Donna The Buffalo On Tour With New Album: Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday

Donna The Buffalo On Tour With New Album

Donna the Buffalo Set To Unveil First Studio Album in Five Years,
Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, On June 18

More energized and focused than ever before in their near 25-year career, roots-music troubadours Donna the Buffalo will debut their first studio album in five years, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, on June 18 via Sugar Hill Records. The follow up to 2008’s acclaimed Silverlined, which reached the Top 10 on the Americana charts, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday—the group’s 10^th studio album—proves the band as a consistent steward of Americana music, their signature sound—traditional mountain music infused with elements of Cajun, rock, folk, reggae and country—an eclectic and extraordinary melting pot of such.

In creating the new album, founding members and songwriter-vocalists Jeb Puryear (vocals, guitar) and Tara Nevins (vocals, guitar, fiddle, accordion, scrubboard)—joined by band members David McCracken (Hammond organ, clavinet), Kyle Spark (bass) and Mark Raudabaugh (drums)—convened in a rustic church in Enfield, New York, along with co-producer and fellow upstate New Yorker, Robert Hunter (Branford Marsalis). The building overflowed with vibe, and the music poured out as the group recorded take after live take to old-school analog tape, with as few overdubs as possible. What resulted are the 14 organic and authentic tracks that make up Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday.

“We tried to do the record and keep in tact the things people love about us,” says Puryear. “We’re really excited to start sharing Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday,” adds Nevins, “because making this record was a very personal process that was also a lot of fun.”

The album will be worked at Americana and AAA radio this spring and summer, with the emphasis track being “I See How You Are,” a tune penned by Nevins. In addition, the band will be touring heavily throughout the remainder of the year to promote Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday. Festival dates include MerleFest, The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, Nashville’s Dancin’ In the District, Strangecreek Music Festival, Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival, The Great Blue Heron Festival, Red Ants Pants Festival, Targhee Bluegrass Fest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival and MagnoliaFest, among many others.

Donna the Buffalo on Tour
Thu 5/16 Edinboro, PA – Edinboro Art & Music Festival
Fri 5/17 Syracuse, NY – Wescott Theater
Sat 5/18 Monroeville, NJ – Camp Jam in the Pines
Sun 5/19 New York, NY – City Winery
Sun 5/26 Greenfield, MA – Strangecreek Music Festival
Thu 6/13 Nashville, TN – Nashville Dancin’ – Riverfront Park
Fri 6/14 Raleigh, NC – Southland Ballroom
Sat 6/15 Tryon, NC – Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival
Thu 6/20 Natick, MA – Natick Center for the Arts
Fri 6/21 Naples, NY – Inspire Winery
Sat 6/22 Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
Sat-Sun 7/5-7/7 Sherman, NY – The Great Blue Heron Festival
Fri 7/12 Rochester, NY – Rochester Public Market’s Bands on the Bricks
Sat 7/13 Shirley, MA – The Bull Run Concert Series
Sun 7/14 Norfolk, CT – Infinity Hall
Thu-Sun 7/18-21 Trumansburg, NY – Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival
Fri 7/26 White Sulphur Springs, MT – Red Ants Pants
Sat 7/27 Spokane, WA – The Center
Sun 7/28 Seattle, WA – The Tractor
Mon 7/29 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
Tue 7/30 Eugene, OR – WOW Hall
Thu 8/1 Los Angeles – The Mint
Fri 8/2 Pioneertown, CA – Pappy and Harriets
Sat 8/3 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Sun 8/4 Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
Mon 8/5 Chico, CA – The Big Room @ The Sierra Nevada
Thu 8/8 Park City, UT – Newpark Town Center
Fri 8/9 Denver, CO – Oriental Theatre
Sat 8/10 Alta, WY – Targhee Bluegrass Fest at Grand Targhee
Sat 8/31 Friendsville, PA – The Choconut Inn
Tue 9/3 Bijou Theater – Knoxville, TN
Sat 9/14 Floyd VA – Chateau Mossisette
Sun 9/15 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head Tavern
Sat-Sun 10/19-20 Live Oak, FL – MagnoliaFest

For more information, please visit www.donnathebuffalo.com and facebook.com/donnathebuffalo

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Donna the Buffalo Set To Unveil First Studio Album in Five Years, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, On June 18

Donna the Buffalo Set To Unveil First Studio Album in Five Years,

Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, On June 18

More energized and focused than ever before in their near 25-year career, roots-music troubadours Donna the Buffalo will debut their first studio album in five years, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, on June 18 via Sugar Hill Records.

The follow up to 2008’s acclaimed Silverlined, which reached the Top 10 on the Americana charts, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday—the group’s 10^th studio album—proves the band as a consistent steward of Americana music, their signature sound—traditional mountain music infused with elements of Cajun, rock, folk, reggae and country—an eclectic and extraordinary melting pot of such.

