DONNA THE BUFFALO IS NOT JUST A BAND, rather one might say that DONNA
THE BUFFALO HAS BECOME A LIFESTYLE FOR ITS MEMBERS AND AUDIENCES. The
band has played thousands of shows and countless festivals including
Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Telluride, Austin City Limits
Festival, Merle Fest, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. At several
festivals DONNA THE BUFFALO HAS BECOME THE HOUSE BAND FOR CLOSING THE
EVENTS BY BACKING UP ARTISTS INCLUDING THE AVETT BROTHERS, Keller
Williams, Zac Brown, Bela Fleck, John Paul Jones, and Chris Thile.
They’ve opened for The Dead and have toured with Peter Rowan, Del
McCoury, Los Lobos, Little Feat, Jim Lauderdale, Rusted Root, and
Railroad Earth to name a few. They also toured with Ben & Jerry’s
co-founder Ben Cohen to help raise awareness about increased corporate
spending in politics. In 1991, the band started the Finger Lakes
Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg, NY. The four day festival has
become an annual destination for over 15,000 music lovers every year
and was started as an AIDS benefit. It continues as a benefit for arts
and education. To date, the event has raised hundreds of thousands of
dollars and is now one of three Grassroots Festivals; the Bi-annual
Shakori Hills fest in North Carolina and Virginia Key festival in
Florida. In 2016 GrassRoots Culture Camp was introduced in
Trumansburg, New York as four days of music, art, dance and movement
workshops, including nightly dinners and dances.
The most loyal fans in the Herd are always eager to accept a call to
action. Last year Donna the Buffalo started a crowdfunding campaign to
buy a new tour bus; within three weeks, they had raised $90,000.
“You can imagine how validating that felt for us,” Nevins says,
still overwhelmed at the generosity.
By creating a bridge between generations, Donna the Buffalo attracts
one of the broadest demographics on the festival circuit. When Nevins
encounters young women in the autograph line, she likes to write
“Girl Power!” She’s proud to see them looking up at the stage
and watching a female musician really getting down, comprehending that
they could do the same thing one day. In addition, Puryear has noted
that Vietnam veterans have gravitated to the band. During a
songwriting workshop, Puryear sang “Killing A Man,” which examines
the complicated psychological ramifications of ending another
person’s life. He felt uncertain about recording it, he says, until
a veteran came up and asked him how he got those emotions exactly
right.
Dance In The Street closes with “I Believe,” a song with a message
of support. From the stage, Nevins often hears men and women singing
it with her. “I think our message is encouraging. It’s something
for people to latch onto,” she says. “And what an awesome sound
and feeling to hear an audience en masse singing your song with
you.”
Donna the Buffalo draws on a lot of musical influences, from country
and rock ‘n’ roll, to bluegrass and old-time fiddle, as well as
Cajun and Zydeco. In many ways, they were Americana before the term
was ever coined. The common thread? Songs of the human spirit, and an
incredibly tight relationship with their fans.
“The fans, they show up to be a part of it. We show up to be a part
of it,” Puryear says. “And we don’t have an intimidating vibe
where we’re different than them. If a scene is really on, it
doesn’t matter whether you’re watching, listening, dancing, or
playing – it’s on, everybody knows it’s on and it feels great! I
think that’s the nature of the connection.”
Official Website [https://donnathebuffalo.com/] | Facebook
[https://www.facebook.com/donnathebuffalo] | Twitter
[https://twitter.com/donnathebuffalo]
All shows are 21+ unless otherwise specified. Any tickets suspected of
being purchased for the sole purpose of reselling can be cancelled at
the discretion of Rams Head/Eventbrite. All sales are final. Rams Head
does not offer refunds. Refunds are only available for cancelled
shows.
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03/04/2020 Last update