Kane Knight
01-23-2004, 10:31 AM
Today is like Christmas for me...I don't know if anyone knows who Buffalo Tom is (Taillights Fade), but it appears they're coming back. Or, as the article says, never totally went away...
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/edgeMusic.bg?articleid=599
Buffalo Tom is not extinct.
Although the beloved local alt-rock trio has been sighted, fleetingly, in the past few years, tomorrow night's long-sold-out gig at the Middle East Club in Cambridge will be a distinctive one. They'll finally be playing some new songs.
``I liked playing the handful of shows that we've played in the past couple of years, but increasingly they felt more and more nostalgia-based because we hadn't had any new material since '98 or so,'' says lead singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz, referring to the band's last studio album, ``Smitten.''
``I felt like, if we're going to do nostalgia shows, we should probably wait 10 years,'' he says with a laugh. ``So it was either take a really long hiatus or let's get back on the horse and start learning some new material, and the other guys (bassist Chris Colbourn and drummer Tom Maginnis) all felt the same. It was just a matter of time and getting around to it, and so we have, and it's really been great.''
In terms of new songs, Janovitz says, ``We've got about five or six that are in their pretty nascent, raw stages that we'll probably bring out (tomorrow night) anyway as just works in progress.'' The good news for Buffalo Tom fans is that Janovitz confirms the band does plan to make a new record. The bad news? Don't expect the trio to be cramming into a van to hit the road anytime soon.
``If we do tour, it would be very limited,'' Janovitz says. ``We'd go down for a long weekend and do Philly, D.C., New York, just jaunts. But getting in a van is just impossible for us to do at this point.
``Tom's got two kids, I've got a kid, we've all got jobs, so unless someone just threw an incredible amount of money at us - which is so far off in fantasyland, I just can't see it happening,'' he says with another laugh. ``And almost no amount of money would make me want to get in the van for six weeks again.''
The logistics make it difficult, because Maginnis is a stay-at-home dad and Colbourn is a booking agent who plays in several side projects. Janovitz has become a real estate agent to supplement his various musical efforts, which include two solo albums, his band Crown Victoria and recording the theme to the CBS sitcom ``Yes, Dear.''
``It's a good way of supporting the music, and the music's fun to keep me sane,'' says Janovitz of his Coldwell Banker gig.
The band is working at its own pace in terms of writing and recording and seeking a record deal, but the three are excited to be playing together again.
``We just went back to our earlier forms of collaboration, which we had gotten further away from,'' Janovitz says. ``We had been experimenting with different ways of writing apart and together, and now we're just kind of all in a room and coming up with ideas to bounce off each other, and it's been a lot of fun.''
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/edgeMusic.bg?articleid=599
Buffalo Tom is not extinct.
Although the beloved local alt-rock trio has been sighted, fleetingly, in the past few years, tomorrow night's long-sold-out gig at the Middle East Club in Cambridge will be a distinctive one. They'll finally be playing some new songs.
``I liked playing the handful of shows that we've played in the past couple of years, but increasingly they felt more and more nostalgia-based because we hadn't had any new material since '98 or so,'' says lead singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz, referring to the band's last studio album, ``Smitten.''
``I felt like, if we're going to do nostalgia shows, we should probably wait 10 years,'' he says with a laugh. ``So it was either take a really long hiatus or let's get back on the horse and start learning some new material, and the other guys (bassist Chris Colbourn and drummer Tom Maginnis) all felt the same. It was just a matter of time and getting around to it, and so we have, and it's really been great.''
In terms of new songs, Janovitz says, ``We've got about five or six that are in their pretty nascent, raw stages that we'll probably bring out (tomorrow night) anyway as just works in progress.'' The good news for Buffalo Tom fans is that Janovitz confirms the band does plan to make a new record. The bad news? Don't expect the trio to be cramming into a van to hit the road anytime soon.
``If we do tour, it would be very limited,'' Janovitz says. ``We'd go down for a long weekend and do Philly, D.C., New York, just jaunts. But getting in a van is just impossible for us to do at this point.
``Tom's got two kids, I've got a kid, we've all got jobs, so unless someone just threw an incredible amount of money at us - which is so far off in fantasyland, I just can't see it happening,'' he says with another laugh. ``And almost no amount of money would make me want to get in the van for six weeks again.''
The logistics make it difficult, because Maginnis is a stay-at-home dad and Colbourn is a booking agent who plays in several side projects. Janovitz has become a real estate agent to supplement his various musical efforts, which include two solo albums, his band Crown Victoria and recording the theme to the CBS sitcom ``Yes, Dear.''
``It's a good way of supporting the music, and the music's fun to keep me sane,'' says Janovitz of his Coldwell Banker gig.
The band is working at its own pace in terms of writing and recording and seeking a record deal, but the three are excited to be playing together again.
``We just went back to our earlier forms of collaboration, which we had gotten further away from,'' Janovitz says. ``We had been experimenting with different ways of writing apart and together, and now we're just kind of all in a room and coming up with ideas to bounce off each other, and it's been a lot of fun.''