2022 founders

James W. “Jay Boy” Adams III

1949 – Present

(Founder (Owner) Roadhouse Coach, 1977 – Present)

James W. “Jay Boy” Adams III was born in Fort Worth, TX. The family moved to Anson, TX and settled in Colorado City, TX in 1956.  After high school he attended North Texas State University and Texas Tech University studying English and music. 

Jay’s entry to the entertainer coach business is like most of the other pioneers.  He was first an entertainer who traveled by bus which opened the door from personal experience.

He joined Lone Wolf Management and became the special guest and opening act for ZZ TOP and the guitar tech for Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill in 1972.  A record contract was signed with Atlantic Records in 1976 and his touring schedule increased making it necessary for the need of a tour bus of which he leased from Hemphill Bus Co. Later that year he would purchase that exact bus which was a 1954 GM4104.  This would lead to the purchase of Silver Eagle the following year and the birth of Roadhouse Bus Company with a total of two units.

The first clients were ZZ TOP and Point Blank, also with the same management company.  As Jay’s touring increased and his buses were used by the other acts he would simply purchase another coach.  During his music career he shared the stage with ZZ TOP, The Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Cocker, Stephen Stills, Jackson Browne, Lee Roy Parnell, George Strait, John Prine, and many others. 

By the end of 1982 the fleet had grown to six Eagles and with his musical career beginning to stall Jay devoted himself to his family and Roadhouse. The fleet quickly grew to a total of thirty coaches and ten tractor trailers. In 1983 the first new Eagle shell was purchased and in 1996 became one of the first to purchase ten VanHool Coaches followed by exclusive use of Prevost that same year.   

Norm Basden

Nov 19, 1936 – Oct 5, 2017

(Founder, Vulcan Coach)

William Norman “Norm” Basden was born Nov 19, 1936 and raised in Tupelo, MS. After high school he sang with southern gospel groups The Commanders and The Deep South Boys. In Spring of 1964, Norm and Jim Thrasher started building conversion buses professionally. The first was sold to The Weatherford Quartet, and this is believed to be the first ‘for profit’ entertainer bus built and sold. 

Eventually Norm started his own company, Norm’s Custom Coach. In 1975 he changed the name to Vulcan Coach. The name comes from the Vulcan Statue located in Birmingham, depicting the Roman god Vulcan, god of fire and forge which reflects Birmingham’s roots in the iron and steel industry.  It was Birmingham’s entry for the 1904 World’s Fair, stands 56 feet tall and is the largest cast iron statue in the world. Norm build buses for Jackson Browne, Michael Martin Murphy, David Allen Coe, Garth Brooks, ZZ Top, Buck Owens, The Eagles, ELO, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Rod Stewart, Hank Williams Jr., and many, many others. Norm turned his business over to his son Bruce, and on Oct 5, 2017 he passed away while residing in Oneonta, AL.

John C “Jack” Calhoun (1939-2017)

Jerry E. Calhoun (1939-Present)

(Founders of Florida Coach & Florida Custom Coach)

Jack and Jerry were born in Ann Arbor, MI and moved with their family to Florida in 1942.  

The Calhoun brothers were identical twins.  The Twins were first known as a singing duo with a personality as strong as a Florida hurricane and were always seen together.  They were familiar faces in Nashville.  They released several albums and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry.  They were compared to sibling acts like the Everly Brothers and The Louvins.  

The Twins equipped a motorhome with bunks and quickly discovered there was a need for a more comfortable and dependable means of travel not only for C&W acts but all musical acts.  In 1976 they started their company with one retired Eagle coach and in 1978 became the first to purchase new shells from Eagle to convert as “bunk buses.”

To describe the Twins within a few paragraphs is impossible. The most significant credit of importance remains the development and introduction of the forty-five foot coach.  This credit belongs solely to the Twins. It was in 1987 that the idea was presented to Eagle International. In addition they are credited for being the first to build new shells, raise roofs, and install front lounge slide-outs.  In the years that followed the forty-five foot coach would be the most important innovation in the entertainment sector and with public carriers as well.

Today a forty-five foot, single slide, raised roof coach is the vehicle of choice in the entertainment field. These changes are all progressive ideas, innovations, and visions of the Calhoun Twins.

Joel Wesley Hemphill Sr.

1939 – Present

1974 – 1980 (bus business only), 9 buses

(Founder,  Hemphill Coach Company)

Joel Wesley Hemphill Sr. was born in 1939 in Fresno, CA and raised in Bawcomville, LA,

which is suburb of Monroe. He married his wife, LaBreeska at age 17 and was a pastor of a

local church by age 21.

Joel and LaBreeska, along with their children and additional musicians had a well-known gospel

music group called the Hemphills. Their touring career ranged from 1966 to 1990. During these

years, they earned 8 Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards and 3 Broadcast Music,

Inc. (BMI) Awards. For more on The Hemphills, please refer to the Southern Gospel Music Hall

of Fame of which Joel and LaBreeska are members.