In creating the new album, founding members and songwriter-vocalists Jeb Puryear (vocals, guitar) and Tara Nevins (vocals, guitar, fiddle, accordion, scrubboard)—joined by band members David McCracken (Hammond organ, clavinet), Kyle Spark (bass) and Mark Raudabaugh (drums)—convened in a rustic church in Enfield, New York, along with co-producer and fellow upstate New Yorker, Robert Hunter (Branford Marsalis). The building overflowed with vibe, and the music poured out as the group recorded take after live take to old-school analog tape, with as few overdubs as possible. What resulted are the 14 organic and authentic tracks that make up Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday.

“We tried to do the record and keep in tact the things people love about us,” says Puryear. “We’re really excited to start sharing Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday,” adds Nevins, “because making this record was a very personal process that was also a lot of fun.”

The album will be worked at Americana and AAA radio this spring and summer, with the emphasis track being “I See How You Are,” a tune penned by Nevins. In addition, the band will be touring heavily throughout the remainder of the year to promote Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday. Festival dates include MerleFest, The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, Nashville’s Dancin’ In the District, Strangecreek Music Festival, Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival, The Great Blue Heron Festival, Red Ants Pants Festival, Targhee Bluegrass Fest, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival and MagnoliaFest, among many others. The most up-to-date touring information can be found here.

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Track listing for Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday:

1. All Aboard

2. Don’t Know What We’ve Got

3. Working On That

4. I Love My Tribe

5. Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday

6. One Day At A Time

7. Love Time

8. No Reason Why

9. I See How You Are

10. I Can Fly

11. Ms. Parsley

12. Why You Wanna Leave Me

13. Real Love

14. Spinning World

*************

About Donna the Buffalo

Closing in on the quarter-century mark, Donna the Buffalo has developed one of most respected ‘brands’ in the world of touring roots acts, along with a well-deserved reputation for crafting social narratives and danceable grooves without equal. With nine studio albums under their belt, the band has been praised as having “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today” (Encore).

Led by founding members and songwriter-vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins, Donna the Buffalo marries musical trailblazing and tradition, their music running the gamut of what is defined as “roots music.” Throughout it’s career the band has traveled millions of miles and spent nearly a quarter of a century performing at the country’s most prestigious festivals and clubs.

Their fervent fan base, nicknamed The Herd, follows the band with zeal and has created a unique and supportive community online and at DTB shows across the nation. As an extension of this community and the band’s own dedication to live roots music, Donna the Buffalo started its own annual event—The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance—20 years ago in upstate New York, which draws more than 15,000 people every year, and have since added to the GrassRoots festival family with Shakori Hills in NC and the Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival in Florida. On June 18, 2013, the band will release its 10^th studio album, Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, via Sugar Hill Records.

www.donnathebuffalo.com

Cover Photograph by Matthew Coburn Photography: http://www.weshotyou.com/

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Smilefest New Artists Announcement! Jeb and Tara Duo added!

The Reunion: 2011

Mountain Roots Management is proud to bring another Smilefest Reunion to the musical family of Smilefest supporters past and present. The 2011 event promises to be something special!  Smilefest Reunion 2011 is scheduled to take place June 3-5, 2011 at Jomeokee Campground in Pinnacle, NC.

This private, invitation only event offers 2 stages, acoustic late night jams, VIP packages, RV and Vehicle Camping passes, and capped ticket sales at 1499 patrons. Smilefest Reunion 2011 promises to be a treat to all the Smile Folk that attend, guaranteeing an intimate experience between patrons, artists and festival.  Nestled below Pilot Mountain, the 100 acre plot has plenty of covered and open camping, rolling hills, scenic mountains and a near perfect amphitheatre which hosts the side-by-side stages.

Photo by John D Kurc

Smilefest is very excited to announce their 2nd and final round of Artist Additions to the Smilefest Reunion 2011. With so much amazing music rooted in the history of this event, a lot of hard work has gone into bringing the utmost in talent old and new.

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Smilefest is very excited to have added to our Sunday closing a special duo set from Jeb and Tara (of Donna and the Buffalo). Others performing over the weekend include: Railroad Earth, JJ Grey and Mofro, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Danny Barnes and more!

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Tara Nevins and Jeb Puryear, of Donna the Buffalo, have crafted a feel-good, groove-oriented, danceable and often socially conscious music all began over twenty years ago with roots in old time fiddle music that has evolved into a soulful electric Americana mix infused with elements of cajun/ zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country. As a band, Donna the Buffalo is known for touring the country while remaining fiercely independent as one of the industry’s most diverse roots-music bands and Encore states they have “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today.”

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The dynamic songwriting tandem of Americana Roots vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins have penned over 150 songs in their collaboration with DTB and have many more in the making. Their set at Smilefest is a special duo set which is always enjoyable for their fans to hear their favorite DtB songs in stripped down arrangements.

