I find it funny and interesting to see where inspiration comes from. I’ve been sitting around since Friday working off the turkey hangover trying to come up with a topic for my now annual weekend blog. I got nothing, I tell ya, zilch, zero. Which in all reality is ok because I am doing my weekend blog for fun … and to be more dsicplined? It’s not like it is a freelance job where I have a deadline. No pressue, right?
Then Sunday night out of the blue I get some ideas floating in my noggin. Out of the blue… I saw Bill Janovitz (of Buffalo Tom fame) post on Facebook. I haven’t listened to Buffalo Tom in awhile so I looked up a video of them on Youtube (see below) and that wasn’t enough. I needed more Buffalo Tom. I went to the CD shelves and brought out my Buffalo Tom CD collection, put on the headphones and am now rocking their 1993 album Big Red Letter Day (Beggars Banquet).
I never got to see Buffalo Tom – Bill Janovitz (guitar/Vocals); Chris Colbourn (bass/vocals); Tom Maginnis (drums) – in a live setting, but was lucky enough to see Janovitz opening for Juliana Hatfield here in Champaign, Ill., at the Highdive. He played a solo set – Bill and his acoustic guitar – it was amazing. He did some solo original songs, some Buffalo Tom classics and took requests from the adoring audience.
Later that night I litterally ran into Janovitz in the men’s room. I was walking out and he was walking in - when the door opened there was a minor collision. I told him how much I liked his set and thanked him for playing my favorite Buffalo Tom song “Soda Jerk.” He was very gracious, and since he was holding a beer, I didn’t want to hold him up any longer.
In 2005, bassist Chris Colbourn collaborated with Hilken Mancini of the band Fuzzy on a magnificent CD released by Kimcheee Records and I was fortunate enough to interview both of them. Both Colbourn and Mancini were super nice and Colbourn didn’t mind a few Buffalo Tom questions.
Buffalo Tom hadn’t released an album since 1998’s Smitten. I thought they had broken up, hell everyone thought they broke up. So my chance to interview one of my favorite bands was never going to happen. Then in 2007 the Boston-based trio reunited for Three Easy Pieces.
Once again the album was great. It was like the band had never been apart. The downside was they were keeping the release low key – aka no interview for me. I don’t even think they toured behind the record, except for a few one-off shows around their hometown.
As a whole, Buffalo Tom released seven full lengths, a couple of compilations and a lot of singles and EPs over their 20-year career, but never really scored the mainstream success I think they should have. All their albums stand the test of time, certainly bringing back a lot of great memories for myself and tons of other fans I am sure.
You might remember hearing Buffalo Tom’s song “Soda Jerk” in a Pontiac car commercial years ago or if you watched “My So-Called Life” you might remember their song “Late At Night” in one of the episodes where Angela Chase obsesess over Jordan Catalno or something along those lines.
Both those songs were off the band’s Big Red Letter Day album, which is a great start if you want to dive into the Buffalo Tom archieves, but they have so much more great music out there. Unfortunatley, I think Five Easy Pieces was their last hurrah, so rock ‘em, if you got ‘em.