The Hemphill family moved to Nashville in 1972. For the Hemphill family’s touring needs, Joel

purchased a 1972 Eagle, which the interior was built by Norm Basden (Vulcan Coach) in

Birmingham, AL. In 1974, Joel bought a 1963 Scenicruiser that he began to lease to other

artists. The first tour that he contracted was for Toby Roberts Tours of Los Angeles for the band

Rufus and Chaka Khan. This is where Hemphill Coach Company began.

Because of Joels’ business ethics demand for buses kept coming.

He opened a maintenance and conversion shop on Dickerson Road to fulfill the demand for

entertainer coaches. He would purchase used coaches from Trailways and remove the existing

seats and racks and then build them out as entertainer coaches.

Joel was a pioneer in the entertainer coach leasing business. Because of his integrity and the way

he did business, he helped transition the touring industry from planes to buses.

By 1980, Joel was up to nine buses and was contracting coaches with acts such as Paul

McCartney and Wings, the Who, David Bowie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jackson Browne, Charlie

Daniels, Marshall Tucker, Linda Ronstadt, Van Morrison, the Allman Brothers, Atlanta Rhythm

Section, and others. Two of his first drivers were Jimmy Klein (Klein Custom Coach) and Wade

Staley (Staley Bus Sales).

At this point, Joel felt the bus business had gotten so big that it was taking away from his music,

ministry, and songwriting. Joel decided to leave the bus business. He sold seven of the nine

buses individually, and the shop was sold to Curly Jones of Stagecoach VIP. The last 2 buses he

sold to his two sons, Joey and Trent Hemphill. He gave them his Rolodex and a gravel lot on

Dickerson Road. With much support from Joel and his wife, the two sons started Hemphill

Brothers Coach Company.

As of this today, Joel is alive and well and resides in Springfield, TN.

Derrell K. “Curly” Jones

Apr 1945 – Present

(Founder, Stagecoach VIP)

Derrell K. “Curly” Jones was born in April 1945 and raised in Siloam Springs, AR. The name Curly was given to him by Duane Allen, lead vocalist of the Oak Ridge Boys. After high school, Curly worked for Fender Instruments for 2 years, and Arkoma Coach for 3 years. He first started building buses for Thrasher Brothers, Hemphill Coach Company, and Loch Raven Coach. In 1980 when Joel Hemphill ended the Hemphill Coach Company, Curly purchased the building and thus began Stagecoach VIP. Curly also co-founded TriStar Coaches along with Vulcan Coach and Senators Coaches, which helped move the industry from Silver Eagles to Prevost buses. In 1996, Curly sold Stagecoach VIP and spent the rest of his career driving for Senators Coaches, Hemphill Brothers Coaches, and private driver for the Oak Ridge Boys. Curly’s final drive was on July 21, 2019, after driving over 5 million miles with zero accidents. As of this writing, Curly is a live and well and residing in Coopertown, TN. 

Shirley Wilson Legate

“Milo Liggett”

1934 – Present

Mid 1960’s – 1988

(Loch Raven Coach)

Shirley Wilson Legate (stage name “Milo Liggett”) was born in 1934 and raised in Red River, TX.  He graduated high school in 1951 and from Abilene Christian College in 1960.  Milo served in the US Army from 1960 – 1961 in the Signal Corps.  During college Milo had been introduced to Sonny James by Sonny’s eventual wife Doris Shrode. In 1963 Milo moved to Nashville and began playing bass and recording with Sonny as one of the Southern Gentlemen.  Fred Foster (founder of Monument records) and Milo believed Milo’s birth name Shirley would not fare well professionally, so they tried to come up with a stage name for him.  They never settled on anything Milo wanted to be stuck with for life, so eventually they called songwriter Boudleaux Bryant, who gave him the name Milo Liggett. Milo worked for Sonny James for 13 years, then Delbert McClinton for 9 years. 

In the mid 1960’s, Milo began building buses for Sonny James, Billy Walker, Tommy Cash, Loretta Lynn and others. Loch Raven Coach faded into existence in Nashville and built buses for too many entertainers to list. Milo got the name Loch Raven from a road around Indianapolis. He built 2 buses that are very famous and significant to the entertainer industry: two 65’ articulated buses (flexes / hinges in the middle), both from the Kassbohrer manufacturer. The first was known as King Tut, the second was known as Chariot. They have also been called Wiggle Worm and Wolly Worm. King Tut is possibly in a storage lot near Eugene, OR. Chariot is owned by Wilson Bus Lines in Massachusetts.

On July 3, 1986, a fire destroyed most of Loch Raven Coach. Milo and staff worked out of a temporary facility until the business ceased in 1988. Milo then retired to his farm near Nashville, where he resides today.