HACIENDA March/April US tour with The GREENHORNES, plus JAMES LEG TOUR DATES and more!

HACIENDA ON TOUR WITH THE GREENHORNES
March 24 @ Radio, Radio – Indianapolis, IN
March 25 @ Double Door – Chicago, IL
March 26 @ Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN
March 27 @ High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI
March 28 @ House Of Rock – Eau Claire, WI
March 29 @ The Cactus Club – Milwaukee, WI
March 31 @ Mad Hatter – Covington, KY
April 1 @ The Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
April 2 @ The Magic Bag – Ferndale, MI
April 3 @ The Legendary Horseshoe – Toronto, ON
April 5 @ La Sala Rossa – Montreal, QU
April 6 @ Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA
April 7 @ North Star Bar – Philadelphia, PA (Hacienda only)
April 8 @ The Bell House – Brooklyn, NY
April 9 @ Maxwell’s – Hoboken, NJ
April 12 @ Rock n Roll Hotel – Washington D.C.
April 13 @ King’s Barcade – Raleigh, NC
April 14 @ The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
April 15 @ JJ’s Bohemia – Chatanooga, TN
April 16 @ The Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN

MORE TOUR DATES!

BRIAN OLIVE
May 29 @ Smith’s Ole Bar – Atlanta, GA
June 11th @ Bonnaroo Fest- Manchester, TN
with Dr. John & Dan Auerbach

TWO GALLANTS
April 23 @ The Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
April 24 @ The Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA

T-MODEL FORD & GravelRoad
April 16 @ 2011 Juke Joint Festival – Clarksdale, MS
April 21 @ Sparky’s BBQ – Hatch, NM
April 22 @ KTAO Solar Center – Taos, NM
April 29 @ Emo’s – Austin, TX
June 2 @ Radio Radio – Indianapolis, IN

JAMES LEG
March 24 @ JJ’s – Chattanooga, TN
March 25 @ JJ’s – Chattanooga, TN
European dates
March 31 @ Le Galion – Lorient, FR
April 2 @ La Vieille Tour – Mont Contour (St Brieuc), FR
April 3 @ Le Chaland Qui Passe – Binic, FR
April 5 @ 2to58 Club – Grenoble, FR
April 6 @ Mistral Palace – Valence, FR
April 7 @ Deep Inside Club – Dijon, FR
April 8 @ Le Remorqueur – Nantes, FR
April 9 @ Garorock – Marmande, FR
April 10 @ 5th Avenue – Brive, FR
April 11 @ St Ex – Bordeaux, FR
April 12 @ Zic Zinc – Limoges, FR
April 13 @ La Boite à Musique – Lille, FR
April 15 @ Kaffe T Hoff – Middleburg, NL
April 16 @ Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
April 17 @ Db’s – Utrecht, NL
James Leg record release
April 23 @ Northside Tavern – Cincinnati, OH

LEFT LANE CRUISER
April 21 @ The Stirfry – Kingsport, TN
April 22 @ The Bohemian – Greenville, SC
April 23 @ The Northside Tavern – Atlanta, GA

THE SIGHTS
March 24 Live At PJ’s – Ann Arbor, MI
April 1@ Simon’s After Dark – Allen Park, MI
April 15 @ Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
April 16 @ Euclid Records – St. Louis, MO (early show)
April 16 @ Off Broadway – St. Louis, MO (late show)
May 7 @ New Dodge – Hamtramck, MI

BUFFALO KILLERS
Apr 1 @ Motr Pub – 2 sets – Cincinnati, OH
Apr 15 @ Blackout Fest – Athens, OH
Apr 16 @ The Happy Dog – Cleveland, OH
Apr 29 @ Canal Street Tavern – Akron, OH
Apr 30 @ Musica – Akron, OH
May 5 @ New Vintage Showcase @ ZaZoo’s – Louisville, KY
May 6 @ V Club – Huntington, WV
May 27 @ Peach’s – 2 sets – Yellow Springs, OH
July 29 @ Whisky A Go Go – West Hollywood, CA
August 1 @ Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA
August 2 @ Jambalaya – Arcata CA
August 4 @ Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
August 5-7 @ Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR

PAUL COLLINS
Australia tour in March/April
April 30 & May 1 : Power Pop-A-Licious Fest

HENRY’S FUNERAL SHOE
Mar 25 @ The Corries – Brecon, UK
Apr 30 @ Area81 Rock Club Bristol – Bristol, UK with The GROUNDHOGS
August 13 @ Brecon Fringe Festival @ The Clarence – Brecon, Wales

Never Give Up On Your Hallucinations - Shindig!

October tour dates

HACIENDA
DAN AUERBACH w/ The Fast 5
Oct 3 @ ACL Aftershow – Austin, TX
Oct 4 @ ACL Aftershow – Austin, TX
Oct 5 @ The Mohawk – Austin, TX
with ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
and Los Lonely Boys
Oct 5 @ The Birchmire - Alexandria, Virginia
Oct 6 @ The Birchmere - Alexandria, Virginia
Oct 7 @ Keswick Theater - Glenside, PA
Oct 9 @ Pollack Theatre Monmouth UW- Long Branch, NJ
Oct 10 @ Shea’s Performing Arts Center - Wayne, NJ
Oct 11 @ Highline Ballroom - New York, NY
Oct 14 @ Palace Theater - Manchester, New Hampshire
Oct 16 @ Merrill Audotorium City Hall - Portland, Maine
Oct 17 @ Zeiterion Theater - New Bedford, MA
Oct 19 @ McCarter Theater - Princeton, NJ
Oct 20 @ The Historic Avalon Theater - Easton, Maryland
Oct 22 @ The Buskirk-Chumley Theater - Bloomington, IN
Oct 23 @ Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
Oct 24 @ Northern Lights Theater - Milwaukee, WI
Oct 25 @ Alltel Center - Mankato, Minnesota
Oct 27 @ Oneida Casino - Green Bay, Wisconsin

BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES
Oct 10 @ Bohemian Cafe – Greenville, SC
w/Left Lane Cruiser
Oct 14 @ Lee’s Palace – Toronto, Ontario
Oct 15 @ Petit Campus – Montreal, Quebec
Oct 16 @ Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY
Oct 17 @ V Club – Huntington, West Virginia
European dates
Nov 13 @ Nove Fonte Velha - Rio Maior, Portugal
Nov 14 @ Porto Rio - Oporto, Portugal
Nov 17 @ Oficina Munic de Teatro - Coimbra, Portugal
Nov 26 @ Libanim - Nimes, France
Nov 27 @ Barakason - Nantes, France
Nov 28 @ Blues S/ Seine Fest. - Mantes La Jolie, France
Nov 29 @ Le Galion - Lorient, France

T-MODEL FORD w/Gravelroad
Oct 1 @ Chabada - Angers, France
Oct 2 @ Astrolabe - Orleans, France
Oct 3 @ AB (with Tinariwen) Belgium
Oct 5 @ El Lokal - Zurich, Switzerland
Oct 6 @ Bad Bonn - Dundingen, Switzerland
Oct 7 @ The Trabendo – Paris, France
Oct 8 @ 106 - Rouen, France

BRIMSTONE HOWL
Oct 17 @Vice Scion Garage Festival - Portland, OR
OCT 23 @ Barley St. Tavern – Omaha, NE

BUFFALO KILLERS
Oct 2 @ Ravari Room – Columbus, OH
Oct 3 @ Dayton Music Festival – Dayton, OH
Oct 16 @ Peach’s – Yellow Springs, OH
Nov 6 @ The Southgate House – Newport, KY
Nov 7 @ Gerstle’s – Louisville, KY
Nov 13 @ 180 Main – Dubuque, IA

BRIAN OLIVE
Oct 23 @ Beachland - Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 30 @ The Comet - Cincinnnati, Ohio

OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY
Oct 19 @ Bateau Ivre – Tours, France
Oct 20 @ BT59 – Bordeaux, France
Oct 22 @ El Camino – Caen, France
Oct 23 @ La Peniche/Ground Zero Fest – Lille, France
Oct 24 @ Le Kaluma – Cherbourg, , France
Oct 25 TBC – Rouen, France
Oct 26 @ Les Lucioles – Le Havre, France
Oct 27 @ La Nef – Angouleme, France
Oct 28 @ Trabendo – Paris, France

LEFT LANE CRUISER
Oct 5 @ The Northside Tavern – Cincinnati, OH
Oct 6 @ The Green Lantern – Lexington, KY
Oct 7 @ Hal and Al’s – Columbus, OH
Oct 8 @ The V Club – Huntington, WV
Oct 9 @ The Garage – Winston Salem, NC
Oct 10 @ The Bohemian – Greenville, S
w/ Black Diamond Heavies
Oct 12 @ The End – Nashville, TN
Oct 13 @ JJ’s Bohemia – Chattanooga, TN
Oct 14 @ The Hideaway – Johnson City, TN
Oct 15 @ Visulite Theater – Charlotte, NC
Oct 16 @ The Star Bar – Atlanta, GA
Oct 17 @ Knoxville, TN
European dates
Oct 30 @ La Boule Noire – Paris, France
Oct 31 @ La Peniche – Chalon s/Saone, France
Nov 1 @ Le Galion – Lorient, France
Nov 4 @ Peniche Sonic – Lyon, France
Nov 5 @ Queen Kong Club – Neuhatel, Switzerland
Nov 6 @ Caves Du Manoir – Martigny, Switzerland
Nov 7 @ Le Transformateur – Fribourg, Switzerland
Nov 8 @ El Lokal – Zurich, Switzerland
Nov 9 @ My Way – Freibourg, Germany
Nov 11 @ Cortinan Bob – Berlin, Germany
Nov 12 @ The Paradison – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nov 13 TBA – Stockholm, Sweden
Nov 15 @ Popdium – Sneek, The Netherlands
Nov 16 @ Little Devil – Tilburg, The Netherlands
Nov 18 @ Club Keller – Frankfurt, Germany
Nov 19 @ DB’s – Utrecht, The Netherlands
Nov 20 @ Grand Wazoo – Amiens, France
Nov 21 @ L’Appel D’air – St Brieuc, France
Nov 22 @ Le Chalan – Binik, France
Nov 24 @ St Eupery – Bordeaux, France
Nov 25 @ Sant Des Seins – Toulouse, France
Nov 26 @ Cafe De Paris – Perpignan, France
Nov 27 @ Barakason – Nants, France
w/ Black Diamond Heavies
Nov 28 @ Festival Blues Hauts De Seine – Mantes La Jolie, France
w/ Black Diamond Heavies

