Buffalo Nickel/Will Kimbrough/Rodney Crowell

Here's a few thoughts after our show with Will Kimbrough and Rodney Crowell that happened on Nov. 30, 2006. This was a benefit show for Operation Shoestring. First, it was a great night. We played well, but when Will, and Rodney played it was pretty obvious to all of us in the Nickel camp that we NEED to practice! Not to slight our effort, but those guys played really well. With that said, this was the last night of their tour, so they had a several road shows under thir belt to tighten things up. We had not played in a month, and while it was pretty damn good, it was not as good as it could have been had we (1) played more often, (2) practiced, or (3) both. There were a few equipment issues for us too. Brad's amp/guitar had a NASTY hum in it, and Clinton's amp crapped out during soundcheck. Will K. let Clinton use his amp for most (if not all of our show), and Brad's amp settled down while he played. Chris and I were lucky to get to use Rodney's drummer's and bassist's gear, and Steve's stuff worked so no problems there.

As for Will & Rodney (and Rodney's band & crew) , they could not have been nicer to us. I even got to chat to Rodney about one of his old bands (the Cherry Bombs) and one of his old drummers (the late great Larrie Londin) and that was cool. The club and sound people at Hal & Mal's were great to us (back stage food-HOT TAMALES) as were everyone involved in the Operation Shoestring Benefit. Special thanks to Eric Stracner for snapping a few photos of us with Will K. and Rodney.

It was a great way for Buffalo Nickel to close out the year (as far as public shows...we have a privite gig coming up this week and that's it for the year). My hope is that 2007 will have many more shows like the Rodney Crowell/Will Kimbrough/Buffalo Nickel show, only with a tighter and equipment malfuntion-free Nickel.

A closing thought (or two) on Buffalo Nickel's 2006 AKA: "The Seven Year Itch"

There have been times this year that our club shows have got me down. It seemed to me that we (as a band) have played fewer shows, and the audience turnout been less than expected (and less than previous years). Even CD sales have seemed to stagnate. To help make up the difference each guitarist in Buffalo Nickel has played as many (or more) solo shows, or sideman projects than Buffalo Nickel shows. I even slipped in a couple of outside recording sessions with other musicians this year when Buffalo Nickel was not active.

Why has CD sales and attendance in the clubs been so spotty? Perhaps it has something to do with what I perceive as the "devaluing of music". When more and more people download music for free, why would they want to pay for it (a CD)? I think that mindset also translates to the situation for a cover charge to see a live show. I don't believe it's misperception on my part. We've talked with other musicians that make original music that are out there hitting the clubs and they say the same thing. It's never been easy, but it seems worse these days. Of course when pointing the finger at outside reasons it's important to look at what we could be doing (or not doing). For example, our sales could be spotty because our CD is two years old. Our attendence could be low because we mainly played the same two cities (and same clubs) for SEVEN YEARS.

So, as I look back on our 2006 gigs, it was really a very good year, and we played about as many shows as we usually do. Not many DIY bands in our area got to share stages with Wilco, Shooter Jennings, and Rodney Crowell in one year, AND all of those shows had enthusiastic audiences with "sold out" performances. Even some of the poorly attended shows were good shows, and some of the same people that came out seven years ago return time after time to get more Nickel, and for that we are thankful and blessed. Upon reflection even the poorly attended club shows were an honor to do for that reason and, because I was in good company with my Buffalo Nickel band mates. On top of that we are recording our third CD (even if people will only want to download the songs for free). We WILL find a way to do our thing, because when it really comes down to it we LOVE what we do and the people we do it (and share it) with. Looking forward to a Buffalo Nickel 2007!