Donna the Buffalo is a band from

Trumansburg Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 1,797 at the 2010 census. The name incorporates a misspelling of the surname of the founder, Abner Treman. The Tremans spelled their surname several differe ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It plays both original songs and

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s. A musician friend suggested "Dawn of the Buffalo" as a name for the band, which was misheard as "Donna the Buffalo" and, over thirty years later, the band is still called "Donna the Buffalo". The followers of the group are called The Herd, a self-organized "tribe" of people who found each other at the group's live events.Interview with Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins
The Americana Music Show, episode 147
released July 8, 2013 Donna the Buffalo is one of the founding and host bands of the annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, and of the

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance is a biannual music and dance festival held the first Thursday thru Sunday in May and October in Pittsboro, NC. The festival takes place on a venue which is managed by Shakori Hills Commun ...

; and is among the headliners at

The Great Blue Heron Music Festival The Great Blue Heron Music Festival is an annual music festival held the first or second weekend of July in Sherman, New York, a small town in the Amish country side of Western New York, United States. The Great Blue Heron Music Festival, or s ...

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. The band was featured in ''On The Bus'', a documentary co-directed by Dave Sale. The band has performed and recorded with a variety of musicians, including such prominent folk/roots performers as

Jim Lauderdale James Russell Lauderdale (born April 11, 1957) is an American country, bluegrass, and Americana singer-songwriter. Since 1986, he has released 31 studio albums, including collaborations with artists such as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Buddy Miller, and ...

, the father and son zydeco musicians Preston and

Keith Frank Keith Frank is an American zydeco musician from Louisiana, United States. Frank started his band, The Soileau Zydeco Band, in 1990 and is active as of 2016. He is the son of accordion player Preston Frank. Frank records on Soulwood Records. ...

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of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the Malian musician Mamadou Diabate, Claire Lynch,

David Hidalgo David Kent Hidalgo (born October 6, 1954, in Los Angeles.) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requin ...

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, ...

, The Duhks and Amy Helm. In 2009, Tara Nevins toured with the former

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

drummer Bill Kreutzmann and his band,

BK3 BK3 were an American rock band led by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Kreutzmann formed the band in 2008 with Max Creek guitarist Scott Murawski and Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge. Formation Bill Kreutzmann and Scott Muraws ...

Members

*Tara Nevins - vocals, acoustic guitar, fiddle, accordion, washboard, occasional backing vocals, tambourine *Jeb Puryear - electric guitar, vocals, occasional pedal steel, rare backup vocals *Chris English - drums *David McCracken - electric keyboard, organ *Ted Pecchio - electric bass guitar Stage jeb

Nevins and Puryear do most of the songwriting. Past band members include: *Keyboards: Joe Thrift, Richie Stearns, Kathy Ziegler and Sam Fribush *Drums: Mark Raudabaugh, Vic Stafford, Tom Gilbert, Shane Lamphier and Jimmy Triplett *Guitar and frequent vocalist: Jim Miller *Bass guitar: Bill Reynolds, Kyle Spark, Jay Sanders, Jordon Puryear and Jed Greenberg.

Discography

*''The White Tape'' (1989) *''The Red Tape'' (1991) *''Donna the Buffalo'' (a.k.a. ''The Purple One'') (1993) *''The Ones You Love'' (1996) *''Rockin' In the Weary Land'' (1998) *''Positive Friction'' (2000) *''Live From the American Ballroom'' (2001) *''Life's A Ride'' (2005) *''Silverlined'' (2008) *''Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday'' (2013) *''Dance in the Street'' (2018)

References

External links

Band official websiteDonna the Buffalo Internet ArchiveDonna Fans official websiteThe Donna Base: Search lyrics of all Donna the Buffalo songs, and live shows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donna The Buffalo Jam bands Musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1989 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)