Buffalo Nichols on Gas Station Hot Dogs and His Last Day Job

Photo credit: Samer Ghani

Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?

I usually tour in my Dodge Grand Caravan. It broke down 30 miles outside of Athens Georgia and I had to get a new transmission, but luckily it was still under warranty – thousands of dollars on a rental car to finish the tour. It was during peak Covid-supply-chain-problem-times, and the prices were sky high. I haven’t had any major repairs since then, fortunately.

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

Gas station hotdogs are not cheap or healthy, but food poisoning has a way of curbing your appetite and that saves a lot of money on tour.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

In my 15 years of performing live, I have only once broken a guitar string on stage. I only change my strings when they get too old to play. (I play Elixir strings.)

Where do you rehearse?

I don’t have a rehearsal space and I don’t practice much these days. Unfortunately, most rehearsing I do is done virtually, or in hotel rooms or during soundcheck.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

I really don’t remember when I first started writing songs. I would write 10 or 20 songs a day and I can’t remember what any of them were called.

Describe your first gig.

I think my first gig was at a middle school dance at a Boys and Girls Club. All I remember is that the keyboard player gave me a ride home and on the way he stopped the car, got in a fist fight, and then got back in the car to drop me off.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

I’ve never liked any job I’ve had. The last day job I had, I was washing dishes at a diner.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

Don’t trust anyone.

On his second album, The Fatalist, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols does things with the blues that might catch you off guard. There’s 808 programming, chopped up Charley Patton samples, washes of synth. There’s a consideration of the fullness of the sonic stage and the atmospherics of the music that can only come with a long engagement with electronic music. But this is no gimmicky hybrid or attempt to turn the blues into 21st century music by simply dressing it with skittering hi-hats. Nichols’ vision for the blues is of a form of music that’s intimately tied to everyday life in 2023, something that’s reflected not only in the choice of instrumentation, but in the complexities of the songwriting and the gray areas his lyrics explore. This is music that comes straight from the present, and as such, it’s a reminder that the same shit that drove the first blues singers to pick up a guitar is still present behind the throbs of deep bass hits today.

Connect with Nichols online and on the road.