The White Buffalo Interview
From our writer, Julio Ayerbe, comes this short but fantastic interview with Jake Smith (The White Buffalo). We hope you enjoy it and become a White Buffalo fan just like us.
In early June I had the opportunity to watch The White Buffalo live in Solana Beach, CA. The show was excellent and I got to ask him a few questions afterwards. It was an amazing experience.
I suspect that as many others l heard of The White Buffalo through Sons of Anarchy. The song Sweet Hereafter was all I needed to become absolutely hooked on The White Buffalo. I am Colombian born and raised yet feel a very strong connection to his lyrics. There isn’t a readily apparent parallel in my life to the American west, tales of tortured relationships and war but they manage to connect with someone half a world away on a very sincere level.
Perhaps that is the genius of The White Buffalo. He sings with a sincerity that’s exceedingly rare to find. The best l can describe his enormous voice is as a blend between Eddie Vedder’s tone and Chris Cornell’s power. It is something you need to hear.
Here are a few questions I had the chance to ask:
JA: Did you ever expect for your music to cross over to different cultures like it has already?
WB: I never did, no.
JA: Who would you say are three of your most important musical influences?
WB: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt.
JA: How many songs you’d say you have writen over the years?
WB: Oh I don’t know, maybe over 100.
JA: What is the source of your lyrics? Many of them are dark. Where does that come from?
WB: It’s actually all from my imagination. I actually had a pretty nice upbringing. It’s all fantasy.
To me The White Buffalo, came across as humble, gracious and grounded guy which makes him that much more impressive as an artist.
All the concertgoers were thrilled to learn that they expect to release a new LP sometime in September. They performed two new songs at the show and they sounded fantastic! Now go on and get some music from this guy!
To learn more about The White Buffalo you can follow the links below:
website: http://www.thewhitebuffalo.com
youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhiteBuffaloMusic
twitter: https://twitter.com/blancobuffalo
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitebuffalomusic