Nate Bucklin

Louie and Nate playing in an informal music circle, 2003

Nathan A. Bucklin is a musician living in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife, Louie Spooner Bucklin, and stepson James Trainor.^[1]

He was a founding member of the Minneapolis writer's group the Scribblies, and is one of the founding members of the Minnesota Science Fiction Society, better known as Minn-stf.

A long-time member of science-fiction fandom, Nate was a contributor to the amateur press associations Apa-45 and Minneapa for many years. In the early years of the Minnesota Science Fiction Society, Nate would bring his guitar and play original songs as well as his favorites by other songwriters, often in a music circle with other fans, a tradition that continues to this day.

Nate's musical career has encompassed teaching guitar, performing with a number of bands over the years, and songwriting.

Biography

Nate Bucklin was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 11, 1949. A self-described "Foreign Service brat", he lived part of his childhood in South America. While living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he received a guitar and music lessons for his eighth birthday. Nate made his stage debut at age 9, on February 7, 1959, at a private club in Casilda, Santa Fe province, Argentina, as an intermission act for El Conjunto Folklorico Infantil Albor Gaucho. This was followed by several appearances in variety shows and at the social club Martin Fierro, named for the epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández.

Nate's family moved back to the United States in 1960. He lived on Vashon Island, Washington, until just after his 17th birthday, when he moved to Minnesota to attend Macalester College in Saint Paul. Except for three years during which Nate lived in Los Angeles, he has made his home in Minnesota ever since.

Nate spent four years as a member of the National Fantasy Fan Federation or N3F, a correspondence club for science fiction and fantasy fans; during this stretch, his correspondents included Greg Shaw, Walter Breen, and Piers Anthony.

He inadvertently triggered the founding of the Minnesota Science Fiction Society (Minn-stf) in 1966. A gathering to welcome Nate to the Twin Cities was so successful that the attendees decided to repeat it in two weeks. After several such meetings, the meeting was called to order and the club was named, with regular Saturday meetings that have continued ever since.

In the early 1970s he was a key contributor to MinniAPA, a regularly published collective apazine.

Musical career

When Nate was 11, his music teacher informed him he had perfect pitch. Nonetheless, he played very little music for the following six years. While at Vashon High School in 1966, he led and performed in a folk quartet with Ted Smith, Vicki Browne, and Greg Burton.

Nate worked extensively during the 1970s and 1980s as a guitar instructor, with a special interest in doing everything possible to make sure his left-handed students were able to obtain, and were taught to play on, left-handed guitars. Nate's job in 1974-75 as a guitar instructor for Anoka-Ramsey Community College was based on this work.

Nate has maintained a moderate profile as a musician. He has performed with other musicians, including Nolan Porter, and with a number of Minneapolis-area bands including the Love Express, Circus 13, the Reflection with Bette Palmer, Caryl and Company, Alan Grant and Centre Stage, Runestone, the Calamity James Band, and David Carroll and the Wanderers. He is currently the bass player for the Time Travelers (which, despite its name, is not a science-fictional band).

Nate has co-written songs with various people, including Steven Brust; his collaborations include "If I Should Happen to Leave" and "I Was Born About Ten Million Songs Ago." The latter was recorded by Doctor Demento. Nate's song "I Pop Pills" was featured on Doctor Demento's radio show in 1997.

Nate has been filk guest of honor at five science-fiction conventions.

Albums

• "Water Over the Bridge" (2005) - CD
• "Rainbow’s Edge" (2001) - CD
• "Butter Side Down" (1992) - cassette
• "Resolutions" (1988) - cassette
• "The First Overnight Guest" (1985) - cassette (out of print)

Album descriptions are listed at Curious Manor.

Musical Honors

1967 - Appeared with The Love Express at a 57-way Battle of the Bands sponsored by Len's Guitar City of Bloomington, Minnesota. The Love Express made the finals, and Nate was judged best lead guitarist.

1971 - Took the first five places (out of 14 entries he submitted) to a jingle-writing contest for Certs Breath Mints. The winning entry, with Nate singing and playing Latin-style guitar, was aired on KDWB and WDGY in the Twin Cities.

1972 - Placed second in a jingle-writing contest for County Seat Levi's. He played guitar on the demo tape for the winning entry, written by his first wife Caryl Dixon Eschweiler.

1973 - Received invitations to join the American Song Festival library for his songs "Child of the River" and "One Way Love."

1976 - Made the finals with his song "Hold On To Yourself" in "The Ode to Billy Joe Write-a-Song Contest" in Los Angeles, tied in with the release of the movie Ode to Billy Joe, based on the song "Ode to Billie Joe" (sic!) by Bobbie Gentry.

1976 - Appeared on The Gong Show with Nolan Porter and A Touch of Spice; the band won the day's competition.

1988 - Made the finals of a "Twin Cities Best Bass Player" contest sponsored by the weekly newspaper City Pages

Literary career

Nate is an alumnus of the 1990 Clarion Workshop for science-fiction writers.

He wrote two stories set in the Liavek universe: "Dry Well" and "Strings Attached" are stories centered around a young musician.

He performed in and wrote the music for _PBS Liavek_, a Shockwave Radio Theater play performed at the 1987 Minicon.

Fellow Scribblie Pamela Dean noted in an interview that Nate left the Scribblies to concentrate on song-writing.

Nate was a literary scout in the 1990s, introducing Kris Jensen, Katya Reimann, and Lyda Morehouse to editor and agent James Frenkel.

Short Stories

• "Ghost Dance" in Weird Tales Winter 1985 issue (edited by Gordon M. D. Garb)
• “Dry Well” in Liavek: The Players of Luck (1986, edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly)
• "Imperfect Catch" in Tales of the Unanticipated Spring 1987 issue (edited by Eric M. Heideman)
• “Strings Attached” in Liavek: Spells of Binding (1988, edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly)
• "The Lifter" in Tales of the Unanticipated, Winter/Spring 1988 issue (edited by Eric M. Heideman)

Notes

1. ^ Curious Manor

• Nate's Wing
• Bio
• Review by Baron Dave Romm
• Albany Free Traders publicity flyer
• Nate Bucklin at the ISFDB
• Locus listing
• Strange Horizons interviews Pamela Dean
• Curious Manor listing of CDs, tapes and songbooks available

Persondata
Name	Bucklin, Nathan A.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1949
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death