New album coming!
Go with the herd. That sums up the storyline of Steamboat’s
Buffalo Commons, which is stampeding into listeners’ hearts
with a new album this summer rife with harmonizing vocals,
tight musicianship and infectious energy. Featuring
singer/songwriter/guitarist Tyree Woods, Denton Turner on
upright bass, Eric Baker on mandolin, Randy Kelley on
fiddle, Dan “Danjo” Harris on banjo, and Tyler Cain on drums,
the band is fresh off playing all three Winter Wondergrass
concerts, a benefit for the Marshall Fire victims, a bluegrass
festival circuit and more. Below, Tyree catches Swillin’ up on
the upcoming album and coming season.
Swillin’: How’s the album coming along?
Tyree: We have lots of rehearsals happening, bouncing ideas
back-and-forth with our producer Tyler Grant, and are getting
ready to start tracking the album at SwingFingers. The album
should be fully released to the public mid-July.
Swillin’: What all will be on it?
Tyree: We have a couple of deep cuts going on the first album,
songs that I wrote early on in Buffalo Commons’ conception.
We collectively felt that it made sense to get those on the first
full length album.
Swillin’: How fun and hard was it to put together?
Tyree: For me, writing a song is a special feeling. But it’s an
ability I don’t own; I can just tap into it from time to time
depending on what kind of vibration I’m sitting with. It’s an incredibly intimate deal to bring music to the band, and have
everyone put their own take on it, inject a little bit of themselves
into it, whether it be through a solo or an idea for arrangement. I
love the whole team for that.
Swillin’: You’ve been gigging a lot lately…how’s it feel to be
back on stage?
Tyree: It’s been great getting back on stage with the team,
getting to create relationships with other bands, touring out of
state and expanding our herd. It’s what musicians dream of
when starting a band. I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to
witness it happen to an idea I had eight years ago.
Swillin’: What events are you looking forward to this
summer?
Tyree: I’m looking forward to every bill that Buffalo Commons
is on this summer, and I’m really excited about the things I don’t
even know about yet.
Swillin’: Let’s talk river jams…how awesome is it to jam on
those RiverGrass trips Scotty puts together?
Tyree: RiverWonderGrass is, and will forever be, one of the
best experiences of my life. The cohesion that an expedition
creates sets the stage for some next-level bonding between
musicians, guides and ticket-holding passengers along for the
ride. There’s no telling what’s gonna’ happen on the river,
there’s always an element of the unknown. Scotty [Stoughton]
has created a platform to not only showcase music, but Mother
Earth on one of the grandest scales. I’d fully recommend that if
you’re interested, just go for it…you won’t regret it.