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This May, Nevins is also releasing a 2nd solo album Wood and Stone which showcases her ever-evolving repertoire as she journeys both back to her own “roots” and head-long into new territory. The album was produced by Larry Campbell with guests including Levon Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Allison Moorer, Teresa Williams and more and will be put out through Sugar Hill Records. In 2008, Puryear released a solo album, Hopes and Dreams, through GrassRoots Festival Records. Donna the Buffalo’s 2008 release Silverlined, on Sugar Hill Records, rose to #8 on the Americana Music Chart and the full band is in studio this spring working on their next album with John Keane in Athens, GA.

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Other Smilefest Artist Additions include:

BIG DADDY BLUEGRASS BAND, RALPH RODDENBERRY (Late Night Pickin’ Set), BIG SOMETHING, BOBBY MILLER and the VIRGINIA DAREDEVILS (Late Night Pickin’ Set), DUK TAN, FROM A SEED, and MATT NICHOLS

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For the full Smilefest Reunion 2011 Artist Lineup, go to http://www.smilefest.com/all-artists

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Have you Herd? Donna The Buffalo plays Colorado this April

Have you Herd? Donna The Buffalo plays Colorado

Thursday – Saturday: The Sandbar Vail (4-14), The Bluebird Theatre (4-15) and The Fox (4-16)

Whitewater Ramble and The Believers open the evenings

Photo by Jim Gavenus

Sandbar Vail ~ Thursday, April 14th
970-476-4314
2161 North Frontge Road
Vail, Co 81657

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Bluebird Theater ~ Friday, April 15th
(303) 377-1666
3317 E. Colfax Ave
Denver, CO 80206

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Fox Theatre ~ Saturday, April 16th
(303) 447-0095
1135 13th Street
Boulder, CO 80302

Photo by Richard Allen

Donna the Buffalo’s feel-good, groove-oriented, danceable and often socially conscious music all began over twenty years ago with roots in old time fiddle music that evolved into a soulful electric Americana mix infused with elements of cajun/ zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country. Donna the Buffalo is known for touring the country remaining fiercely independent as one of the industry’s most diverse roots-music bands and has “earned a reputation as one of the most respected, eclectic and hardest-working acts today,” praises Encore.

The dynamic songwriting tandem of vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins have penned over 150 songs in their collaboration with DTB and have many more in the making. Although never writing a set list for live show, the Erie Times notes, “they stick to a pattern…usually alternating between Puryear’s rhythmic, Dylan-influenced, guitar-centered songs and Nevins’ breezy, melodic, accordion-driven gems like the folksy Tides of Time and infectious Locket and Key.” As of late, Nevins and Puryear have also been known to perform as a duo on air and at live shows, which is always enjoyable to the fans to hear their favorite DtB songs in stripped down arrangments. The band’s 2008 release Silverlined, on Sugar Hill Records, rose to #8 on the Americana Music Chart and they are heading in studio this spring to work on their 10th album with the current band lineup of Puryear on guitar, Nevins on fiddle, guitar, accordion, and scrubboard, keyboardist Dave McCracken, bassist Kyle Spark, and drummer Vic Stafford.

Nevins & Larry Cambell. Photo by John D Kurc.

Co-DtB bandleader and American roots traditionalist, Tara Nevins, releases an exploration of her own heritage, musical and otherwise, in Wood and Stone, her first solo album since Mule to Ride in 1999 on Sugar Hill Records. Wood and Stone showcases her ever-evolving repertoire as she journeys both back to her own “roots” and head-long into new territory. Set for a May 3, 2011 release date, the album was produced by Larry Campbell with guests including Levon Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Allison Moorer, Teresa Williams and more.

Donna the Buffalo’s fervent fan base, self-named The Herd, follows the band with zeal and has created a unique and supportive community online and at DTB shows across the nation. Puryear declares, “The main thing I like to say about The Herd is that you don’t have to do anything to be a member. You just have to like a song.” In an interview with The Roanoke Times, Nevins conveys, “It’s a great feeling to promote such a feeling of community, like you’re really part of something that’s happening, like a movement or a positive force…All those people that come and follow you and you recognize them and you become friends with them — you’re all moving along for the same purpose. It is powerful. It’s very powerful, actually.” When asked in an interview with the Weekender in PA what new people should look forward to experiencing at a show, Nevins replied “a really friendly, comfortable crowd, and a real community-oriented, positive experience.”

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The Believers

THE BELIEVERS have a serious love for old school country music. They can’t help it if they were raised on punk rock & metal. Founding members Craig Aspen & Cyd Frazzini formed THE BELIEVERS ten years ago in Seattle amid the Alt. Country- No Depression boom of that time and have been recording and performing ever since. Three albums and a decade later they’ve stayed true to their Country/ Rock /Soul sound that has earned them praise from contemporaries like Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale and the BBC Radio’s Bob Harris who declared them simply, “Brilliant.”

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Self-described as “High-Octane Rocky Mountain DanceGrass”, WhiteWater Ramble uses a simple recipe to craft it’s sound – bluegrass instrumentation, add drums, and a boundary-less approach to grassing-up everything from disco house grooves to roots Americana. The Colorado-bred quintet combines the elements of Mandolin, Fiddle, Acoustic Guitar, Upright Bass, Drums and Vocals to explore the musical boundaries of multiple genres to fuel their own mixture of original music and innovative cover song interpretations. Whether playing an intimate encore, acoustic and unplugged in the crowd, or surfing on top of the upright bass, WhiteWater Ramble delivers a powerful and memorable live performance.