THOMAS FUNCTION
Oct 1 @ Webster Hall – New york, New York
Oct 2 @ Bruar Falls – Brooklyn, New York
Oct 3 @ Garfield Artworks – Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 4 @ The Summit – Columbus, OH
Oct 5 @ Lager House – Detroit, MI
Oct 6 @ Brass Rail – Fort Wayne, IN
Oct 7 @ Ronny’s – Chicago, IL
Oct 8 @ Club Garibaldi’s – Milwaukee, WI
Oct 9 @ Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA
Oct 10 @ Replay Lounge – Lawrence, Kansas
Oct 11 @ Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
Oct 12 @ House Concert – Provo, UT
Oct 14 @ Funhouse – Seattle, WA
Oct 15 @ The Den – Tacoma, WA
Oct 17 @ Vice Scion Garage Festival – Portland, OR
Oct 19 @ Stork Club – Oakland, CA
Oct 20 @ Hemlock Tavern – San francisco, CA
Oct 21 @ Blue Lamp – Sacramento, CA
Oct 23 @ 5 Star Bar – Los Angeles, CA
Oct 25 @ Pink Elephant – San Diego, CA
Oct 26 @ Modified – Phoenix, AZ
Oct 27 @ Train Yard – Las Cruces, NM
Oct 30 @ Lounge On Elm Street – Dallas, TX
Oct 31 @ Beerland – Austin, TX
Nov 3 @ Saturn Bar - New Orleans, LA
Nov 4 @ Alabama Music Box - Mobile, AL

September tour dates

BLACK DIAMOND HEAVIES
Lebowskifest - Speed of Sound Tour
Sep 8 @ Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO
Sep 9 @ Blue Cactus - Lead, SD
Sep 11 @ First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
Sep 12 @ Crunchy Fog - Greenbay, WI
Sep 13 @ Portage Theatre - Chicago, IL
Sep 15 @ North Side Tavern - Cincinnati, OH
Sep 16 @ Majestic Cafe - Detroit, MI
Sep 17 @ Velvet Underground - Toronto, Ontario
Sep 18 @ La Sala Rossa - Montreal, Quebec
Sep 19 @ House of Blues - Boston, MA
Sep 20 @ IM Automata Chino - Jersey City, NJ
Sep 22 @ Terminal 5 - New York, NY
Sep 24 @ Court Tavern - New Brunswick, NJ
Sep 25 @ Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
Sep 28 @ 9:30 Club - Washington DC, Washington DC
LIVE album out November 24th on Alive records

OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY
Sept 9 @ Bay area fun time - Oakland, CA w/ Devon Williams
Sept 10 @ Spaceland, L.A. w/ Devon Williams
Sept 11 @ Che - San Diego CA, w/ Devon Williams
more dates coming soon

BRIMSTONE HOWL
Sept 9 @ Cafe Bourbon - Columbus, OH
Sept 10 @ Bruar Falls - Brooklyn, NY
Sept 11 @ The Cakeshop - NYC
Sept 12 @ Sailor Jerry - Philly, PA
Sept 14 @ The Oasis - New London, CT
Sept 15 @ The Triple - Richmond, VA
Sept 17 @ The Union - Athens, OH
Sept 18 @ Now Thats Class - Cleveland, OH
Sept 19 @ Louie‚s Trophy House - Kalamazoo MI
NEW album out November 24th

RADIO MOSCOW
Sep 8 @ Bali Satay - Ames, Iowa w/ Mondo Drag
Sep 9 @ Ribco - Davenport, Iowa
Sep 18 @ Capones - Ames, Iowa
Sep 25 @ DG's Taphouse - Ames, Iowa
more dates coming soon

BRIAN OLIVE
Sep 29 @ Northside Tavern - Cincinnati, OH w/Drummer
more dates coming soon

T-MODEL FORD w/Gravelroad
European tour :
Sep 8 @ Thelka - Bristol, UK
Sep 9 The Old Market - Brighton, UK
Sep 11 @ Luminaire - London, UK
Sep 12 @ Luminaire - London, UK
Sep 13 @ End Of The Road Festival ˆ Salisbury, UK
Sep 15 @ Arlington Arts Centre - Newbury, UK
Sep 16 @ Norwich Arts Centre - Norwich, UK
Sep 17 @ The Musician - Leicester, UK
Sep 19 @ The Boardwalk - Sheffield, UK
Sep 20 @ Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, UK
Sep 21 @ The Duchess - York, UK
Sep 22 @ The Live Theatre - Newcastle, UK
Sep 23 @ Tolbooth - Stirling, UK
Sep 24 @ King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - Glasgow, UK
Sep 26 Open House Fest. @ Black Box - Belfast, Ireland
Sep 27 @ Sandino's Cafe Bar - Derry, Ireland
Sep 28 @ Whelan's - Dublin, Ireland
Sep 29 @ Crane Lane Theatre - Cork, Ireland
NEW album out this winter on Alive records

BUFFALO KILLERS
Sept 9 @ The Bear's Place - Cambridge, MA
Sept 10 @ Nectar's - Burlington, VT
Sept 11 @ Dover Brick House - Dover, NH
Sept 12 @ Union Hall - Brooklyn, NY
Sept 25 @ The Union - Athens, OH
Sept 26 @ Southgate House - Cincinnati, OH
more dates coming soon

MONDO DRAG
Sep 8 @ The Bali Satay - Aimes, Iowa w/ Radio Moscow
Sep 9 @ Racers Edge - East Moline, IL
Sep 10 @ The Darkroom bar - Chicago, IL
Sep 11 @ Carabar - Columbus, OH
Sep 12 @ W.O. Wrights - Fairborn, OH
Sep 13 House show - Bloomington, IN
Sep 29 @ The Picador - Iowa city, Iowa
DEBUT album for Alive records out this winter

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BUFFALO KILLERS - Downtown Money Waster

The Buffalo Killers
Blaring Musical Defiance
Words by Martin Halo

01.15.2009
Cincinnati, Ohio

Ambassadors of the vintage spirit in the manner of grimy, garage-laden, blues and swagger struck in the aching heart of American expression. They are rugged, dirty in a manner of vagabond journeymen who find musical balance on a platform of independent vision. Cincinnati warms in their presence as homegrown outlaws blaring musical defiance. The Buffalo Killers are bearded and abrasive in their reverberations - from all accounts, the way rock n' roll was meant to be.

