Buffalo Killers are an American rock band comprising guitarist and vocalist Andrew Gabbard, bass guitarist and vocalist Zachary Gabbard and drummer Joseph Sebaali. The band was formed in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio, in 2006 following the dissolution of

Thee Shams Thee Shams (pronounced ''The'' Shams) was a garage rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, consisting of Zachary Gabbard, Andrew Gabbard, Joey Sebaali, Chad Hardwick, Adam Wesley, Max Bender, and Keith Fox. They were signed to Mississippi's Fat Possu ...

, of which the trio were members. Buffalo Killers were quickly signed by

Alive Records Alive Naturalsound Records (also known as Alive Records) is an independent record label formed in 1993 in Los Angeles, California by Patrick Boissel, specializing in garage rock, punk rock, punk, psychedelic rock, psychedelic, and blues rock. It ...

and their self-titled debut album was released in October 2006; ''Buffalo Killers'' drew the attention of Chris Robinson, who invited the band to open a string of dates for

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Ge ...

in 2007. Buffalo Killers' second album, ''Let It Ride'', was produced by

Dan Auerbach Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...

and released in July 2008.

History

Early years and formation

Andrew and Zachary Gabbard grew up in a musical household with a guitar-playing father, who taught them to play the instrument at an early age. Zach recalls growing up "listening to

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

, CSNY and New Riders of the Purple Sage from as long back as I can remember." With access to their father's record collection and musical instruments, Zach says he and his brother were "groomed" to make a career of playing music. Zach formed the garage rock band

in 1999; the five-piece band included the other two future members of Buffalo Killers. Thee Shams released four albums on four record labels before the Gabbard brothers broke up the band in late 2005. "In the end it was broke and the road only made it worse", said Zach, adding, "It was best to move on, take a break and re-evaluate the situation". In early 2006, the Gabbard brothers recruited Sebaali to play drums (he had played keyboards in Thee Shams) and formed Buffalo Killers. The new band's sound was a "more polished version" of Thee Shams' minimalist garage rock, but "still rooted in that great sweaty and swampy blues-rock inspired by '60s garage rock psychedelia", wrote Rick Bird of ''

The Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetime ...

''. Other reviewers compared the band to

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and ...

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

''Buffalo Killers''–present

Shortly after the band's formation, Buffalo Killers began gigging throughout

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and recorded a five-song demo with producer John Curley. Though the band intended to release the demo independently, Zach sent copies to record labels on a lark. Less than a week later the band received a call from

; the label "liked the recordings so much that they wanted to release them as they were", according to Zach. Alive Records subsequently signed Buffalo Killers, who scrambled to write and record five more songs to flesh out an LP. The album, '' Buffalo Killers'', was released on October 10, 2006. Chris Robinson heard the album and invited the band to open a string of dates for

in 2007. Buffalo Killers had just finished booking their own tour, but then their booking agent "started calling me back frantically" recalled Zach. "He said that The Crowes had called and invited us on the whole fall tour. I was like, 'Well, cancel all that other shit.'" While on tour with The Black Crowes, Buffalo Killers wrote half of what would become '' Let It Ride''. The band entered the studio, with

Black Keys Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

guitarist/vocalist

serving as producer, immediately following the tour. The recording session took "only a few days", according to Auerbach, who downplayed his role in making the album. "These are the kind of guys that don't need a lot of help when it comes to making records or sparking their imagination." Auerbach felt his most important contribution was in capturing "the raw live sound of this band". A concert tour, on which Buffalo Killers opened for The Black Keys, preceded the July 22, 2008, release of ''Let It Ride''. A bonus live CD, sourced from a fan's bootleg, was included in a limited edition vinyl pressing of the album. The inclusion was made (even though the bootleg "sounds like shit", said Zach) to show that the band can play live and is not studio-enhanced. Another tour opening for The Black Crowes followed in November. ''Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.'' was released in August 2012. In 2014, Buffalo Killers added a fourth member, Sven Kahns, on guitar and lap steel. In August 2019, it was announced that Zachary and Andrew Gabbard had joined

' touring band on bass and guitar, respectively. The announcement was made after Rolling Stone published an exclusive rehearsal video showing the Gabbard brothers performing the song "Go" from the Keys' ninth studio album,

Let's Rock ''Let's Rock'' (known as ''Keep It Cool'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1958 rock and roll film starring Julius LaRosa as a crooner attempting to fight off the rival music rock and roll, Phyllis Newman as his songwriting girlfriend who convinces ...

. The band's first show featuring this new lineup was on September 19, 2019 at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.

Discography

* '' Buffalo Killers'' (2006) * '' Let It Ride'' (2008) * '' 3'' (2011) * '' Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.'' (2012) * '' Ohio Grass'' (Record Store Day 2013) * '' Heavy Reverie'' (2014) * '' Fireball of Sulk'' (EP+LP 2014) * '' Alive and Well in Ohio'' (2017)

Members

* Andrew Gabbard – guitar and vocals * Zachary Gabbard – bass guitar and vocals * Joseph Sebaali – drums * Sven Kahns – guitar and

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional a ...

Notes

External links

The Buffalo Killers: Live in NYC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffalo Killers Rock music groups from Ohio Musical groups established in 2006 American musical trios Musical groups from Cincinnati Alive Naturalsound Records artists