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Weekend Roundup for Donna the Buffalo: Albany, Rochester & White River Junction, VT

Donna the Buffalo has a host of shows this weekend with the Roy Jay Band opening. They started off to a sold out crowd at the Waterhole in Saranac Lake last night as part of day 6 of Winter Carnival. Tonight (Thursday, Feb 10th) they head over to Albany, NY for a show at Jillian’s.

Friday nite will be a special one for sure at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY! Author Peter Conners  and  filmographer Denver Miller will be interviewing & filming the band as well as The Herd for a book & documentary project entitled JAMerica [Click to read more about it]. This is definitely a show to be at if you are anywhere near the area! However, do not fret if you can’t make it out; the folks over at Have You Herd are doing a live Herdcast from the show with a chat room, video and audio. You can watch and listen here:  http://webcast.haveyouherd.com/index11.cfm. Rochester City News put together a little blurb about the show here.

On Saturday, DtB travels up to White River Junction, VT to play the Tupelo Music Hall. There’s been a lot of buzz about the shows. Below are a couple of archives of articles for the weekend. One is an interview with Tara Nevins, the other is an interview with Jeb Puryear!

Twenty years later, Donna the Buffalo still roamin’

Founder Tara Nevins talks about making a career out of music, recording with Levon Helm and keeping thing creative ahead of Saturday performance at Tupelo Music Hall

By Brent Hallenbeck, Free Press Staff Writer •  www.burlingtonfreepress.com

Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins. Photo by John D Kurc

The origins of Donna the Buffalo are pretty simple, really: Founders Tara Nevins and Jeb Puryear started with impromptu sessions of old-time fiddle music in Ithaca, N.Y., which led to the two of them writing songs and eventually setting their acoustic instruments aside for a more electric sound. The band’s traditional/Americana/Cajun/rock/country mash-up was born.

The two founders, however, had no idea that they’d still be doing this more than 20 years later.

“It was really fun and exciting starting this new musical journey,” Nevins said during a tour stop in Nashville. “We didn’t think about what’s this going to be about, if it’s a career.”

It’s a career now, one that has earned the band enough of a following for its devoted fans to carry their own collective name (“The Herd”) and for Donna the Buffalo to keep its decades-long road show going. The band’s next Vermont stop comes Saturday, when they play the Tupelo Music Hall in White River Junction.

All that time together doesn’t mean Nevins is willing to stand pat. The vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who with Puryear writes most of Donna the Buffalo’s songs is releasing a solo album on her band’s label, Nashville-based Sugar Hill Records, in April. She recorded the album at the rural New York studio of Levon Helm, who as drummer and vocalist for The Band helped to create the organic hybrid of country, folk and rock that Donna the Buffalo carries on.

Helm played on two cuts on the album, according to Nevins. “I had to pinch myself a little bit,” she said. “But really, honestly, when you get in that situation you feel like, ‘Oh, wow,’ but once you start playing music together and hang out with Levon a little bit, he’s such a beautiful man, everything just feels normal. We’re all artists making art. He’s an incredibly gracious person. He’s probably one of the most soulful musicians I’ve ever heard or played with. He’s from the heart.”

. . .   . . .    . . .
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110210/ENT/110209030/Twenty-years-later-Donna-the-Buffalo-still-roamin

And here is another article for the archives:

Partying with the Herd

By Warren Johnston — Valley News www.vnews.com

. . .   . . .    . . .

Photo of Jeb Puryear by Jim Gavenus

The popular Trumansburg, N.Y., band has been around since 1989, made its initial mark at festivals and built a strong, loyal following known as the “Herd.”

“We’re still excited about the festivals, and playing festivals is a lot of what we do,” said Jeb Puryear. He and Tara Nevins are the remaining founding members of the band. “We’re lifers.”

The two write most of the songs the band plays and most of the tunes on the group’s nine albums.

“I grew up going to festivals and listening to old-time music, and when I met Tara, she had the same love of the (old-time) music. That’s what we started playing (at festivals), and other people seem to enjoy what we play. We really consider ourselves fortunate,” Puryear said.

On the rare occasions when Donna the Buffalo isn’t playing original songs, they’ll perform arrangements of cover songs, such as a reggae version of the bluegrass tune A Man of Constant Sorrow. Puryear, who plays electric guitar and pedal steel and sings, and Nevins, who sings and plays acoustic guitar, washboard, accordion and fiddle, write all of the songs for the band. Their tunes range from country, bluegrass and folk to funk and Zydeco, and all have a foot-stomping beat.

In addition to Puryear and Nevins, the band includes Vic Stafford on drums, David McCracken on electric keyboard and organ, and Kyle Spark on electric bass.

