Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Jan Buckingham

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jan Buckingham. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Jan, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is a normal day like for you right now?
My normal and perfect days go like this:
Wake up, take a walk, write a song, play a gig, watch Andy of Mayberry and go to sleep.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jan Buckingham and I am a hit songwriter.
I love to write songs and play them out at songwriter rounds in Nashville.
I have had cuts by Whitney Houston, Melissa Manchester, Journey, Air Supply, Pam Tillis, Lee Greenwood, Garry Morris, Chrystal Gayle, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Dottie West, Tim McGraw, Barbara Mandrell, and many more, as well as songs in movies (like MY COUSIN VINNEY) and in television shows (like FRIENDS). I have also been a school teacher, flight attendant, commedian, Realtor (in MO, CA and TN), and I had a greeting card company. I guess you could say I am left brain/right brain.
I am now 77 years old and I mentor a lot of young songwriters. I currently have a new single out on a song that I co-wrote with J4 (Joseph Wandass), titled ROMEO AND JULIET. It is a pop song. I am very happy because I am doing what I love. My BMI publishing company is DUCK HOUSE MUSIC. I started that company in 1990, after I had bee a staff writer for years with Warner Chappell Music, Lorimar and Windswept Pacific. I believe the secret to success and being happy in life is having a good sense of humor…. and doing what you love!!!

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
When I was a child, I grew up in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.
I thought that I would grow up and get married and have a couple of kids and a station wagon. Ha!!!
I got married at 23, and divorced at 25, the first time.
After that, one day I was singing in a park in Columbia, Missouri (where I went to college) with a bunch of people,
and as I was walking home after that, watching the cracks in the sidewalk go by, I suddenly remembered that I had been depressed for getting divorced, but that I was presently very happy, from singing songs… So, when I got home, I wrote two songs, and that was when the world showed me what really made me happy!!! Now I have been writing songs ever since.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
I believe that my biggest “wounds” and disappointments in my life were my two divorces, but what has healed them was writing songs and having a sense of humor. My song CLEOPATRA – QUEEN OF DENIAL is the singer’s story of denying that the love interest is cheating on them. Back in the day when something like that happened, it would be very painful… but as sitcoms prove: “Pain plus time equals humor.” So, years after my painful experience, I made it funny in my CLEOPATRA song.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
I beieve that my closest friends know that what really matters most to me is love of mankind and honesty.
I’ve always tried to help my friends, and to be honest with them.
When you are honest and trustworthy, people respect you.
When people trust you, they are willing to do business with you.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace in my home, called the Duck House. 🙂
In my home, where I live alone (with my cat), there is no one criticizing me, or pulling me away from what I love to do.
I have learned to avoid negative people and to remain positive.
It is easy to remain positive when I know that being positive makes things work well in my life.

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