Buford Jones was a legendary Front of House (FOH) engineer whose career traced back to Showco’s earliest touring era. He joined in 1970—when Showco was still building its first sound systems—after being introduced to the company by Rusty Brutsche’s cousin. Coming in as a musician with hands-on gear experience, Buford quickly learned what professional touring demanded. What he expected might be a shop-based technical role became an immediate deep end: soldering connectors and building snakes one day, then being told to pack a bag and hit the road the next.

Within days of being hired, Buford was onstage at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium with Three Dog Night in their prime, helping deploy one of Showco’s early systems. In that period, he worked as a system engineer, focused on setup, reliability, and getting the rig show-ready—learning fast by staying close to Jack Maxson and hearing what consistent, full, musical live sound could be. He also witnessed the impact of Showco’s other major early account—Led Zeppelin—and the sheer power of Rusty Brutsche’s FOH approach at a time when arena sound was still being invented in real time.

Those early years of weekend runs, quick turnarounds, and festival work helped Buford build the relationships and experience that carried into a long touring life and an exceptional artist roster. Today, his stories and perspective continue to live on through his YouTube page, where he shares firsthand memories from the road and the craft of live sound.