In the 1960s Brumley purchased the manufacturing rights to Zane Beck's first pedal steel model and formed the ZB Guitar Company.

[1] His father was Albert E. Brumley, a composer and music publisher whose wrote over 700 gospel songs,[2] including "I'll Fly Away" and "Turn Your Radio On".

[7]: 20  To learn new steel guitar "licks" Brumley listened to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry regularly and duplicated what he heard on the radio.

[7]: 20  The pedals altered the pitch of certain strings allowing notes and chords that were impossible to achieve on the lap steel that Brumley had been playing.

[7]: 20 He served two years in the United States Army, stationed in Germany, and during that period he decided to pursue a career as a musician.

[7]: 20  At the time, Brumley lived in North Hollywood and played at clubs in the area, but moved to Kingsland, Texas, to work with his father-in-law, Rollie Spencer, at his construction firm.

[8]: 15  After the move to Texas, Brumley got a call to play with Owens; his reluctance to be back on the night scene at bars was mitigated by Mr. Spencer, who told him, "You know, if you don't do this, you'll wish you had.

[8]: 14  In the 1960s Brumley purchased the manufacturing rights to Zane Beck's first pedal steel model, the "ZK", and formed the ZB Guitar Company with investor Bill Sims.

[12] In 1969, Rick Nelson hired Brumley to play in his "Stone Canyon Band", so named for a street address in Sherman Oaks where they rehearsed.

[9]: 165  After two interim steel players,[a] Brumley was hired just days before they were set to record the live album In Concert at the Troubadour, 1969 .

[8]: 15  With Nelson, Brumley liked the fact that "everything was first class";[8] the musicians traveled by air and they performed only 80 to 100 days a year, much less than the grueling schedule of Buck Owens.

[8] In a 2005 interview, Brumley called it "a godsend being asked to join Rick's band, and I still think "Garden Party" was a highlight of my recording career".

[8] Brumley left Nelson because the touring schedule kept getting heavier, by then 180 days per year, with plans to increase it after a new manager was brought on board.

[8] During a short hiatus from working with Rick Nelson, Brumley played pedal steel guitar on Guthrie Thomas' album Lies and Alibis (1976).

[3] He performed or recorded with artists including Glen Campbell, Guthrie Thomas, Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, Chris Isaak, Waylon Jennings, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Ray Price and Rod Stewart.

[15] Brumley died at age 73 on February 3, 2009, at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, a little more than a week after experiencing a heart attack.