"Take the Black Keys for example," says bassist Zach Gabbard, "look at what they do. They have done their own thing and have proven beyond a doubt that they could do it successfully. They are great. The Black Crowes are the same way; they are not people that need other people to tell them what to do. Musicians have learned to do so much over the last 10 years on their own, even if you are on a major label these days, you are still your own person. You still call the shots. I think it is without a doubt manageable to do this on your own and not ever have to worry about Columbia. Face it," says Gabbard with a little smile, "they don't give a shit about you anyway!"

Founded by brothers Zachary (bass) and Andrew Gabbard (guitars) under the group name Thee Shams - later to be joined by drummer Joseph Sebaali -- The Buffalo Killers sparked the injection with a rumble straight out of Rich Robinson's handbook. Thick riffs, tension-driven progressions, and molasses clogged grooves. Their record deal, at Alive via Burbank, was initiated by a blank demo disc blindly sent in the mail with nothing more than 'Buffalo Killers and a phone number' tagged, permanent marker style, on its face.

Alive Records CEO, Patrick Boissel, sealed the deal with a phone call back to Ohio and the mailing of a check to lift the band through the remaining studio plunge.

"The past records the Buffalo Killers have made," explains Gabbard, "we got into the studio for a couple weeks in a row and that is it. We wanted to be able to go in a record exactly how we are at that time."

Now, as 2009 is only a few days away, Gabbard sheds light on the present recording landscape and possibilities. "We are going to take a whole month off and make a record," he says. "We have never taken that much time off before to do something like this. We are looking to get down to business in the New Year."

"I think we are going to try and explore a little more mellowed out, country twang. But it is still us. It is still going to be… you know," as laughter follows.
The quick step forward is more than welcome after we found ourselves gushing over their release of their sophomore LP, "Let It Ride," back in July of 2008. Now with more touring ahead alongside the Black Keys who, incidentally, became fast friends with the Gabbard's while both bands were in their infancies trolling the clubs of Akron. They are close enough that Dan Auerbach invited the band to his newly built studio to produce Let It Ride.

Auerbach figured it was a great way to lock them down after, what he describes, as a sly move. "They basically made their first record and didn't tell me! I picked it up after it came out and was blown away by the distance they had traveled musically since the time they disbanded Thee Shams," says Auerbach. "I called them up and was just basically like, 'you guys are going to make a record and not call me?'"

"We didn't even tell people we were making a record back with the first album," explains Gabbard. "When we make a record it is like we are building a house. We built it in hopes of selling that house. That is how we approached it."

They remained close friends, through to this very day. The similarities in their choice of tones and style are hard to overlook.

"Everyone acts if things are so dismal in music, and people having access to your music is so awful," continues Gabbard. "The only complaint I have with it is that people put too much out there. There needs to be the mystery of everything; that allure. Even down to how a band looks, I feel. As a kid I always dug looking at record covers and nobody is there, or the picture is so distorted that you couldn't even make out who they were. The Internet is a flood of a lot of information, and rock n' roll is more open now days because of it."

"Because of the web the only controllable income left is touring. It is just something you have to accept. As an artist you are starving for something. Whether it is for people to look at you or literally hungry and you are playing to eat. You got to be hungry for something, have to be struggling with something."

"The exposure is everywhere and I think rock n' roll is going to continue to be an underground thing because of it. I hate to use the term underground, but it is more of, 'I'm in the know, you're in the know,' kind of thing," Gabbard concludes. - The Waster.com

ROLLING STONE - Killer Bands on Alive Records

SMOKING SECTION by Austin Scaggs

Killer Bands on Alive Records

September 24, 2008 3:20 PM

Photos courtesy of Alive Records

Burbank-based label Alive Naturalsound Records are boasting a sick young roster. Here are a few of our favorite young bands:

Hacienda:

• Brothers Abraham (keys), Rene (bass), and Jaime Villanueva (drums) and cousin Dante Schwebel (guitar).
  
• Discovered by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who produced their latest album, Loud is the Night.
• Obsessed with the Beach Boys. Look like Mexican-American Kings of Leon.
• On tour now with Dr. Dog.

  Hacienda - "Shake Ya"

Brimstone Howl:

• Led by singer John Ziegler and guitarist Nick Waggoner, with Calvin Retzlaff on drums.
• Cross between The Clash and The Misfits. Part fuzz, part grunge and a machine gun back beat.
• Legendary producer Jim Diamond (The White Stripes) produced their latest, We Come In Peace.

  Brimstone Howl - "Child of Perdition"

Buffalo Killers:

• Power trio with bassist Zachary Gabbard, brother Andrew on guitar. Joseph Sebaali holds it down on drums.
• Blues, classic rock and lot of hair.
• Dan Auerbach produced the latest record from the Buffalo Killers, Let It Ride.

  Buffalo Killers - "Get Together Now Today"

Click more to check out their latest videos.

