UKNW SOUNDS : THE WHITE BUFFALO (USA)
Between unfathomable tradition and Celtic folklore, the friendly and earthy Country Music was born out of the wilds of the American West. Although described by some European critics as the music of “puritanical and White America”, it is actually a style which has several origins and intertwined influences like the African banjo, the Italian mandolin, the polka, the blues … you name it! Today, it is listened to and followed by millions worldwide. Not just for the line dancing, but also because of it’s friendly and popular dimension.
Of course we know that the alternative movement is never too far away, and those who want to dismantle and bodge about with this music indeed can. This is where Jake Smith ‘The White Buffalo’, an alternative country and renovating prodigy, comes on to the scene. His work can be first identified in TV series like Sons of Anarchy and Californication, which dive into their pure Americana roots. Appearing first in 2005 with his shiningly accurate EP, this outstanding songwriter gives us his broken and monotone voice that agrees perfectly with the constant vibration of his guitar (see Devil Is A Woman). From the start of the game, this prelude makes our mouths water and keeps us waiting for more to follow.
In 2009 and 2012 his LPs ‘Hogtied Revisited’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’ emerged and illuminated the alternative scene. With the confidence a taurine consumer, a rodeo lover or of an ex biker gang member, he sends us to waltz on the dirty ground with the titles The Madmen, How The West Won and The Pilot. Then with a sensitive and stunning beauty, he plants us into the middle of an intoxicating Legends of the Fall scene with the orchestral and melancholic tracks The Woods Ballad Of A Deadman, Oh Darling what have i done, and Wish It Was True.
Putting Mumford & Sons on an ejection seat, the prodigal son and innovator of country, challenges the rules and breaks our prejudices making us love this style of music which has too often not been taken seriously.
Julien Catala
