THE WHITE BUFFALO<\/p>\n
For The White Buffalo \u2013 aka singer \/ songwriter \/ guitarist Jake Smith, Oregon-born, Southern California-raised \u2013 it was time to take the less travelled path; to assemble notions for studio album Number 8, the follow-up to \u2018On The Widow\u2019s Walk\u2019 (Snakefarm, 2020), and embark on a voyage of discovery.<\/p>\n
Out with the old, the organic, the expected, the tried; in with the new \u2013 new producer, new studio, new location, no distractions, no looking back\u2026<\/p>\n
Enter \u2018Year Of The Dark Horse\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think we\u2019re a country band? A folk band? Americana? Rock? What the fuck are you gonna say now?!\u201d laughs Jake. \u201cWith this album, I wanted something outside of what I\u2019ve ever done. I wanted to open up. Do something dangerous. I\u2019m hard to put into a singular genre as it is, but now I really wanted to take away any kind of preconception or pigeon-holing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd don\u2019t ask me, cos I don\u2019t know what it is! It\u2019s a genre-bending thing \u2013 there\u2019s elements and influences from ELO, Daniel Lanois, Tom Waits, The Boss, circus, pirate music, yacht rock, and I\u2019m driving and pushing some of these numbers in a way I\u2019ve never done before.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the top of the pandemic, I put the acoustic guitar on its stand, got a synthesizer and began writing on it, not really knowing how to play keys, just exploring the different sounds and landscapes. In the not knowing, it allowed me to expand my vocal melodies and compositions in ways the guitar had possibly limited.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Jake, flanked by regular touring \/ recording compadres, bassist \/ keyboard player \/ guitarist Christopher Hoffee and drummer Matt Lynott, crossed the threshold of East Nashville\u2019s Neon Cross Studio, a converted Southern Baptist Church, he wasn\u2019t chapter an\u2019 verse prepared, as usual.<\/p>\n
The time before recording had been a crazy one, so there were a bunch of loose ends to be tied (\u201cI\u2019m a perpetual procrastinator\u201d \u2013 Jake), plus only three of the 12 songs had been completely written. Jake had maps in his head, but most were mere bones of compositions with only a few key lyrics penned. This allowed producer \/ studio owner Jay Joyce \u2013 plus trusted assistant, Jason Hall \u2013 the wiggle room to really get involved, to guide and explore new frontiers \u2026<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a Grammy Award-winning Producer of the Year (2018), has 4 CMA and 5 ACM Awards, and when it comes to making music, the Ohio native is never one to take the obvious route \u2013 perfect for an album featuring a dozen musical vignettes, individual yet constant in flow; an album loosely based around the shifting of the seasons and the shifting of a relationship; an album showing off the complete scope of Jake\u2019s song-writing craft, from the stripped back to the fully loaded\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE WHITE BUFFALO For The White Buffalo \u2013 aka singer \/ songwriter \/ guitarist Jake Smith, Oregon-born, Southern California-raised \u2013 it was time to take the less travelled path; to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":92108,"template":"","meta":{"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[],"class_list":["post-92106","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n