Buffalo Killers

Buffalo Killers

A review by Moose

 

 

           Buffalo Killers are a homegrown rock 'n' roll band from right here in Ohio. Andrew Gabbard (vocals and guitar), his brother Zachary Gabbard (bass guitar), and drummer Joseph Sebaali make up this band that is heavy on the hooks but not lacking the rock. These three fine musicians came from a band called Thee Shams, and sometimes as most often bands do they broke up. But these three guys branched off regrouped and formed Buffalo Killers in October of 2006. Lucky for us they kept it going, because with their brand of classic rock it combines and old sound with a new taste.

 

 

        Andrew and Zach grew up with music all around them. A guitar playing father taught them how to play at an early age to the classic rock that their father was listening too. It was inevitable that they would form a band it was just a matter of when. As their father laid they ground work the boys got better and soon found themselves releasing their debut self-titled album as Buffalo Killers. Their father taught them and they soon found themselves getting help from an unlikely person, that being Chris Robinson the front man for The Black Crowes. Who heard their debut album and invited Buffalo Killers to open up for him on a string of tour dates in 2007. Then if that wasn't enough, their second album Let it Ride, was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. This kind of attention made the inevitable dream now reality, and they have been laying the rock down for a long while.

 

      Their latest album Heavy Reverie has brought this former power trio a new member. Sven Kahns now adds another guitar and a lap steel to make this band even more unique than it already was. According to Andrew with Sven joining them it now "frees them up"  they don't have to do so much. With the new album in tow, which according to Houstonpress.com in a recent interview with one of the Gabbards, he said it took all of "five days" to record the ten tracks, and in an era where some bands take months to release a follow up it is quite a pleasure to know that these fellas just went in there and rocked it, Buffalo Killers style. This being their fifth full-length album they were able to work with Jim Wirt who has worked with Incubus and Fiona Apple amongst many others. He helped them keep within their style, but also grow within their songs. These Buffalo Killers are establishing themselves with this new album as hard working musicians can go, and their hard work is paying off.

 

      The album has been completed and let the touring begin as these Buffalo Killers grace Cincinnati this Saturday April 12th at Motr Pub. The show will sure to be harkening back to those classic rock days, but with a Buffalo Killers touch. They bring the loud and if you are looking for somebody new to see, or just wanting to see these fine folks again head over to Motr and find out why Chris Robinson said "they're the best (expletive) rock 'n' roll bands in the world."

 

 





Shoot Out The Lights: Lets Get Lost

Shoot Out The Lights: Lets Get Lost

The new album

Review by: Moose

Shoot Out The Lights, or SOTL, is a rock and roll band formed here in Cincinnati, Ohio circa 2009. Josh Muddiman on raspy throaty vocals and guitar, Elaina “Laney” McCormick vocals and keys, Matt “Mook” McCormick lead guitar, Joshua Howard bass and vocals, and Alan Topolski on drums round out this band that at its simplest form is just rock and roll.  This is their second album which was self produced at All Nighter Studio by Tommy Capel.

    SOTL brings a soulfulness to their style of rock and roll whereas the listener you truly can just get lost. The melodies are crisp and clean via the keys and guitar tones. The vocals and lyrics well formed around those melodies, and through this album they bring their styles all too the forefront, and by rock and roll standards this album can hold it’s own. These fine folks in SOTL are bringing a refreshing style of rock and roll to Cincinnati. They bring you into their space. There place where they formulate and construct straight to the teeth rock songs.

    They all share in the  songwriting process. Something that Joshua Howard and Josh Muddiman both told me under a night sky about two months ago. Making this a shared experience in making music with everyone involved. Lightening the load and making this more like a family. While recording this album they wanted to switch it up a bit. Moving “Mook” over to lead guitar and Josh Howard over to bass. Was a move by their own account “that may have brought demise to other bands” opened the door for more “thunderous and melodic bass grooves and fiery guitar riffs.”  By doing this you can hear a band that is coming into their own. The growth of playing together is evident on this album.

    Now as for the album itself. I was graced with the pleasure of getting an advanced listen, and these folks stay true to their roots with the rock and roll, but also, have songs that stay true to the jazz, blues, and country roots of Cincinnati their hometown. I did find myself getting lost in these songs. Whether it was lyrically, the melodies, or just the combination of the two they melded their roots and styles into about an hour long of nine tracks that flow just like our river, or with the weather about to warm up an album great for taking on your road trip.

