Posts Tagged ‘jake smith’
Home of the brave and the free…
Maker Music caught up with Jake Smith from The White Buffalo for a segment of their One Take videos. This is Jake performing ‘Wish It Was True’ with a guitar, a couple of mikes and filmed in one long take.
Wish It Was True is such a gorgeous and and powerful song. This video captures the bitter ‘want to hit everyone but I’m so lost, hopeless and disillusioned that all I can do is put my head in my hands and weep’ feel of the song perfectly.
Wish It Was True is available on the album, Once Upon a Time in the West. You all can find Jake and the guys on Twitter as @blancobuffalo and also over on Facebook.
Check out more One Take videos from Maker Music on their You Tube channel.
- Kit
Really nothin’ left to say…
The White Buffalo - Sold out show at the Troubadour - April 26, 2012
- Kit
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Once Upon A Time In The West…
The ‘Bit is reading John Steinbeck for her English class so it seemed serendipitous to start my review of Once Upon a Time in the West, the new album from The White Buffalo (Jake Smith, Matt Lynott, Tommy Andrews) with a quote from another California storyteller:
We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say — and to feel — Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought…”
Jake Smith does this. Whether he is singing about growing up in California in BB Guns and Dirtbikes, or about the things many of us long to do over in Wish it Was True, his skill as a songwriter, as a storyteller, shines through. When he sings the words just pour out and I find myself remembering and feeling - yes, that is the way it was.
My favorites are The Pilot, which has become my go-to song for those bad days when I feel like “kickin ass and taking names”, Wish it Was True, full of grim regrets and broken promises, the honky tonk vibe of Good Ole Day to Die and the mournful One Lone Night:
I’m dreamin’ wide awake, sleepwalkin’ shake the dust out.
Got to give this heart a break, I can’t seem to slow the beats down…”
So beautiful, but with an edge that digs in and hurts. I don’t know how many of the stories that Jake tells are real but it doesn’t matter because they all -feel- real. He doesn’t just write songs; he weaves worlds. That’s music.
Bottom line – I love this album. Yes go buy it. Or listen to the tracks below, then go buy it.
Check out The White Buffalo website for concert info and videos. You can like The White Buffalo on Facebook or follow @blancobuffalo on Twitter.
Once Upon a Time in the West is set to release on Feb 28, 2012. You can also pre-order a copy from iTunes or Amazon.
- Kit Tweet
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Just to get my head right…
Suddenly my day is magically better…
-Kit
The Week in Music…Blogs – Jan 28 to Feb 3, 2012
Wesley Britton on BC*blogcritics reviewed Once Upon a Time in the West, the upcoming release by The White Buffalo.
In the final cut on the second album from Jake Smith, A.K.A. White Buffalo, the songwriter sings, “I am where the darkness falls and surrounds us all,” a place that he affirms is a “call to arms.” That track, “I Am the Light,” sums up what listeners might experience in this powerful collection of songs with lyrics describing pain, death, violence, loss, and survival…”
Josh Hathaway from Blinded by Sound reviewed Hellfire, the awesome new release from Joe Louis Walker
Christopher Anthony at Firenote takes on the Lana Del Rey hype machine and gives a very balanced review of her new release, Born to Die.
Born To Die is a not a throwaway as the first five tracks would make for a stellar EP as the songs possess a cool retro sounding swagger, confident attitude, pinch of pop and sultry vocals most expected from Lana Del Rey. This is where the album starts to fade…”
Brandon from The Burning Ear streamed an mp3 and video from Milk Famous, the upcoming release by the White Rabbits.
Autopysy IV from ninebullets.net reviewed A Different Kind of Truth, the new Van Halen in 140 characters or less.
Ninebullets.net also shared this Patterson Hood video.
Same line as last week. The above is only a fraction of the cool music blogs out there. If you have a review or article I missed drop me an email or toss your post addy in the comments section and I’ll add you to the roll.
Have a great weekend!
- Kit
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The Week in Music…Blogs – Jan 21 to Jan 27, 2012
Early last week Bryan Childs from ninebullets.net wrote a blog entry called Pimping Other People’s Podcasts. It was sort of a ‘we all love doing this, let’s help each other out’ thing.
So I decided to post links to some of the great music blogs and media I read this week, sort of like a week in music recap only with less Kurt Loder and more check out this band review.
And here we go:
Michael Barwise interviewed Dylan Williams of The Carpels.
The Carpels were finally able to get the video for their new single, ‘Bears‘ viewable in the US.
Rachel over on Adobe and Teardrops (such a cool blog name) reviewed The Creak and provided a link to download their free album Fool’s Gold.
Autopsy4 previewed a single off the new Arliss Nancy in a blog entry and then previewed another during the Thursday night ninebullets radio show.
Iaan Hughes waxed poetic about Harley Allen over on his blog, the Real Mr. Heartache.
Jake Smith filming in Death Valley
Jake Smith (The White Buffalo) was in Death Valley last week filming a video for his upcoming release, Once Upon a Time in the West and was nice enough to share this image from the shoot.
I ranted about integrity and responsibility in music journalism after reading some reviews of We Take Care of Our Own, the first track from Springsteen’s upcoming release, Wrecking Ball.
