Buffalo Nichols

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Blues guitarist and singer Carl “Buffalo” Nichols was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a geographical dichotomy (the expansive warmth of the former and the steely cold of the latter) that can be found in his music, as it captures tender moments that he hardens with his rough voice and slide guitar. This is the case of the story of the vagabond in “Lost & Lonesome,” the song that opens his eponymous debut LP, unable to escape the tempting call of that life.

He can wear on his lapel the fact that he is the first solo blues artist that the Mississippi-based label Fat Possum has signed in twenty years. He cut his teeth while looking for his place behind the guitar. And he did it with a vengeance: by poring over other artists’ records, he would listen to a song a couple hundred times until he understood the right chord or riff and could play it. With that foundation, he created his first compositions, although he had to leave the United States to explore what he really wanted to say with his creations. Nichols traveled through West Africa and Europe, discovering how the blues tradition could be updated for contemporary listeners. “Part of my intention is to feel more comfortable with this release, to put more black stories into the folk and blues genres,” he said during the release of his first album, which took place in mid-October 2021. “Listening to this record, I want more black people to hear themselves in this music that is truly theirs.”

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