Buffalo 40 – "Restless Minds" (2018)

Lovely smiles, full of grace

I’m amazed . . . I’m amazed

The previous 2 or 3 lines featured part one of my two-part interview with Rich McPhee, the frontman for Buffalo 40, a Washington, DC-area group whose website says its influences include classic rock, funk, blues, and modern rock.   Click here if you missed it.

Here’s part two of my interview with Rich.

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2 or 3 lines:  I understand that one of the other members of Buffalo 40 is a very old friend of yours.

Rich McPhee:  That’s right.  I’ve known Adam Morrell since we were small children.  The biggest joy I get from being in Buffalo 40 is having a friend of 27 years that I grew up playing baseball and basketball with in the band with me.  Neither of us played music at all when we were kids but now we’re down here, writing music and playing together.

2 or 3 lines: When Buffalo 40 performs live, do you do mostly originals or mostly covers?

Rich:  I’d say we’re about 50-50 originals and covers.

2 or 3 lines:  I know you do a lot of covers of classic rock songs.

Rich:  We do a lot of sixties and seventies stuff, but also more contemporary pop and rock covers.

2 or 3 lines:  Who are some of the more contemporary artists whose songs you cover?

Rich:  Our last live show, we did a bunch of Chris Stapleton stuff.  We also did a couple of soulful, swingy tunes by Nathaniel Ratliff & the Night Sweats, and “Wish I Knew You” by the Revivalists.

[Note: If you know anything about country music, you know that Chris Stapleton is a hugely successful country singer-songwriter.  Nathaniel Ratliff & the Night Sweats are known for their old-school-style soul and R&B songs, while the Revivalists are a roots-rock group from New Orleans.]

At a Buffalo 40 performance

2 or 3 lines:  No Justin Timberlake or Taylor Swift covers?

Rich:  [Laughs.]  No, although we did a cover of “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd, which is a super pop song.  But we rocked it up – added a classic-rock-style guitar solo to it, which was awesome!

2 or 3 lines:  I’m sure a lot of the audience at your live shows are there to see Buffalo 40, but the rest probably don’t know anything about you.  They just came out to eat and drink and have a good time.

Rich:  That’s right.  You suck them in with the familiar pop stuff – you use the covers to bookend originals that have a somewhat similar feel.  We do originals that are country, bluesy, funky, fast, slow . . . we run the whole gamut, so we can play any cover and follow up with an original song that fits with it.

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Later this month, Buffalo 40 will be releasing a five-song EP.  It will include “Restless Minds,” which is a very different kind of song than “Troublin’ on My Mind,” the catchy, honky-tonky Buffalo 40 song that was featured in the previous 2 or 3 lines.  

“Restless Minds” reminds me a little of Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’.”  Sit back, put your feet up, and give “Restless Minds” a listen – I guarantee you that your blood pressure will head south.

Here's Buffalo 40's music video for “Restless Minds” – you bulldog fans out there are really going to love it:

Click here and you’ll be taken to Buffalo 40’s Reverbnation page, where you can purchase “Restless Minds” and other Buffalo 40 songs.

For those of you who live in the Washington, DC area, Buffalo 40 will be appearing live at the Boundary Stone at 9:00 PM on Saturday, April 28.  (The Boundary Stone is located at 116 Rhode Island Ave., NW, in Washington – just a stone’s throw north of the US Capitol.)