    Some may say rock is dead, but that is just a matter of perspective, and with SOTL this is definitely not the case. There brand of rock brings it home. They amp it up at the live show, and it quite simply is straight up rock and roll. They bring it back where it came from and are showing us where it can go. Rock and roll is many things, and can be many things, but SOTL has found their way of doing it. Has found within themselves how they can make it work, and it most certainly does.

    Their new album “Lets Get Lost” is releasing on March 14th with a release party at Northside Tavern here in Cincinnati, Ohio.  You can also find them at:

sotlmusic.com

facebook.com/sotlmusic1

twitter.com/shoot_lights

reverbnation.com/shootoutthelights

   

Ben Knight & David Faul

"The Apple Hill Sessions"

 

 

 

      Over the course of November and December of 2013 Ben Knight, from Ben Knight and the Welldiggers, and David Faul (formerly of Terminal Union and now with Josh Eagle and the Harvest City along with doing his own thing), got together and to work on some Travis style picking arrangements and songs. As the sessions were going well they decided to record a couple of these songs at David Faul's Apple Hill studio.

 

 

      Six songs made it onto this lovely EP. That however you listen to music, whether it be in your car just driving around or at home while lounging, resurrects a style that has been hidden in the underground. With Travis picking not being very much in the forefront, or in popular realms of music nowadays, these two gentlemen decided to pay homage to a style very much a part of them. And, for a moment introduce their fans and supporters to something a little different.

 

 

    With "Cannonbal Rag" as the opener to this EP, a song by Kennedy Jones, they lay the groundwork for the listener. The picking can take your mind back to a time that seems lost in this day and age. Hopping the rail with no penny to your name and seeing where this train will take you. "Homebody Blues" a song written by Ben Knight pretty much sums up how most people can feel sometimes. Just wanting to stay in and lounge around. "Deep River Blues" (Delmore Brothers), and "I'll See You In My Dreams" (Isham Jones) two songs that envoke a style that both Ben and Dave enjoy and wanted to share. "Apple Seed" closes out this fifteen minutes of chemisty between tow of the best songwriter's this city has to offer.  A Ben Knight and David Faul original. Won't say much else to this than if you see them pick up a copy for yourself. If you can't see them message David Faul at davidfaul@gmail.com for any orders.

 

 

    They came together out of a jam session and respect and love for each other, and at David Faul's Apple Hill Studio's messed around and layed some tracks down. Through that session of getting together realized they needed to get this EP out quick as Christmas was coming up. Luck for us they "clicked" and put this little gem together. The similarities of influence and style are right here within these fifteen minutes. Hopefully, in the future they would be kind enough to do something a little longer, but until then check out this EP. Go take a listen to Ben Knight and the Welldiggers at any of the numerous shows they have around town. As well as head on over to The Crow's Nest for David Faul's artist in residence there for the month of February. These two songwriter's and friends wanted to share the connection that music can bring, and here it is waiting to be heard.

 

 

 

 



 



chicago farmer: a mid west troubador

Chicago Farmer: A Mid West troubadour

A review/bio by: Moose Gronholm

 

 

                Chicago Farmer comes from a small town in Illinois and brings his folk songs via the interstate and state roads that he drives on to each and every show. These roads he travels have become a main source of inspiration and have taken him back to a young age, where at 17 Cody Diekhoff, better known as Chicago Farmer, got a guitar that his dad bought for him his first “real guitar” and gave his poetry a voice.   I’m reminded of something a folk singer from Chicago once said “there’s great poetry in this stuff,” that guy was Fred Holstein, and, this guy Chicago Farmer definitely has a way with words.

                Whether it is storytelling, spoken word, or just a good old sing-a-long Chicago Farmer brings his poetry from being an “outlet of emotion and creativity” too putting it in song. There is no shortage of tunes to choose from either. Over the course of about seven or eight years Cody has put out numerous recordings some six tracks long some fifteen tracks long. All encompassing  where he has come from, the small town or the big city, and “with great big stars in my eyes” from a song called Gunshots on Tuesday he embodies the travelling folk singer.  This song that I just mentioned also gives a good look into where he has come from and where he went and to a certain extent where he is now. Although a few years older now than when the song was written and recorded, but the feeling can still be the same.

                From a recent conversation I had with Cody I asked him what the songwriting process was like for him and he said “It definitely varies, sometimes they come raging through my head like a flood. Sometimes there’s definitely a drought. When that happens (the drought), I usually put the notebook away and just go for a long walk or drive and live life for a few days. When I get back, I usually have a lot of material. Sometimes the words come first, sometimes the melody and music. The other day I wrote a song in five minutes,  and now I’m trying to finish a song I started a few years ago.” Through this writing process you can hear the wheels on pavement or boots on the ground. Cody brings you along for the ride that he has been on since he was seventeen, and again there is no shortage of tunes choose from.

