Donna the Buffalo onstage at the Blue Heron, July 4th, 1998

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Attending a performance of the Donna the Buffalo band is a spiritual experience. Their melodies are often poignant, sometimes rockin', and always danceable. The lyrics range from mystical to political. There's something meditative about the music that brings you to another place, a state close to nirvana. Everyone in the audience ends the evening with blissful smiles on their faces, and love in their souls.

The first time I saw the band was during a big snowstorm just before Christmas, 1991 in Jamestown. We fondly refer to my hometown of Jamestown, in Western New York, as the epicenter of the rustbelt. However, on this particular night, David Tidquist and the Rooneys had brought us an exceptional musical experience. The venue was Joyce's Keg Room, a kitschy bar in a rough neighborhood. But on this night, the regular older blue collar customers were surprised by a audience hungry enough for live alternative music to brave a blizzard. The crowd was small but enthusiastic, and they loved the music!

Donna the Buffalo's song, "Jamestown Christmas" was inspired by that visit. After the gig, the band stayed the night at the Star Motel in Lakewood, and watched a plastic Mary on a neighbor's lawn blink on and off. The song goes like this:

Outside of this window

In ten degrees just before dawn

A plastic Mary blinks

Illuminated from the inside

My heart glows with the spirit of Christmas.

 

Feelin' love, for lack of a better word

Spirit of love, for lack of a better phrase

The goodness in man is not what we've created below

Spirit of love makes the wind blow.

 

And the winter comes, rides a winter storm

Hands are cold, hearts are warm

And the children play, out in the rugged cold

Grandpa sways by the stove.

 

 

 

Written by Jeb Puryear

Perry City Publishing

 

Donna the Buffalo was formed in 1988 with three current members, Tara Nevins, Jeb Puryear, and Jim Miller, along with Jordan Puryear(Jeb's brother), Shane Lamphear, and Richie & Jennie Sterns. Later Richie and Jennie left the band. The Jamestown show I saw in '91 was actually a temporary configuration put together for a short regional tour. It was called Smell the Plow, and featured Steve Gustafson and Jerry Augustyniak of 10,000 Maniacs, and Dirk Powell of Balfa Toujours. After the Smell the Plow tour, the Maniacs and Dirk went on to continue their own careers, and Donna the Buffalo reformed with the addition of Joe Thrift to replace Richie.

Currently,Tara Nevins plays electric fiddle, accordion, acoustic guitar, rubboard, and tambourine, sings, and writes songs. Jeb Puryear plays electric guitar, sings, and writes songs. Jim Miller (Tara's husband) plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and does vocals. Joe Thrift plays organ, synthesizer, piano, rubboard, and does vocals. Newer additions to the band are Jed Greenberg on bass and harmony vocals, and Tom Gilbert on drums.

One of the reasons this band works so well is that both Tara and Jeb write songs and sing lead vocals. Jim and Joe also occasionally sing lead. This lends great variety to the band's repertoire. Many bands who write their own music develop a distinctive style and begin to sound the same cut after cut. Having both male and female vocalists and two songwriters adds to the magic of Donna's music. They describe their style as Home Made or American Roots Music. Their strongest influences have been from Reggae, Old Time, Appalachian, Cajun and Zydego music. They have composed over 70 songs, and their play list is different each time they perform.

The origin of the band's name had always fascinated me. At first, I thought that the lead singer's name was Donna, but later learned it was Tara. When the band was deciding on a name, they were trying to incorporate Western and Native American terminology. They started out with "Dawn of the Buffalo", but that seemed too serious and esoteric. If you said the name fast, it could be misconstrued to be Donna the Buffalo, and that was the name that stuck.

When I first interviewed the band in 1996, they were touring the East Coast, from Burlington Vermont to Florida, and had been as far west as Indiana. Their used tour bus then had 3 million miles on it. They said they would love to play the West Coast and Europe.They talked of starting a record company and building their reputation from a grassroots approach.

Since 1996, Donna has experienced great success. They cut the CD, "Rockin' in the Weary Land", on Sugar Hill Records and are getting national distribution. They are just finishing a tour of Italy and are booked for some major festivals; Telluride in Colorado. South by Southwest in Austin Texas, and Merlefest in North Carolina.

We are extremely lucky we can still enjoy them in local venues. David Tidquist, the music organizer for the old Keg Room shows and for the Great Blue Heron Music Festival, is a longtime friend of the band. He has booked a show at the Common's Mall in Jamestown on April 17th. Donna has been the backbone of the Great Blue Heron since the first festival in 1992, and they are booked for the 8th annual Blue Heron this July 4th weekend.

The band likes playing festivals like the Blue Heron because they can come for the whole weekend, be outdoors enjoying nature, have fun, and enjoy the company of other musicians. The band has been the backbone of the Blue Heron. Over the years, they have played in a variety of combinations with other musicians. Perhaps their most famous variation is Zydeco Experiment, which is notorious at the Heron for it's midnight-to-dawn improvisational zydeco music in the Dance Tent. Band members have also played in the Heartbeats, Wandering Ramblers, Bubba George, John Specker,and Running with Scissors. According to Dave Tidquist all of these bands flowed from the Correctones, which was inspired by the Highwoods String Band out of the folk music revival of the early 70's.

So if this article has piqued your interest, check out Donna the Buffalo. If you live in Western New York you can see them at an all ages show April 17th at the Commons Mall in Jamestown (call 716-487-1781 for more info). If you're interested outdoor festivals, check out the Blue Heron website! And if you're not from the area, visit Donna's website below!