Hacienda - "Shake Ya"

Brimstone Howl - "A Million Years"

Buffalo Killers - "Let It Ride"

BUFFALO KILLERS - NONzine

The Buffalo Killers, another band on the rise from the Ohio rust belt music scene, play a wonderful stew of music, clearly inspired by the classic blooze rock of the late ‘60s and ‘70s. At different times, the group’s sound can be both psychedelic and southern fried. One thing’s for sure: It is almost always hard, heavy and crunchy, carrying on a great classic rock tradition at a time when we need it most in this era of half-baked indie pop. Just listening to the band’s new album, Let It Ride, one can hear the presence of no less than Cream, Mountain, Black Sabbath, the Who, the Kinks, David Bowie, and even some light touches of Seattle grunge, such as Soundgarden or Alice In Chains. The album was produced by the guitarist Dan Auerbach, who spends most of his time with another Ohio band, the Black Keys, and his impact is apparent here, as well, most notably in the fuzzed-out guitars that graciously color most of the album. However, the most obvious, underlying, and appreciated influence (by this reviewer, at least) on this record is yet another classic Ohio staple: Joe Walsh and the James Gang. - Dave Bond/NONzine

BUFFALO KILLERS - Hear Ya

Since I first reviewed Buffalo Killers’ debut album and their subsequent stop in our studio for their live session, the boys from Cincy have opened for the Black Crowes and hooked up with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys to produce their second album, Let It Ride.

Let’s just say that working with Dan Auerbach agrees with the band. While the first disc was good in its own right, Let It Ride has more life to it - loads more soul and hints of early 70s blues-boogie that bands like Faces, The Stones and Grand Funk were banging out with regularity.

The main difference between this album and the debut is the confidence in Zach Gabbard’s vocals. He has more swagger. I don’t know if it’s due to Auerbach’s production, Gabbard maturing as a singer, or just the influence of listening to Chris Robinson on a daily basis, but he sounds outstanding.

The album opens with a big, juicy bass line on “Get Together Now Today, a song that rambles along with Gabbard delivering the goods. I was gobsmacked after that tune. I was then smacked across my face by the title track that sent furious guitar licks busting out of my speakers. Other standouts include “On The Prowl” and the relatively chilled out “Heart In Your Hand.”

I really liked the debut, but Let It Ride is is loads better. The album is a more complete effort. I was tempted to say that the album is more polished or refined, but that description is an impossibility when describing Buffalo Killers. I mean, look at the cover art. They are savages.- Woody/HearYa

BUFFALO KILLERS - Losing Today

The first of two superb releases heading out of the Burbank, California imprint Alive that we’ve managed to nail in recent weeks from our local dealer that frankly you should invest the time in trying to track down as your own.

Damn fine smoking bliss out grooves is in abundance on the second full length from Cincinnati trio Buffalo Killers. Having just completed a short stateside tour with the Black Keys and with planned prestige support slots with the Black Crowes scheduled in the fall, ’Let it ride’ is the bearded ones follow up to 2006’s self titled debut full length - which annoyingly we appear to have missed.

Blending lazy eyed chilled blues motifs, Southern breeze accents and softly woven psychedelics, Buffalo Killers sound like they’ve woken from a prolonged acid induced coma and in so doing have missed the musical landscape changes of the last 35 years, their collective heads still tuned into an era still recovering from the Altamont fall out, Easy Rider and the whole latent counter culture vibe and the Vietnam war.

Blessed with some superbly exquisite production by Dan Auerbach at Akron Analog, ’Let it ride’ is pristinely crafted in a decadent retro vibe that seriously wouldn’t look amiss amid a record collection boasting a garage / rock / psych purists smattering of key late 60’s and early 70’s recordings. Freewheeling between a melodic tapestry that’s as equally at home carving out mellowing AOR nuggets (as on the middle America embracing ’heart in your hand’ and ’give and give’ which to these ears sounds like a shyly retiring Buffalo Springfield shimmying with Guns ’n’ Roses) and bitching blues grinds (as on the upbeat power driven boot stomping pedal to floor road blues beauty ’on the prowl’ with its drop dead cool Stones riffage or the subtly sexually charged Zeppelin like ’it’s a shame’ with its bourbon soaked gridlocked grinds and impeccably distilled Detroit garage flair), Buffalo Killers may just have turned up the trump card with ‘Let it ride‘.

Reference points are obvious - between the lazy hazy grooves you’ll hear the aural apparitions of Cream, Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield) and Mountain swirling and echoing in the mountain range breezes, yet scratch a little deeper and the unmistakable undercurrent of laid back blues dialects hint towards an overt fondness and admiration of Zeppelin’s first opus - none more so is this the case on the aforementioned ’it’s a shame’ and ’take me back home’(a proto ‘misty mountain hop‘ killer - yes we know it was from Zep‘s ‘IV‘ before you all start writing in complaining).

Elsewhere the gorgeously wrapped sultry mirages of feel good vibes work on the nervous system like some super potent prozac and seem a tad restricted from the comfort of a hi-fi appraisal rather more you’d feel better served finding a beaten up convertible throwing down its hood and letting rip through an endless horizon of wide open picturesque freeway. Case in point the hip grinding sexuality that literally seeps from ’if I get myself anywhere’ - a sumptuous honky tonking road blues babe that nibbles at the Faces while ’leave the sun behind’ is just simply classy - a moon shining and mooching cutie that slithers and side winds amid flotillas of countrified pines, its warm like radiating cruise controlled casualness deftly set upon the driving southern styled motifs casting a strangely trippy hue to the proceedings. ’Black paper’ wraps up the set superbly with its softly bathed 60’s speckled lysergic psyche mindset - best described as imagining Baby Woodrose freebasing on Free.