                Being a one man show makes for a great experience at a live show, and as the attendee you brought into the world of this singer songwriter from a small town in Southern Illinois. As one man show he feels it’s important for him to be unique and stand out from the other “guys with guitars.” He certainly does with his own material, a harmonica, a stomping foot, storytelling, spoken word, and sing-a-longs. You won’t see any “smoke or mirrors, props or effects” at a Chicago Farmer show, although from that recent conversation I had with him he did say “I do occasionally enjoy a good fog machine at my one man folks shows.” 

                For Cody (Chicago Farmer) the support of family has made the road easier to travel. From graduating high school and his mom and grandpa turning an old room in their basement into a music room , too his dad buying that first “real guitar,” but most importantly the support of his wife as well. “She travels to almost every show, makes the wheels go round, and encourages my dreams,” a quote from our recent conversation. If not for this support system Cody would probably still be in southern Illinois “breaking things with nothing better to do,” he told me.

                This mid west troubadour will be playing all over you can check him out at chicagofarmer.com, facebook, or pick up his new album “Backenforth, Il” on itunes. Cincinnati we are graced with him coming to our small town and playing the southgate house revival this Friday the 8^th along with Whiskey Bent Valley Boys and Buffalo Wabs and the Price Hill Hustle. With Chicago Farmer’s “one man show” he will bring you on the road with him if just for an hour or so. Through the foot stomping and sing-a-longs  songs from a time once forgotten but still alive and going strong.

those darlins

By: Moose Gronholm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHR1PcfVGSc

Blur the Line: Those Darlins gut Rock N Roll and Make it New Again.

Those Darlins are hitting the road with the release of their third album! Those Darlins formed in Nashville in a college town just outside of their hometown, Murfreesboro, TN. Their hometown had a pretty good music scene and through that scene they were able to meet, find similar interests and started playing together. Jessi had wanted to become a Veterinarian or a homeopathic healer, each great professions to get into, but lucky for us she found the guitar and these fine folks. In a way Those Darlins are healers as music can be therapeutic. Blur the Line is certainly proof of that.

Blur the Line melds the different styles that encapsulate them. Those Darlins are; Jessi on guitar and vocals, Nikki on guitar and vocals, Linwood on drums, and a newly added bassist Adrian Barrera who they met on tour a couple years ago. They bring their punk rock, soul, and straight up rock and roll influence to the forefront on this masterful album. They do not “blur the lines” they take the inside reaction from outside influences, which Jessi was kind of enough to tell me in a recent interview, and slap it on this thirteen song album.

This first track “Oh God” kicks it all off with a slow build into a rock and roll ending. Asking “Oh God what I have done?” As the album progresses they keep the punk and rock influence on this record driving, with songs such as “Optimist” and “Drive.” Towards the end of the album “Western Sky” has just an easy driving melody with the chant of “I don’t want to hear another civilized war, let’s make our own noise.” That could sum it all up, but as the album comes to a close with the last track “Ain’t Afraid”, the vocals get gritty and the wall of sound bleeds through the straight up rock n’ roll that has driven the album.

For these folks this album isn’t a coming of age, rather, this album brings the listener to where they are right now in their musical lives. Sure, growing up with Appalachian songs is at their core, but they have found their sound and they are running with it. The record was wrote over the course of two years and according to Jessi, “The goal was to write a new album, because we are musicians, and that is our job. We wanted to represent ourselves and where we were at as people. It’s kind of like therapy ya know? We’re all crazy people we need music to make something positive out of it.” This album definitely conveys that emotion and feeling. With the help of Roger Moutenot of Haptown Studios in Nashville, the producer of the album, who helped them pick out 14 tracks to focus on the album keeping that feeling alive and present. No looking back just moving and living in the moment.

On the wings of this third album, produced by Roger Moutenot and created by Those Darlins, hopefully the sky is merely the beginning. They will be taking this record and their live show across the US, and hopefully around the world. Those Darlins did something with this album Blur the Line... they hit the refresh button on rock n roll, they gutted it and made it new again. It was a refreshing listen to my ears. Cincinnati we have the honor of welcoming them back on Sunday October 20^th  at the Northside Tavern. I’d get your tickets soon!

Enter to win tics to the show HERE!

