Killers to woodshed new album
By Ashlee Monroe
Campus Reporter
May 8, 2008
Psychedelic blues-rock trio the Buffalo Killers will make an appearance with Athens’ favorites Wheels on Fire and the Dragline Bros. Saturday night at the Union Bar and Grill.
The Cincinnati-based band headed out last Saturday to tour for its upcoming release, “Let it Ride” (Alive). The 10-track CD is the band’s second recording effort. The band has been reviewed in Variety, Amplifier, and the Hartford Courant. According to a Buffalo Killers’ press release, the band’s sound has been compared to Cream, The Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and Blue Cheer.
“This CD is definitely a lot more grown up,” said Zachary Gabbard, vocalist and bass player for the band. Gabbard said the band’s first release was rushed since BK had only been playing bars and hadn’t recorded anything when they were offered a record deal from Alive Records. Gabbard said the songs on “Let it Ride” are mostly about being on the road or away from home.
According to a Buffalo Killers press release, the first release of “Let it Ride” will be a vinyl version limited to 500 copies. It will include a bootlegged LP of the band playing at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles during the Black Crowes tour. A fan named Mikey Jones bootlegged the performance and later sent it to the band.
Even though the album is not due out until July 8, fans will not have to guess at what the Buffalo Killers’ new CD will sound like. Gabbard said the full set list for their upcoming shows comes from “Let it Ride.”
“If you want to hear any of our old stuff, you have to request it,” he said.
Gabbard said the Buffalo Killers have been together for about two years, but he said he has been coming to Athens to play music with different bands for about eight years. The Buffalo Killers are brothers Zachary and Andrew Gabbard, along with Joseph Sebaali. Andrew plays the guitar and does vocals, and Sebaali is on the drums.
Being approached by Alive Records is not the only stroke of luck the band has had in its short two years together. Chris Robinson of national act The Black Crowes hand-picked Buffalo Killers to go on a 30-day tour with his band.
“We definitely felt like we had to step it up and be a more professional band,” Gabbard said of his time with The Black Crowes. He said it was a different experience because Buffalo Killers played only in bar settings before going on tour with the Crowes.
“Instead of playing in bars, we were playing in amphitheaters to thousands of people,” Gabbard said. “It was definitely a different experience.”
He said he prefers playing in a bar setting because he gets to know the people he sees in the crowd. In bars like the Union, people who come to watch Buffalo Killers play are right next to the stage. He said he gets to know people by talking with them after the show. In an amphitheater setting, the contact is not as personal.
“The person closest to the stage might be 30 or 40 feet in front of you,” he explained. That won’t be the case at the Union, where fans can walk right up to the stage if they want. Catch the Buffalo Killers Saturday night at the Union, because the band will be long gone by Sunday on its way to Washington, D.C. to start their mini-tour with Akron’s The Black Keys.
Check out more about the Buffalo Killers at the band’s two Web sites, www.buffalokillers.com and www.myspace/buffalokillers.
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