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THE WHITE BUFFALO
“THAT’S WHERE I FEEL WE SHINE, IN THAT
LIVE SETTING. WE’RE NOT A FLASHY BAND.
“I started writing under that construct but other WE’RE DYNAMIC. TO HAVE THAT SPACE AND
songs were coming in and out, and I thought it was
a little confining. But a lot of water or ocean themes, THOSE HIGHS AND LOWS, AND TO MAKE
natural themes, started seeping into some of the other THOSE AS REAL AS POSSIBLE, WAS
writing. There’s kind of a melancholy within the
album, a longing.” REFRESHING. I DON’T KNOW WHY WE
In tandem with Shooter Jennings, whose HAVEN’T ALWAYS RECORDED LIKE THAT”
wonderfully dexterous piano lines crop up across
the record, Smith attempted to bring some of those
conceptual elements to life once he got to the studio,
through the treatment of the guitars and vocals. “The “I’ve been messing with some pedals and a small amp
water theme came in early and I talked to Shooter a that can give more of a distorted, overdriven tone,” he
lot about it,” says Smith. “We did some stuff through says. “I’m trying to give it a different sonic thing live.”
a Leslie, which is normally a keyboard amp, to keep Many people have been introduced to The White
those swirling, moving sonics.” Buffalo’s music thanks to its popularity with television
Throughout, Smith stuck to his trusty Taylor music supervisors, with Smith’s songs having cropped
acoustic for the guitar work. “It has all the tones that up in Sons Of Anarchy, Californication and This Is Us.
I need,” he says. “It’s a dreadnought, y’know? People On The Widow’s Walk too is packed with memorable
say Taylors are a little bright, a little thin, but I play moments that conjure the sort of vivid emotions that
with a very primitive and very aggressive style. I’m might one day translate into small-screen gold. But
kind of attacking it. I’m mostly all right hand. There’s if that happens, then it happens – Smith’s not about
no flash – play fuckin’ hard or don’t play at all. That forcing things.
guitar really suits me.” “I’ve just been lucky,” he says of his sideline in TV.
“That’s the biggest way I’ve grown my fanbase. But
OUTSIDE VOICE it’s not something I’m conscious of. It’s not something
Once the band are able to reconvene and set out I want to chase. My goal is always just hitting people
on tour, Smith may introduce some new gear, in the heart, creating some emotion so that people
having considered how best to recreate the sounds can attach it to their lives.”
that populate On The Widow’s Walk, where spidery,
melodic lead lines bounce off rugged acoustic passages. On The Widow’s Walk is out now on Snakefarm Records
GUITAR MAGAZINE 49
