Buffalo Gospel Gear Up For Another Classic Show at Anodyne

Buffalo Gospel is a band whose sound cannot be reined in or confined.  At times it's raw and rowdy- with tracks that make you want to kick up your boots and stomp on the dance floor.  Other times it's painful and yearning with tunes that make your heart ache.  And at all times, Buffalo Gospel is at its core, a soulful band with the unique ability to blend lead vocalist Ryan Necci's deep wail with nuanced music on a wide array of classic Americana instruments including upright bass, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos.  Rooted in Ryan Necci's introspective lyrics that put his listeners into the souls of his characters, Buffalo Gospel delivers powerful music that rivals any Americana act out there in terms of poise, professionalism, and outright masterful songwriting.

Recently, we had a chance to catch up with Buffalo Gospel vocalist Ryan Necci as the band prepares for another fantastic performance at Anodyne Coffee Roasters in Walker's Point this Friday evening, December 22nd.

MKE Rocks: With 2017 coming to a close, what have been some of your highlights of the year as a band?

Necci: The best part of my year, musically, has been (as it always is) making music with the folks in this band. They’re incredibly talented and professional. They’re open to ideas. They’re patient with my weird non-music-theory-knowing music theory. There aren’t words to describe how lucky I feel to get to create with them. We’ve played more shows this year than any other year and I’ve really found a love for performing that I thought I had lost. I had played a lot shows in old bands and grown burnt out on traveling and grinding through performances. I’m definitely an introvert so it doesn’t come naturally to me but the support we’ve been getting from audiences has been pretty fantastic. We are making the music we want to and things on stage are clicking. It’s just really fun again. 

MKE Rocks: Americana and roots music has become increasingly popular both on a local, regional and national level?  Can you please comment on how the rise in popularity of Americana has influenced your band at all or your shows? 

Necci: Just the fact that people are getting passionate about songwriting again is wonderful. I would be making this music even if nobody wanted to hear it but the fact that they do is really a blessing. We’ve always operated with the simple belief that if we write songs that we think are good, others are probably going to dig them too. 

MKE Rocks: You have a new track out that is getting considerable buzz online, "The Hard Labor Side of Getting On."  This one's a foot stomper live.  Can you comment about how you chose to record this song and also the unique video that you created, pairing the song with Ub Iwerks‘ “Puppy Love” cartoon from 1932?  

Necci:  We recorded this one at Brian Joseph’s studio in Eau Claire, WI during the sessions for our new full length record. We basically played it two or three times live as a full band until we had a take we believed in. Then we brought our friends Shauncey Ali (fiddle) and Haley Rydell (vocals) in to add some color to it. It was a pretty simple, live process which is how we like to operate, if possible. 

As far as the video goes, it kind of felt like an old song to me, already. New, fresh video didn’t really seem to fit the vibe so I started looking for public domain footage. I stumbled across that cartoon and it really didn’t need too much editing. It seemed to line up pretty well and the story worked with the story in the song. We trimmed a few things here and there to make everything work really well from a timing sense but it was a pretty quick process. 

MKE Rocks: As a songwriter, what is your approach to crafting your songs-- are you lyrics first or music first?  Can you comment please on the process of Buffalo Gospel's songwriting.

Necci: It’s always been a cathartic process… almost like therapy to me. I collect ideas constantly on my phone and in a small notebook. These can be anything from a word that somebody says, a phrase I hear, something I read on a billboard, a line from a movie — really anything that resonates with me. Then when I sit down to write, which I try and do on a pretty regular basis, even if I’m not necessarily inspired, I’ll pull those ideas out and start fitting things together, trimming, reworking and building off them until something viable starts to take shape. From there it’s rounds and rounds of editing, usually, until I’ve got something I feel good about. I’m definitely my worst critic so if something makes it on stage, it’s definitely gone through the ringer a few times and I feel pretty good about it. There have been a few times where I’ll sit down with blank page and write something, start to finish, in like 15 minutes but that’s pretty rare for me. I can’t explain it when that happens but I won’t complain when it does.

Once I’ve got a skeleton of a song — lyrics and a general melody and structure — I’ll take that to the guys and we’ll work together to add muscle and flesh to it. They’re all classically trained musicians so I put a lot of faith and trust in them when it comes to finishing a song. It’s fun to sit back and watch people like that work together when they have relatively free reign to create. We all enjoy working together a great deal and rehearsals / writing sessions are actually really fun. 

MKE Rocks:  Buffalo Gospel shows at Anodyne have gained an epic reputation for outstanding performances.  Could you comment about what it's like to headline Anodyne... I have often stated that there is no venue in town that smells better than Anodyne, and on place to hear music and get a great cup of coffee too.

Necci: Well, that’s very kind of you to say. I can’t speak to how others feel about them but I will say there does seem to be something special about that stage for us. There’s always a little extra energy / passion that we can tap into. I’m not sure why. They’ve always treated us very well at Anodyne and made us very comfortable. That could have something to do with it. We just feel free to create up there. It’s also usually a very good crowd that has come out to listen as opposed to a bar where you might end up being background music. I know that I thrive off of audience energy and if they’re into it, I’m going to get more into it. It’s really a symbiotic relationship. Whether it’s 30 or 300, people really have a tremendous power to make or break a show and Anodyne crowds have been very kind to us in the past. 

MKE Rocks: Throughout the recent years Buffalo Gospel has had the pleasure of having a lot of amazing musicians from the area join the band at live shows.  Who will fans have the pleasure of seeing when they come out for the show on the 22nd? 

Necci: First and foremost, we'll have the incomparable Nickel & Rose starting the evening out. We're all big fans of theirs and are thrilled to share the stage with them. Buffalo Gospel will be  Nick Lang on percussion, Kevin Rowe on upright bass and vocals, Michael Rossetto on guitar and banjo and Andrew Koenig on electric and acoustic guitar. I will be there, too.

MKE Rocks: What lies ahead for Buffalo Gospel in 2018?  I know many folks, myself included, can't wait to hear the new record due out in May.  It's also awesome to see you playing the Blue Ox Festival in Eaux Claire, which has quickly become one of the premier Americana festivals in the nation.

Necci:  First and foremost, we’re really excited to finally put this record out. It's called 'On the First Bell,' and it’ll be out 5/4. We’ve had some personnel changes and some personal life things come up that have caused us to delay the release a bit but the songs and album still feel fresh and we all care about it a great deal. It’ll be really great to finally share it. 

Beyond that, we’re looking to play as much as possible next year. We’ve got a few festivals booked for the Spring/Summer and are working on a bunch more. We are also planning to hit a lot of spots in WI, MN, IA, IL and MI in the spring. 

Fans can expect to hear some new tracks from the forthcoming record, On The First Bell, as well as BG classics from their stellar previous releases.  Shine your boots and see you at Anodyne this Friday for what is sure to be a banger of a show by Buffalo Gospel and Nickel and Rose.