All in all once on the turntable turn up loud, light up a spliff or two and simply tune out. Killer stuff.
Marh Barton/Losing Today

BUFFALO KILLERS - video

BUFFALO KILLERS - JamBase

American rock 'n' roll has retreated to the depths of the underground. For the bands that continue the time-honored tradition of smooth talking swagger and stiff lipped cool, they exist only in the eyes of the people who have discovered their clandestine reverberations.

Cincinnati, Ohio's native Buffalo Killers struts with the moan of a blues-laden trio who mix vintage tone with growling guitars to formulate passionate testimonials of lost love, desperate aggression and reckless endangerment. It is the underbelly of American rock 'n' roll, and with the release of their sophomore album, Let It Ride (released July 8 on Alive Records), the Buffalo Killers have been hatched upon the age in a time of desperate need.

Sleek in a tattered way and possessing a ferocious assault, the Brothers Gabbard (Zachary - bass and vocals, Andrew - guitar and vocals, joined by Joseph Sebaali - drums) have channeled a wrinkled, raspy-toned muse who was too purposely intoxicated to catch the train of trend. This is a story about defiance and destiny, the snarling moan of a scene crawling beneath the bustling avenues.

Alive

I'm a traveling man just a pushing ahead
We're a traveling band looking for a bed
We're not trying to bite you, we're just starving to death

"We recorded five songs and I sent the pressing out in a blank jacket with nothing more than the band's name and my home phone number on it," says Zach in reference to the band's debut LP. "A phone call came from Burbank, California two days later. It was Alive Records founder Patrick Boissel. We really didn't expect to be making a record at the time. When Alive Records called me back, it came as a shock. We were just looking to catch our bearings and the next thing you know I am telling someone, 'Yes, we do have the rest of the material prepared. Go ahead and send us a check and we will finish the album. It was a scramble to book additional studio time and do whatever the fuck we needed to do to finish that first record."

For Andrew and Zach Gabbard their musical explorations started not with the Buffalo Killers but with another Ohio-based trio, Thee Shams. Consisting of Zach, Andrew, Sebaali, Max Bender and Keith Fox, the band earned the attention of Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys as a local garage band contemporary. When Thee Shams disbanded, according to both parties, Auerbach was never told.

"Dan didn't know we formed a new group until he heard the first Buffalo Killers record and realized it was us. He called me wanting to know why I hadn't got in contact to tell him about it," Zach explains. "It was just a thing where we started over and didn't want to approach audiences as a band rising out of the ashes of another."

"Things started to happen for us when we went to L.A. in support of the first album," Zach continues. "A drummer friend of mine came that night and told me that Chris Robinson [The Black Crowes] had told him about the show. I was kind of taken aback. All I could think was, 'Chris Robinson heard our record!' We were just going out to California to play some shows in support of the first record and we were fully under the impression no one was going to show up. We thought we were going to make some rounds, play to a few people and then upon returning we might have a cool thing going on."

"It was a big fucking deal to me when The Black Crowes asked us to go on the road with them. I grew up listening to them. For us, it was like touring with The Beatles," Zach offers.

The Grooming

"My brother and I grew up in a musical household because my dad played guitar. We grew up listening to Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, CSNY and New Riders of the Purple Sage from as long back as I can remember. They, along with my father, taught us how to play music. As a kid you think, 'What does your father know?' but looking back, if I wanted to hear something new all I had to do was go downstairs and rummage through his record collection. It was all right there. If we wanted to play an instrument, the amps were already in the house. We were groomed to do this," Zach says.

"There were a lot of good groups stemming from Cincinnati. The Greenhorns were natives as well as The Afghan Wigs. I was really into The Afghan Wigs when I was younger. As a matter of fact, we actually recorded the first record with [Afghan bassist] John Curley, who has a studio here. There are lots of places to play. It's a good home base."

"When we would go out on tour, we would come home and it felt like every town in Ohio embraced us. There was no pressure, like playing in New York, for us," Zach explains. "For us, it is about the music we play not how we look. Playing here in Cincinnati, there was no pressure. We could go fuck off and completely bomb here. It really didn't matter. We could always just start over. The spotlight wasn't as bright as it might have been in New York. [Though] we were playing to our friends and family, the people we grew up with [and] sometimes that might hold more pressure than playing to a bunch of strangers."

The Let It Ride Sessions

"We recorded it in two weekend sessions with Dan Auerbach. We were focused but it was a very relaxed situation," says Zach, while sprawled across his bed in Cincinnati just off a tour leg supporting The Black Keys.

"The atmosphere surrounding this record was completely different from the debut. We knew what we were doing, what we wanted to do, and half of the songs were already fleshed out on the road while supporting The Black Crowes. When we got off the road we went right into the studio for the sessions that would become Let It Ride."

"I got involved with the project simply because I was a fan of the band," says Dan Auerbach. "I invited them up to my studio in Akron. Zach called and basically said the band was ready to record and plans were made."

The recording sessions for Let It Ride were born from a meeting of longtime friends to create a testament of expression that unearths the primal endorphins buried deep within the souls of men.