Donna the Buffalo’s last studio album, Silverlined, features songs that are more electrified and have a greater keyboard presence than the songs on earlier CDs. Puryear said there hasn’t been a conscious effort to change styles, but “I guess we’ve progressed. If we could step back and look at it, we probably have. It’s hard to tell when you’re in it every day.”

This spring the band will go back into the studio to work on a new album, he said.

Puryear is not quite sure who came up with the name of the band, which was a mispronunciation of the group’s original name. “We were just getting going, and somebody came up with the name Dawn of the Buffalo, which sort of had the imagery of believing in the power of music or something. When we started playing, somebody mispronounced it as Donna the Buffalo. We thought it was pretty funny and started playing under that name.”

. . .    . . .    . . .

“A lot of our shows follow a similar trend. We try to get the music going, and then it spreads through the crowd; and the show becomes one piece, then it’s party time where everybody gets into it and comes together. The crowd comes to hear the band, but the band goes to the gig for the same reason. Without the band and the music, there’s no show, but without the crowd getting into the music, there’s no show,” Puryear said.

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READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.vnews.com/02032011/7610310.htm

Vic Stafford & Kyle Spark. Photo by Lewis Tezak Jr.

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Archive:Donna the Buffalo thunders into Asheville’s Orange Peel

Carol Rifkin from the Asheville Citizen times/ Take Five posted this nice preview of Donna the Buffalo for their Orange Peel show on Saturday Jan 29th:

Donna the Buffalo thunders into Asheville’s Orange Peel

by Carol Rifkin

ASHEVILLE – “Have you herd?” Fans of folk-rock band Donna the Buffalo know that phrase means their favorite group is headed to town.

Led by founding members Tara Nevins and Jeb Puryear, Donna the Buffalo has its own brand of socially conscious songwriting and an eclectic instrumental groove that resonates through infectiously danceable music… … …

“We’ve been together 21 years now, a long time,” Nevins said. Even though 11 members have passed through the group over the years, the musical groove, vision and sound have remained consistent and true to the band’s roots.

“Absolutely, I guess that is because Jeb and I are key members and we write all the songs for the band,” Nevins said.

“Jeb and I are so excited because we just love our new band,” Nevins said. “With Vic Stafford on drums, Kyle Spark on bass and Dave McCracken on keyboard, well, they are such great guys and such great musicians that we are having so much fun playing.”

Stafford and Spark both attended Berklee College of Music, played in a college band together and went on to play with Blueground Undergrass before joining Donna the Buffalo.

“It makes for a great rhythm section,” Nevins said.

“The new band formation is really able to put the songs across well and play the songs well. We are riding a high on that right now, and we feel like the songs are coming across in a way that is just really good music,” Nevins said.

The songwriting team of Nevins and Puryear has written more than 140 songs together over the years. The band’s 2008 release, “Silverlined,” on Sugar Hill Records, was its sixth studio release and rose to No. 8 on the Americana music charts.

Nevins’ catchy song “Locket and Key” was a hit on radio.

“At different times in your life different things happen to you,” said Nevins, talking about her songwriting style. “I definitely write songs that come out of experience. I’m better at that than trying to pick a topic.

“Definitely, on ‘Silverlined,’ that has ‘Locket and Key’ on it, that was true. There are a lot of very personal songs on that CD. I had experienced some pretty intense heartbreak, and it comes through,” she said.

Their songwriting skills have evolved and grown over the years.

“If I have something to say, I’m pretty good at it,” she said with a laugh.

In late February the group will head to Nashville and record its next CD on the Sugar Hill label, and it will include a lot of guest artists. Nevins is waiting for the April release of her second solo CD, “Wood and Stone,” on Sugar Hill.

“It’s produced by Larry Campbell, and we recorded it at Levon Helms studio up in Woodstock, N.Y.,” Nevins said.

All but two of the songs on “Wood and Stone” were written by Nevins. The band will play a couple of Nevins’ new tunes at The Orange Peel concert along with its other feel-good crowd favorites.

. . .    . . .    . . .

Carol Rifkin writes about bluegrass and traditional music for take5. E-mail her atCMRifkin@gmail.com.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://m.citizentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110128/ENT/301280006/-1/pda

 

 

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Donna the Buffalo Heads Through Nashville, Greensboro & Asheville

Donna the Buffalo is on for a great weekend heading through Nashville, Greensboro, and Asheville. There are lots of great interviews for the shows which are posted below. Co-band leader, Tara Nevins, kicked of the day yesterday with a solo studio session on the Lightning  100 with Lt Dan. Then the band went over to the Loveless Barn for a Music City Roots performance with other amazing artist including  Catie Curtis, The Cleverlys, The Black Lillies, and Rayland Baxter. Check out some wonderful pics from the night here.