Damien interviewed Virgil Dickerson and previewed a track from the upcoming Arliss Nancy release, Simple Machines on his Mostly Harmless podcast.
Yes, yes I do have a ‘thing’ for Arliss Nancy. Why do people keep asking me that?
Finally, this is a very small sample of all the awesome music news posted this week. If you tossed up a music post or review on your blog this week you would like added to the list just drop me a note with your addy in the comment section and I’ll put your link up in the post.
Now go read the cool blogs. 
- Kit Tweet
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In the haze and the high…
I woke up this morning with a song playing in my head. This isn’t unusual for me as I often wake with music playing, either from the alarm 
or from some internal speaker. What is unusual is I have been waking to the same song for three or four days in a row.
What on earth have I become,
I can’t hide forever from, the light of day.
It’s not what I want,
It’s always too late…”
I have written before about singers that sound as though they have lost their love. In The Dark Side of Town, Jake Smith sounds as though he has lost his entire world. When people say they are haunted by a song they could easily be talking about this one. It is sad and beautiful and the quiet, hopeless resignation almost makes me cry.
This is my favorite track on the new EP release from The White Buffalo, The Lost and Found. I first heard Jake on a StageIt concert and his voice just blew me away. Add in Tommy Andrews on bass and Matt Lynott on drums and the music is phenomenal.
If I had been able to spend some time listening to The Lost and Found before the year ended it would have easily made my Best of 2011. Jake has joined my list of songwriters that take tales of everyday life and craft them into amazing songs. How the West Was Won and The Pilot (two tracks also on the upcoming full length set for release in late Feb) use themes that have been put into song countless times but when Jake takes those themes and runs them through the filter of his life they come out sounding new and modern while still carrying a timeless quality.
Okay, okay… I also have days when I really, really ‘wish I was an outlaw’.
Look, I can ramble on for pages but it all comes down to the sound and no amount of description can replace hearing the music for yourselves. Check out the video for The Dark Side of Town and listen to The Pilot mp3 above, then pop over to The White Buffalo website and launch the music player to hear even more music and check out some older videos.
Bottom line – this EP is awesome and well worth the money. You can purchase The Lost and Found from Amazon or iTunes. You can also find The White Buffalo on Facebook or follow Jake on twitter @blancobuffalo. Keep an eye (and ear) out for the upcoming full length release, Once Upon a Time in the West, which comes out on on Feb 28th.
- Kit Tweet
This is pretending to be a ‘Best of’ list for 2011…
2011 was an exceptional year for music and I am so happy I was able to listen to so much of it. I can’t do ‘Best of’ list since I just can’t chose which was the best but I do have a few favorites I want to toss out before the year is done.
- Favorite Albums -
Closer to You by The Coronas
Mergers and Aquisitions by Have Gun Will Travel
Keep Your Devils Around by American Scarecrows
Revelator by the Tedeschi Trucks Band
- Favorite New (to me) Band(s) -
The Amends, Arliss Nancy and Gypsy and the Wolf
- Favorite New Singer(s) -
Jake Smith (aka The White Buffalo), Charlie Spraggs and Leslie Craig
- Favorite Song(s) -
Shook Up by Viv and the Revival, Wild Hearts by American Scarecrows and Break Me by Steve Carlson
Favorite Music Vid – This was so, so very hard to pick.
Also check out:
Here Comes the Sun by Steve Carlson
Good Man by Gypsy and the Wolf
All You Need is Now by Duran Duran
High points (music-blog-wise) for me in 2011 include Twitter (how did I live without for so long?), Daniel Logan and Jack Moore (again, how did I live without for so long), StageIt and Reverbnation, Ninebullets Radio and the daily posts, pics and videos from The Coronas while they recorded their new album in LA.
No list of mine would be complete without a quiet ‘thank you’ to Virgil Dickerson of Suburban Home Records. In May of 2007 he put up a free sampler cd of SHR bands on eMusic and I snagged some tracks. I had already moved to mostly blues and some indie in my music but finding those bands tipped the scales for me. Nearly five years later almost all the music I enjoy comes from small labels like SHR.
Got a 2011 list of your own? Toss it in the comments section as I am always looking for new bands to squee over.
- Kit
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- Blurred…
February 12, 2013 | 4:06 pm
I have been trying to write the review for Blurred, by San Francisco singer/songwriter Alex Wise for a few months now but can’t seem to finish it. This is difficult for me to say but I get about halfway through the process and find myself so homesick I just can’t continue. The past few years have been full [...] - Arc & Stones…
February 11, 2013 | 4:53 am
Now that Scooter is back sleeping nights I proclaim this ’dig myself out from under the mountain of un-reviewed music‘ week. Kicking off the week o’reviewing is Arc & Stones, the debut EP from Brooklyn band Arc & Stones. The guys are Dan Pellarin (vocals), Ben Cramer (guitar), Joe Doino (drums) and Eddy Bayes (bass). I had [...] - Telegraph Taboo…
January 21, 2013 | 8:45 am
So, I was in the mood for some blues and whoosh – blues appeared. Other people get coupons, bills and news updates in the mail while I get blues music. Cool new blues music in the form of the debut release Telegraph Taboo from the Chicago-based band Nick and the Ovorols. This is not a pretty album. The vocals on a few tracks [...] -
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