"I have been into those guys for a long time. Back when they were in Thee Shams I brought them on the road with The Black Keys. I didn't hear anything from them for a while after Thee Shams disbanded until the next thing I know the Buffalo Killers first record is coming out. I bought a copy of it and was stunned, like 'Holy shit.' They transformed from a good garage rock band to light years ahead of what they were doing in terms of songwriting, arrangement, and harmonies," expresses Auerbach. "Not to mention, Joseph Sebaali is an animal behind the drum set. The entire conception was particularly impressive."

Auerbach's studio is as much of a refined gem as the recordings that have propelled The Black Keys' catalog into vinyl necessity. Custom built from the ground up with a simple design, accented with classic flashback décor and baked-in vintage cool.

"It only took a few days to record Let It Ride. They were practiced," says Auerbach. "As a producer I was there as someone for those guys to bounce ideas off of. These are the kind of guys that don't need a lot of help when it comes to making records or sparking their imagination. These guys just don't need it. They have so much natural ability and talent that all I could do was just be there to answer any questions they might have. Occasionally, I would give some input but I knew the most important task was capturing their sound; the raw live sound of this band."

"I think anytime you get talented musicians together who are writing original music it is important. They may not be important to MTV, but apparently they don't like to see real musicians playing instruments," continues Auerbach. "I'm partial to people who have an idea of the past and the related sounds, because that is what I like - the sounds from the late '50s through the '70s. Not necessarily the songs, but the tone. The way things were recorded back then sounded better in my opinion. When the '80s came around things just seemed to go to shit. Engineers and producers took liberties with editing devices and really screwed up a lot of band's recordings. Recordings became so clean it was nauseating. The pops and hiss are as much of a part of the music as the songs themselves. People might refer to the sound as vintage, but to me it is just simply rock 'n' roll."

The Ideology

Let it ride, don't you hide
Cause tomorrow might never come, so won't you let it ride
Don't you lie or wait one minute
Just hold up your hand and make a stand

"It is beyond the point of faking it these days," says Zach on the philosophy of the band. "You can't fake it because there is so much fake stuff out there; people see right through it. Artists like Devendra Banhart and Vetiver aren't faking it. They are living what they do, as we are living what we do. We are not in it for money; we are in it because we want to say something. We want to do what we love. There is no other ambition I have in life."

"I think it is great how rock 'n' roll has gone back underground. You can have a group that tours the United States, puts out their own records and nobody in the mall knows they exist," continues Zach. "That is how rock 'n' roll should be, not on MTV. As a fan you want it to be yours and that is what it is again."

"We put out records [and] we don't worry about if we are going to get reviewed by the papers. We set out to sell records to people at shows. We make a recording and we hit the road. We don't stop until the next album is ready to be recorded," says Zach. "Playing music onstage is one of the greatest joys I have ever experienced besides having a child or being in love. Nothing compares to people connecting with something you are creating for them. That is why I cannot stop. It is better than any drug you will ever take."

"I want people to cherish the song," Zach states. "We write songs about our families and being in love rather than telling you everything is bad and the world as gone to shit. It has but you don't have to believe that. You have your friends and your family. As stupid as it might sound all you need is love. Cherish what you have because it might not be here tomorrow. 'Let it Ride.' That is what it is. There might not be a tomorrow so you might as well let it ride."

Martin Halo / JamBase

BUFFALO KILLERS - antiMusic

"Get Together Now Today" gets the album off to a good start. It is a rootsy sounding song with some heavy-duty groovaliciousness. A few things are readily apparent about this band. First, they believe in reverb. Big time. Secondly, it sounds like this band was raised listening to James Gang and Grand Funk. Buffalo Killers has one thing in common with Grand Funk: the sound seems like it's being produced by more than three guys

The band brings not only a big sound, but also a good energy to this recording. It's pretty clean and gives a great idea of what the band is all about. "On the Prowl" is one of those songs you want to play in the car with the volume cranked up and the windows down. Yes, even if it's only 40 degrees.

This is a solid album, especially if you are a fan of reverb-drenched groovy classic rock. There aren't any tracks you'll want to skip. Oh, and if you are a fan of Black Crowes, Buffalo Killers will be touring with them later this year. My advice is to put this on, crank up the volume and let the sound surround you. And make no mistake, the sound will surround you.

Gary Schwind/antiMusic

BUFFALO KILLERS - Rave Magazine

Wednesday, 20 August 2008

(Alive Records)

Black Keys-aided beardy rockers

As well as creating one of this year’s standout records in his own band, Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach has also found time to produce and engineer these 10 songs by ragged roots rockers Buffalo Killers. However, while the Black Keys’ latest is expanded by the experimental touches of producer Danger Mouse, Buffalo Killers opt for a much more back-to-basics approach, with Auerbach overseeing a garagey burst of psychedelic biker rock. Seemingly laid straight down onto tape in Akron, Ohio, Let It Ride opens with the wide open spaces of air-guitar-happy workout Get Together Now Today, while the title track follows with a more ‘60s rock musical/gospel approach. The entire album adopts the no-frills sound of late ‘60s road rockers such as Steppenwolf (many of these songs could accompany montages of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper hitting the open highway), while the songwriting and performances are versatile enough to stop the record from going stale, and what could be pleasant but rather anonymous desert jams in the hands of lesser talents instead have a welcome dose of melodic grit and soul.