DtB will be playing on Cannery Street tonight in Nashville at the Mercy Lounge with the Roy Jay Band, who is on the road with DtB for several shows this winter. Here’s a nice writeup in the Nashville Scene by Edd Hurt about the show:

Photo by Jim Gavenus

Folkies with a superior sense of rhythm are rare enough, but folkies with a good beat and a healthy disrespect for eclectic clichés are a national treasure. Hailing from the metropolis of Trumansburg, N.Y., Donna the Buffalo began playing their mixture of country, soul, zydeco and folk 20 years ago, and they’ve never sounded better. On their 2008 full-length Silverlined, songwriters Tara Nevins and Jeb Puryear came up with such great songs as “Biggie K,” which may be the finest tune ever written about childbirth: “Though her stomach’s stretched and pulled / She’s never been more beautiful.” The quintet’s easy way with American roots music suggests a fusion of Brinsley Schwarz and The Holy Modal Rounders, and they make music that’s beautiful but never prettified. They say they have a couple of projects in the works, including a full-band effort and a solo record by Nevins.  Read the original post at nashvillescene.com.

On Friday, January 28th, they head on over to Greensboro, NC to play at the new Blind Tiger. David McCracken, DtB’s B3 Hammond player, grew up in Greensboro and did this great interview with Eddie Huffman from GoTriad.com:

photo by Jim Gavenus

From the moment Greensboro native Dave McCracken first saw Donna the Buffalo play live, at MerleFest in 1997, he knew he belonged in the band.

“I watched them for the first time, and I remember I saw them move the organ across the stage,” McCracken says, speaking by phone from his mother’s house in Liberty. “I said out loud, ‘Man, that should be me.’ Ten years later — 10 years later! — it’s me. I swear, I don’t even know how that happened. I just knew it should be me for some reason.”

. . .    . . .    . . .

Donna the Buffalo formed in 1989 in upstate New York but has made many N.C. connections in the years since — McCracken and North Wilkesboro’s MerleFest among them. The group signed with Sugar Hill Records, a fixture in Durham for more than two decades before the label moved its offices to Nashville, and the members of Donna the Buffalo founded the twice-yearly Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in rural Chatham County, now entering its eighth year.

. . .    . . .    . . .

Jam band fans already knew McCracken via Folkswaggin’, which started in Greensboro in 1994 and played at the Blind Tiger regularly.

“I really cut my teeth in that place,” he says. “That’s where I learned how to play keyboards. I’ve been playing there since ’97. I’ve gone through a lot of things in that place, and it means a lot to me. I’m looking forward to playing there again. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there.”

In recent years, McCracken has played at the Blind Tiger with Q-Bex, a version of the band Hobex which includes acclaimed drummer Jeff Sipe.

McCracken did a stint in Hobex about 10 years ago, and he played in a metal band called Perpetual Iniquity in Greensboro as a teenager in the late 1980s. But his musical ambitions go all the way back to his early childhood in the 1970s.

“Playing music for a living was seriously a dream I had when I was, like, 3,” McCracken says. “You know how Facebook reunites people so much? I reunited with somebody who was my friend until I was 5. He was like, ‘Wow, you’re playing music for a living.’ He said it wasn’t surprising at all because all I talked about back then was how I wanted to do it.”

. . .    . . .    . . .

Read the full article at gotriad.news-record.com

Tara Nevins also interviewed for the Blind Tiger show. She spoke with Laura Graff from the Winston-Salem Journal. Here is a bit of the article:

Photo by Lewis Tezak Jr

Donna the Buffalo’s music belongs on the festival circuit — it’s an engaging mix of roots, bluegrass, reggae, country and New Orleans-inspired zydeco. . .

. . .     . . .    . . .

“We just come from a base of traditional music,” said Tara Nevins, one of the band’s original members. Nevins formed the band with Jeb Puryear, and both play old-time fiddle.

“Over the years of playing fiddle music, we discovered other traditional music,” Nevins said. “We don’t do it on purpose, it’s just that we have a lot of music that we’ve been involved in over the years and that we love.”

Nevins, who started out playing the fiddle, bought an accordion about 20 years ago.

“That gave us a Louisiana flavor to our songs,” she said. “We just have a lot of musical influences, because of some of the different instruments we play, those flavors come out in our music.”

. . .    . . .    . . .

Nevins just finished work on a solo album, “Wood and Stone,” which will be released on Sugar Hill in April.”Wood and Stone” is her second solo album. The last, “Mule to Ride,” showcased the fiddle and was, Nevins said, more “old-time bluegrass.” This new album, she said, showcases her songwriting.

“I’ve written pretty much everything on the record,” Nevins said. “It’s not all about the fiddle the way the first one was.”

She said the band is planning to return to the studio in late February to work on a new album.

“It’s going to be a collaboration,” Nevins said. “We’re inviting other artists that we’ve played at with festivals over the years — artists we admire.”

Read the full article at www2.journalnow.com

On Saturday, the band jumps on the bus over to Asheville to play the Orange Peel. The Mountain Xpress wrote a nice little blurb about the show and some of DtB’s Asheville connections:

Kyle Spark. Photo by Lewis Tezak Jr.

