’s so Jimmy became my new “go to” stylist to keep me looking like a wannabe Billy Ray Cyrus.

It seemed to never fail when I went in Terry “Christmas” Gilbert and Bud were going tooth and nail over the Cards and Cats.  The conversations were awesome!  I’d sit in my chair laughing the entire time.

I was talking with Sheriff Patrick Robinson about these memories, and he too went to Bud.  He told a story about being an adult and Bud was shaving his head.

“Christmas came in and him and Bud just started going at it,” the sheriff said.  “Next thing I know I feel a snip and blood started running down my face.  Bud went and grabbed a wad of paper towels and said, ‘hold this on it and apply pressure’ he then stepped around the chair and went nose to nose with Christmas over basketball while I sat their thinking half my ear had been cut off.”

Awesome.  You simply just cannot put a price tag on memories like this!  Now the other side of Bud was his love for bluegrass music.  He was the self-proclaimed King of Bluegrass in Clay County.  Well, that title didn’t sit the best with Larry Barker of WKLB.  He thought he was the radio king also.  Larry was another person I could tell stories on all day! 

But anyway, those two would constantly go back and forth taking jabs on the radio.  Larry during his talk show each day and Bud on Sunday nights during his bluegrass hour.  My good friend Bo Sizemore and I was having a ball with this banter.  Bo would tell Bud what Larry said, and I would tell Larry what Bud said, of course we added a lot to what was really said!

During this “civil war” of Bluegrass Bedlam, Larry moved his station literally next door to Bud.  That wasn’t good we thought.  One day after we had exchanged stories, probably mostly lies to Bud and Larry, I get a phone call.

It was Larry, “Mark you need to get your butt up here!  Why Larry? Bud is walking back and forth in the rain outside my window and looks mad.”

I thought crap, what has Bo told him?  I called Bo said we need to roll to the barber shop.  We met up there and Bud was back inside wet as water from head to toe.  Bo said, “Bud what in the world is going on?”  He replied, “I’ve had enough, I’ve just had enough of him.”  Bo starts calming him down and we thought everything had passed then out of the blue Bud says, “Next time I see little Richard Simmons, (that’s what he called Larry) at Quickie Market I’m going to ram his head into a pop cooler.”

Without missing a beat Bo replies, “Well I’ll tell you what you’ll have to do Bud if you do that.”  What’s that Bud said.  “You’ll have to buy Jack Woods a new pop cooler.”

I literally about died.  Without cracking a smile Bo delivered that and you could see Bud’s mind working and started shaking that head.  We cooled it on the tail packing to keep Bud’s sanity but man that was fun times!  I sure do miss the characters I had in my life back in the day like Larry, Terry and now Bud.  I just hope they all made it to heaven and the good Lord above can now be the referee!