***½

MATT THROWER / Rave Magazine

BUFFALO KILLERS - Real Detroit Weekly

The Buffalo Killers sound like the bastard sons of the James Gang and the Black Crowes. But like both bands, the Buffalo Killers come by their sound naturally. It’s organic, dripping with down home funk. It’s groovin' — oozing with soul, draped in grittiness and filled with tasty, but not overwhelming guitar licks. The band’s sophomore set, Let It Ride, is one of those records that’s a perfect soundtrack for your weekend afternoon, whether it’s tunage for a road trip, something to kick back to while enjoying a beverage or music to pump you up for a night out on the town. This record hits on all cylinders and will definitely require repeat listenings. — Willy Wilson / Real Detroit Weekly

BUFFALO KILLERS - Leather Canary

Really digging this band, buffalo killers, right about now...out of cincinnati, there latest lp, let it ride, is a straight trip back to the halcyon days of the early-seventies...with unpolished production from the black key's dan aurbach, you can almost smell the sun soaked grass in their fuzzy groove-orientated rock that's both heavy & laid-back all at once...very good stuff, indeed.
Leather Canary

BUFFALO KILLERS - Raven Sings The Blues

A lot of the press surrounding Buffalo Killers has compared them to Blue Cheer and Cream and in some perplexing cases the Beatles. In all fairness the band does evoke the heavy blues of '69 - '70 but more often they channel the same power that flowed through these groups, and not necessarily the characteristics that defined their sound. I can't figure out the Beatles comparisons as anything but lazy but what the band does have is a real knack for evoking the more melodic mid 70's album rockers like Grand Funk and Free, bands who took their cues from the aforementioned forefathers and injected a sense of pop melody into the heaviness. Though in all fairness Buffalo Killers do scatter a bit of country charm into this heavy blues plate, giving them a nice psych-country bent at times as well. Now I mean these comparisons in the best of terms, hell I love Grand Funk, and would highly suggest that the band look into covering "Nothing is the Same" if at all possible during their live shows. Buffalo Killers have folded their influences and obvious affinity for 70's rock into their sound without coming off dated or overly derivative which is often a hard thing to do; instead sounding like a long lost classic which if you're a regular reader you know is something I can't resist. - Raven Sings The Blues

BUFFALO KILLERS - I Rock Cleveland

Do my ears deceive me, or is this some long lost T. Rex track? Has Rolan Bolan been holding back on a treasure trove of sweet boogie oogie laid down by his late father, the great Marc Bolan, before his death? If it's not T Rex, then it has to be an old dusty groove done by Joe Walsh, or Grand Funk Railroad, right? Wrong, wrong, and wrong. If the id3 tag is to be believed, "If I Get Myself Anywhere," comes from the second album by Cincinnati long-haired, retro-rockers, Buffalo Killers.

While everything about this cut, from the laid back Southern charm of the main guitar riff, and the sly, shuffling drum beat, to the velvety vocals, say all-request classic rock request hour, it's a product of the modern age. With the help of the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who helmed the producer's chair, and who knows a thing or two about creating a retro-fantastic vibe, Buffalo Killers managed to avoid the riff by numbers trap which has been the downfall of many a retro rocker, and instead created something authentic. Well, maybe not quite authentic, after all we're some thirty years beyond AOR. Still, at the very least, "If I Don't Get Myself Anywhere" is one of the best damn approximations of the Seventies AOR sound around, and that's no small feat when you're treading on such well worn ground.

MP3: Buffalo Killers - If I Get Myself Anywhere

I Rock Cleveland

BUFFALO KILLERS - Heave Media review

They're Killers, Not Soldiers

The Buffalo Killers stampede onward on their sophomore album.

By: Amy Dittmeier

Buffalo Killers
Let it Ride
Alive Records
Release Date: Jul 22, 2008

Cincinnati has done it again. The Buffalo Killers have come out with the recent explosion of band like the Black Keys and the Afghan Whigs from the Ohio capital. Let it Ride, the follow-up to their debut album Buffalo Killers, is a continuation of the Buffalo Killers' developing style from their former band Thee Shams. With gritty guitar work and snappy drum fills, Let it Ride escapes the curse of producing the same album twice by expanding the horizons of the Buffalo Killers' music.

The album starts off with "Get Together Now, Today" which sets the tone for Let it Ride. Where Buffalo Killers' sound more resembled their previous band Thee Shams, Let it Ride branches out further than their first album did and makes the band more into its own entity rather than the remains of their old band. "Get Together Now, Today" has a classic southern rock sound combined with a contemporary garage rock tone and most of Let it Ride follows this same pattern with a few exceptions. "Leave the Sun Behind" sounds more like the trio's work in Thee Shams, but the vocals from brothers Andrew and Zachary Gabbard and the slow rock grind still make it something very much the Buffalo Killer's own.

"Give and Give" and "Take Me Back Home" are another example of the different directions the Buffalo Killers attempt on Let it Ride. The track isn't anything like the music preceding it. Andrew Gabbard incorporates a more 60s sounding guitar riff over his opening lyrics "Everyone thinks that things are gonna change" and drummer Joseph Sebaali uses a marching drum beat to drive the song forward. The chorus is the only part that goes back to the standard Buffalo Killers sound. It's a sound that the band can do, however they haven't mastered it well enough yet for it to be a stand-out point on Let it Ride. However "Take Me Back Home" is written in a certain style that they nail on the head. The track is a little more blues oriented than the rest of the album, but Andrew's guitar work is so enticing that the band pulls it off without a hitch. It's not a complicated song, but the intensity in Andrew's voice makes it into something that stands out from the band's previous release. It's a direction that they can more than handle comfortably, and it's something that makes the Buffalo Killers an ever-changing group.

BUFFALO KILLERS - Music Australia Guide