For years, upstate N.Y.-based, self-desribed “Cajun/ zydeco, rock, folk, reggae and country” band Donna the Buffalo has long had an Asheville connection through it’s bassist. First it was Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses) then Jay Sanders (Acoustic Syndicate). Now DTB has Massachusetts bassist Kyle Spark but the group (who has toured for 21 years) still makes its semi-annual trek South (DTB is likely to pop up at regional warm-weather festivals). . .

Read the original post at: mountainx.com

Great weekend in store. We hope to see lots of the Herd around for these SouthEast shows!

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Donna the Buffalo brings the Herd to Nashville at Music City Roots 1/26 & Mercy Lounge 1/27 : New DtB Album in the Works; Nevins’ Solo Album Release in April

Donna the Buffalo is bringing the Herd back to Nashville with two performances! DtB plays Music City Roots on Jan 26th and Mercy Lounge with The Roy Jay Band on Thursday, January 27th, 2011. The Music City Roots Lineup for January 26th includes Catie Curtis, The Cleverlys, The Black Lillies, Donna The Buffalo, Rayland Baxter, with Host: Jim Lauderdale.

DtB is also excited to announce are going to be spending more time in Nashville working on a new Donna the Buffalo album starting in late February!  Tara Nevins’ solo album is is due out this April! More details below.

____________________________________________________________________

Photo by Jim Gavenus

Show Details at a Glance:
Music City Roots
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011
Loveless Barn
8400 Tennessee 100
Nashville, TN 37221 
– All Ages Show –

$10, Doors open at 6:00PM. Seating is first come, first served.

http://www.musiccityroots.com/tickets

-AND–

Donna The Buffalo & The Roy Jay Band
Mercy Lounge
Thursday, January 27, 2011
doors 8pm, $15, 18+
(615) 251-3020
1 Cannery Row
Nashville, TN 37203
www.mercylounge.com

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Here’s a Nice video of DtB on Music City Roots in 2009:

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Donna the Buffalo is excited to announce that they are heading in to the studio this February in Nashville for their next album to be produced by Sugar Hill Records.

DtB had successful 2008 release of “Silverlined“, which rose to #8 on the Americana Music Chart and also marked their 20th year as a band.

In an interview with Tad Dickens(Roanoke Times reporter), Nevins described the album:

Donna is preparing to record a new album in the next couple of months. It will be the band’s “greatest guests record,” Nevins said. The idea sprang from the band’s annual closing set at the festival it helped create, Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, held in Trumansburg, N.Y. The band likes to bring up whatever musicians are still around by the time the festival is winding down.

“We’ve formed so many great relationships like that over the years, and we also have our musicians that we’ve always loved to play with or collaborate with but haven’t yet,” said Nevins.

______________________________________________________________________________

Other exciting news is that multi-instrumentalist and DtB’s co-band leader, Tara Nevins, has a new album set for an April release by Sugar Hill Records.

Produced in Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock by 2 time Grammy award-winner Larry Campbell who also be performs on the album.  Nevins penned 90% of the material and sings on all of the songs.

In a recent interview with Scott Preston (Cincy Groove) Nevins describes the players on the album:

The nucleus of the band was Larry Campbell, Byron Issacs, who plays bass in Levon’s band, Justin Glip who is the engineer at the studio played drums on quite a few tracks. I was also very fortunate to get to have Levon Helm play drums on 2 songs. I overdubbed some fiddle, accordion, tambourine, and Larry played pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, electric guitar, bass. We also had Teresa Williams and Amy Helm (Levon’s daughter) do some vocals, they both also sing in Levon’s band. Allison Moore came in to sing on a song as well. I played in an all female string band, called The Heartbeats. So I had those gals come in and we ripped out a couple tunes.

Check out this fan video from Shakori Hills performing one of her new songs, Snowbird.

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Archive: Interview with Tara Nevins of Donna the Buffalo in the Roanoke Times

Tad Dickens did a GREAT interview with Tara Nevins to help promote their show coming up Thursday, Jan 20th at Awful Arthurs in Roanoke. Be sure to clikc the link to listen to a wonderful 30 minute podcast interview with Nevins. Here are some excerepts of the written piece:

Donna The Buffalo has loyal Herd of fans

Donna The Buffalo hits the stage Thursday at Awful Arthur’s at Towers in Roanoke.

By Tad Dickens | The Roanoke Times

Donna the Buffalo

When Donna The Buffalo takes the stage, folks from all over show up to see and hear.

The American roots music band, which plays Awful Arthur’s at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke on Thursday, just wrapped up a run of shows through Florida. When Donna The Buffalo singer and multi-instrumentalist Tara Nevins looked out at the crowd during a Jan. 5 set in Jacksonville, she saw people she recognized from shows all over the country. She said the band’s merchandise guy counted fans from 13 states, in addition to all the Jacksonville-area fans who showed up.

“It’s a great feeling to promote such a feeling of community, like you’re really part of something that’s happening, like a movement or a positive force,” said Nevins, who with guitarist/singer Jeb Puryear is the band’s creative core.