Those Darlins

w/ Gambles

Northside Tavern

Sunday October 20^th

9p Doors / 10p Show

Mutts

Mutts

By: Moose

                Mutts are a band based out of Chicago. They bring a style of blues, jazz, and rock through Mike Maimone tickling the keys, Bob Buckstaff on the doghouse (or Upright Bass), and Chris Pagnani on the skins or drums. These three fellas have come together to create not only music but art. A wall of sound to describe these guys can’t really do them justice. Mike’s gravely and sometimes growling vocals shape the stories and round out this distinct sound.

                These guys met through the big city of Chicago. Where music is plentiful and great shows happening all around town. Through an introduction from a recording engineer Jon Alvin Bob and Mike met. They played together in a band called Company of Thieves Bob was already in the band and Mike came along and was an instant fit. They were then on tour full time and at the first gig Bob ever played with Mike in Burbank a few days later while the band did interviews him and Mike went out for smokes. They walked and talked and got back to the hotel with a bottle of Johnny Walker Red, and Mutts was being born.

                They started the band as a side project on tour breaks, and had three EP’s within the first year all recorded by Jon Alvin who introduced them.  Soon after a longtime acquaintance of Bob’s Chris Pagnani had found himself without a band and fortunately enough Bob and Mike were looking for a drummer. From Bob’s own words “Dude was in. Dude was good.” Chris had nailed all the songs and within six months they had two full lengths recorded. Again from Bob “We got lucky. I got lucky.” Luck clearly sometimes plays a factor.

                Music for these guys is something that is in their blood. It ain’t all wine and roses life on the road can be hard, but the one factor the one thing that keeps them going is the music. The shared experience between the other players and the listener. Sure these guys could have quit music all together or not done it all, Mike was an auditor for an accounting firm which he went to college for and Chris could have just as easily picked a job and done the whole 9-5 to thing. Mike at the age of 24 though had a near-collision with a semi while coming home from work and thought, “I’m not gonna die and accountant.” Chris, not having that same experience but the sort of same thought, expressed to me that he is much happier having found music instead of picking a job and going through those motions. Not to say that is bad, but when you have a dream or a goal and in this case these fellas have their music how could they not go after it? The resounding feeling is we have to. They love what they do, and through their music you hear it. The release of sharing song and their art has paid them more than any job could.

                Mutts currently have a new album out called Object Permanence and they are out there doing what they love to do. Check em out on any of the social media networks or an even better justice to yourself go catch their live show. I’ll leave it up to them to explain the rest because my words are merely that, their music will sum it all up. 

Whispering Beard Folk Festival 2013

Whispering Beard Folk Festival 2013

By: Moose

                The drive from the West side of Cincinnati down Route 50 west to Friendship, Indiana (located between Versailles and Dillsboro, Indiana) was much needed this year. As I began to get closer to this sleepy little town nestled in a valley the sun’s rays peeked through overcast clouds and seemed to light up this place that would be home for the next five days. A smile came across my face as I knew that this year would again be better than the last.

                This gathering of bearded and non-bearded people for three days has the feeling of the coming of a New Year. It brings people together from different walks of the earth. Some known and some that are coming for the first time. They come for the music and the relaxation and from their own words: “this is a festival unlike any other.” It is kid friendly as well as you take a walk over to Vendor’s Row where all sorts of trinkets, clothing, and walking food are sold you come to an area named “Val’s Pals” or the “Lil’ Beardo Village.” Where you can have your kids face painted with a beard and where they keep busy with craft making. And for the first time this year the kids were graced with a little music adventure called “The Macaroni & Joe Show,” which the kids loved. Stop by and say hi to Val who puts a lot of effort into helping with the lil’ beardos get their “good vibes.”

                The “good vibes only” is sent through the grounds of the festival. The attendees keep smiles on their faces that don’t leave until it is time for them to go, and hopefully stay with them until the coming of next year’s festival. The music is the source of these “good vibes.” The music is what brings them together in relative peace and harmony. While the headliner may leave the stage the music does not stop. It will go until the early hours of the next morning. Whether it is at Zippy’s Edge or at just some person’s campsite the music truly does not stop.

                From day one as the venue area and campground are empty the feeling of this coming together begins to take shape. Whether in physical form with stages and signs or just the emotional feeling of being in the presence with good people with good hearts. The directors of the festival “Big” Dan Williams, Matt “Buffalo” Wabnitz, Matt “Katfish” Williams, Patrick Gronholm, and Adam “Mulekick Murray” O’neil bring this to us each year with hard work and their due diligence to make sure that this festival goes as smoothly as can be. The help of friends coming to the festival a couple days prior to the opening up of the festival has been present since the festival first started back in 2008 in Buffalo’s backyard. A few friends came down helped build a stage in a barn, or in Kentucky putting up perimeter and making signs and then doing the same thing in Friendship, but with each year making these little nuances better and more appealing to the eye.

