Members of the Flying Buffaloes hail from all different parts of the globe (some from America’s Midwest, including three members of the group who have roots in nearby cities in Ohio and one from Berlin, Germany) to play music.
Flying Buffaloes line-up includes Johan Stone (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, keys), Barry Stone (lead vocals, guitar), Tommy Leland (lead guitar), Danny Pratt (drums), and Brandon Cantwell (bass).
Flying Buffaloes formed and cut their musical teeth along Nashville’s famed neon strip (a.k.a. “Lower Broad” or Lower Broadway) and the band is now on the “first-call” list for many of Music City’s venues and showcases.
Flying Buffaloes’ released their debut album, Loaded & Rollin’ in mid-August 2019. The band has opened for Red Dirt Country artist, Wade Bowen, as well as the hard-driving rock band, Drivin N Cryin. This is the band’s debut performance at RiversEdge. They have previously played in the Cincinnati area at Top Cats, Bogart’s and The Drinkery.
Q: You’ll be playing at RiversEdge with Motherfolk. This year is different with social distancing, and everything that’s going on with COVID-19, but it should be a cool experience. What will the band bring to the stage?
Brandon Cantwell: I think we are going to bring a lot of good times and high-energy rock and roll, and that’s what we are all about. We love to bring our Nashville sound to other places around the country.
Q: Can you talk about playing on lower Broadway and at other venues around town?
Barry Stone: We got our feet wet on lower Broadway. It’s a really unique place, because if you stay down there long enough, and get in touch with the right people, you can gig, literally, seven nights a week, two gigs a day if you really wanted to. It was valuable in the sense that it got us all working and working consistently, together. When we first started out, we were playing four to five nights a week down there. It made us all get on the same page, we were able to focus in the same direction, and make money doing it. So, it’s a great place to get a start because you can make a living doing it. You don’t have to do anything else. We play a little less there now, but some of the places we still play are The Stage on Broadway, Legends Corner and Acme Feed & Seed. Then, we play at other places around Nashville, too, like The Basement, Basement East, and The 5 Spot, which are other local spots that aren’t as touristy.
Q: What was it like to break into the Nashville scene?
Danny Pratt: Lower Broadway is primarily a tourist area. A lot of locals in Nashville, unless they are playing there, don’t go there to hang out in downtown. Usually, we will go to East Nashville, or something like that, where it’s a little more of a local scene. It’s very rock-oriented and Indy-music-oriented, and to break into both of those scenes is somewhat of a different process, but for Broadway, it’s much more of an audition, and a lot of the venues down there will get their singers first and then have their singers build bands around their talents to support them. Whereas, the East Nashville venues, like The Basement East and The 5 Spot will book out multi-bill acts and have three bands a night, or something like that, and have legit rock shows as opposed to a touristy, four-hour set that you would find on Broadway.
Q: Did you have a band first, or did you start with a singer and build it from there?
Tommy Leland: I think it was simultaneously at the same time. We used Lower Broadway, playing covers, as a way to make our ends meet, while we were building the other side of the band, which is the creation, where we get to go into the local bars and share original music and original songs that we wrote. Whereas, playing covers downtown, you can pay your bills that way.
Q: What are you most proud of as a band to this point? You’ve put a lot of hard work in, you’ve had a couple of projects come out, toured, and opened for some other artists and you’re coming to Hamilton this week. What are you the proudest of as far as your accomplishments to date?
Johan Stone: I am most proud of our fans, and that we have so many people coming out to these shows, and watching our live streams, and that’s really the whole reason why we are doing this.
Q: Can you say a word to the fans, and the fact that you’re able to be here this summer, and bring this live show to everybody?
Barry Stone: We are grateful and fortunate that there are select venues opening up and taking all of the necessary precautions to keep people socially distanced and to mitigate all of the risks involved with COVID-19. So, we are really happy to be coming to Hamilton. We are going to bring the best show that we can, and if you come out to see us, you’re not going to regret it. Also, I’m from Bellbrook, right outside of Dayton, so it’s somewhat of a hometown show. I will have a lot of friends and family there. (And Tommy and Brandon’s parents live in Columbus, so they will be coming out to the show, too.)
Tickets for this concert are $1 each. For this week only, 9-person seating squares are available for $5.
For a seating chart and to purchase tickets/squares, go to www.riversedgelive.com. If there are tickets/squares still available on the day of the show, guests can walk up to the gate and buy a square the day of the show.
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