“All those people that come and follow you and you recognize them and you become friends with them — you’re all moving along for the same purpose. It is powerful. It’s very powerful, actually.”

Podcast With Tara Nevins of Donna The Buffalo

The Herd

Read the Herd conversation here.

New music

It’s been two and a half years since Donna The Buffalo released a record. That disc, “Silverlined,” was part of the band’s 20th anniversary celebration. The band played FloydFest just after the CD came out in July 2008.

Donna is preparing to record a new album in the next couple of months. It will be the band’s “greatest guests record,” Nevins said. The idea sprang from the band’s annual closing set at the festival it helped create, Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, held in Trumansburg, N.Y. The band likes to bring up whatever musicians are still around by the time the festival is winding down.

“We’ve formed so many great relationships like that over the years, and we also have our musicians that we’ve always loved to play with or collaborate with but haven’t yet,” said Nevins, who declined to identify the musical guests.

Nevins has also finished recording her own new album at Levon Helm Studios, in Woodstock, N.Y. Larry Campbell, seen at FloydFest performing with Helm, is the producer. Helm played drums on two cuts, Nevins said. She said she had a “wonderful experience” working with both musicians.

“It was awesome just to get to hang out with [Helm] and get to know him a little,” she said. “He’s a fantastic person and a soulful, soulful musician.”

And the circle grows.

 

 

 

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Donna the Buffalo plays the Tralf & the Oneonta Theatre this weekend!

Donna the Buffalo has a great weekend in store! This Friday, Nov 19th they play the Tralf in Buffalo and then on Saturday they head over to the Oneonta Theatre on Saturday 11/20 for a show with Sim Redmond Band!

Here are a few excerpts from articles for the weekend:

Have You Herd? : Donna the Buffalo Stampedes Tralf

By Erin McNeil

http://www.buffalorising.com/2010/11/have-you-herd-donna-the-buffalo-stampedes-tralf.html

DtB photo by Jim Gevenus

Originating in Trumansburg, NY in 1989, Donna the Buffalo rove the Midwest and Eastern seaboard as one of the few touring roots bands.  The Herd, their self-proclaimed fan base, loyally trails the band as they market their rather eclectic styling.  Eclectic may be an understatement for this ensemble, as their sound is a hybrid of mountain music pervaded with Cajun/zydeco, folk-rock, country-rock, Reggae, and bluegrass.

…

Donna the Buffalo has not only been successful with their nine album releases, with their latest, Silverlined in 2008, rising to the number eight spot on the Americana Music Chart, but they have made great contributes to the music and arts world.  Donna the Buffalo is the founder and host band of the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, NY.  Due to the sensation of this event, the group helped create the bi-annual Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival in Silk Hope, NC.  Avengers in the grassroots genre, Donna the Buffalo also headlines at the Great Blue Heron Music Festival in Sherman, NY and every fall, are a contributing band to the Magnolia Festival in Live Oaks, FL.  The group also made an appearance in Dave Sale and Bud Selig’s documentary, “On the Bus”.  Their diverse music will also be featured in surrealist artist Yanni Osmond and his partner Spanky the Women Tamer’s upcoming cartoon, “Living Evil”…

Donna the Buffalo is true to their home-grown roots, however, they incorporate a modern zest.  Their barefoot-in-the-grass, feel good, poetic music filters through the heart and soul and thus expands the mind.  Nevins and Puryear’s vocal capabilities are true to the folk art genre, painting a beautiful, spiritual image in the mind.  Their musicality and brilliant use of both traditional and nontraditional instrumentation brings to life the roots of music with the roots of mankind and nature.  It has the warmth of that freedom of driving down an open country road, wind blowing through your hair and fingers, sun gracing your face, fresh air filling your lungs and the sight of nature untainted.  Thus it is much like the phenomenon of ‘loud silence’.

They stay true to themselves, while they continue to evolve in their art.  Their music defines the idea that past meets present, and in turn, contributes to the future with spiritual, deep thought entertainment.  They provide amusement that manages to bring attention to and engage all your senses in response to their meaningful reflections to life and love.

Read the full post here.

and here is another one posted in Art Voice.

Featured Events: See You There! Donna the Buffalo

by Alan Victor

Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins. Photo by John D Kurc

Donna the Buffalo is not from the city of Buffalo, but the fan base here is so large you’d think they were. Maybe it’s the power of suggestion stemming from the name, but it’s more likely due to Western New York’s penchant for this kind of music—the socially conscious, grassroots jam band stuff that has made groups like .moe, Phish, and Donna so well-loved…

That was 20 or so years ago, and since then they’ve gathered a devoted following known as “the Herd.” Founding members of the Finger Lakes Grassroots Music Festival, Donna the Buffalo is also a co-headliner at the great Blue Heron every year as well as at many other weekend festivals through the midwest and all along the east coast…

Read more: http://artvoice.com/issues/v9n46/syt#ixzz15f4EuPoM

 

 

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