                The director’s make it a point to not take too much credit. As they believe this is for the people that come every year, or new people that have never been. To make sure that you can get within what seems like an arm’s reach of the artists performing on the stage. This is for the people that come, not us is a sentiment echoed by the director’s. A community has arose from this that are aptly named “Beardos.” Their presence at the festival is apparent the moment you get to your campsite and are welcomed with a smile either at Zippy’s Edge, The Tye Dye Crew, The Dill Pickle Gang, or The Crow’s Nest West. This is for them, and everyone who attends, it is a chance to let your hair down for a few days and enjoy the music of our generation and generations past.

                The festival is more than just music for a few days. This isn’t other festivals where the bands simply play and then go on to the next show. No, this festival is about bringing the artists to the fans on stage and off. As Friday opens up, the first day of the festival, artists come rolling in along with the campers, vendors, and people that were planning to stay just for the day but soon decide “nah we have to stay the weekend.” The musicians as they file in, load in their gear, and then go to soak in the festival and see what is going on with the people and then soon find themselves among a community of Beardo’s that truly love music. I think, in my humblest of opinions, this is what “they” love about the festival. The chance to not only be a fan but also meet their fans or gain new ones and hang out with them and among them all weekend long. They will play by the bonfire till the wee hours of the morning for anyone who is listening and for anyone that wants to join in.

                The festival has been graced with the likes of Peter Rowan, Guy Clark, Todd Snider, Langhorne Slim, Pokey LaFarge, Jason Isbell, and last year Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Who hung around on Sunday well after his set was over and said he had never played a festival where he was able to hang out with the people that put it on. For a couple of hours I think everyone sitting around that picnic table couldn’t keep their mouths closed in disbelief that this man a folk legend was hanging out with us. Then there is this year where a lesser known fella Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton took that “hanging out” term to a whole new level. He showed up on Thursday evening and didn’t leave till Tuesday morning. When he got to the festival on Thursday he simply said I want to go wherever the music is, and aside from sleeping he searched out the music all weekend long.

                Something comes over people when they attend for the first time this sense of community takes charge I believe. That everyone in this place is all here for the music and to be good to each other. Music is the driving force of that. Music is a powerful thing when it is done right. It brings people together, and for a few days in Friendship, Indiana it can truly be a universal language. Some people that came this year might not have known anything about a lot of the artists that played, but then you take a look over at the “Murch Booth” and their albums are being bought. Or you take a look at the crowd and see how much they are truly feeling what is happening on stage, music is electric and it is universal.

                “Our” festival is about bringing people together for a few hours or a couple days to just sit down under and oak tree and smile away the hours as different bands play their style of folk music. The lineup that is created by Matt “Buffalo” Wabnitz is quite interesting. As he seems to find bands and acts that go well with each other. From Friday to Sunday it is almost like a mix tape, burned cd, or a playlist. And, don’t get up because in between bands it is only a five minute break a quick sound check and then we are off and running again. Through the music that sometimes feels from years ago but present. I like that dichotomy.

                “Our” festival through the five years that it has been happening has grown and keeps growing. The word of mouth seems to get louder. The people keep coming and keep supporting it. That is a testament to the directors whom once the festival is over and the vendors, campers, and artist have all left next year’s festival planning and brainstorming begins. While there may be no corporate sponsorship that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t welcome a partnership that still remains true to the heart of the festival. Word of mouth, radio ads, pre-shows, and write ups in the local area newspapers are what drive this festival and the people that come.

                The Whispering Beard Folk Festival is an experience one has to have. The good vibes, the community, and especially just being in a town called Friendship where you are welcomed as a friend at the general store and at the tavern is a place one needs to experience if only for a few days. Go say hi to the Stutler’s Judy and Scott who own and operate the General Store and see for yourself why this is the perfect setting to have a festival.

The festival happens at the same time every year the last weekend in August or the weekend before Labor Day, but the planning and brainstorming begin the day after. Check out whisperingbeard.com for more info about the festival, pick up a t-shirt, and register to become a beardo which is free. They are also on the facebook and you can follow them on the twitter-verse. Do yourself a favor and check out one of the best festival’s around.