Ahead of the release of tenth studio album Jump Rope, Bostonian legends Buffalo Tom spoke to Louder than War’s Sam Lambeth about their near-forty year career, honing their craft, and why they’re ageing like a fine whiskey.

Since forming in 1986, Buffalo Tom have ploughed a consistent furrow of fizzy melodic rock that combines the vintage fuzz of The Rolling Stones and the folk sensibilities of Bob Dylan. With new album Jump Rope, they continue to develop their songwriting process and enter more organic, acoustic-laden waters. Louder than War caught up with the band’s flame-haired firebrand, singer and guitarist Bill Janovitz, and the introverted bassist and fellow vocalist Chris Colbourn.

Louder than War (LTW): The writing process for Jump Rope began quite quickly after your preceding record, 2018’s Quiet and Peace. Did the pandemic derail you guys at all?

Chris Colbourn (CC): Speaking for myself, I feel like I ‘found’ time in Covid lockdown rather than lost time.  Though such a tragic and overwhelming era for the world, I found myself with a great amount of time for self reflection, long walks, and free time to delve into old song notebooks, play guitars outside around campfires with friends, and write lots of music/lyrics. I raided a bunch of very early demos too – and created new tunes, like the Stones did on the Tattoo You album.

Bill Janvoitz (BJ): We hadn’t started anything at that point, and we’d kind of been on this cycle of every five or six years we’d make a record. But this time, after Quiet And Peace, I felt we should keep it rolling here a little bit and make something sooner and quicker. We’re all aligned a little better these days, while in the 2000s and 2010s we had kids growing up. Like Chris, being at home meant we wrote a lot of material.

We always write on acoustic guitar anyway, but with this record in particular, Tom suggested that maybe this was going to be more of an acoustic album. The songs sounded acoustic, but then we’re also all concerned about tinnitus and our hearing, especially Tom who is a little worried.

That was sort of the impetus and philosophy moving forward. At one point, we thought there might be no drums at all, but that’s not what it turned out to be. We ended up adding a lot of layers until it probably sounded the same as the other Buffalo Tom records!

Well you say that, but I was actually very surprised at just how stripped back Jump Rope is. I know you guys have made more acoustic-driven records in the past – and your previous two albums have been less reliant on distortion – but this is very gentle and organic. Bill, was it interesting for you to approach the guitars in a different, more textural way?

BJ: I’ve always loved the recording process, period, and then I love it even more when it gets into guitar overdrubs, backing vocals, that sort of thing. I love making textured records, but I get your point and I agree – it’s a different album for us.

The big difference on this album for me is Tom not really playing the drumsticks very often. He’s playing with more of a splat than a crack. Even more upbeat songs like Helmet and Pine For You have less of a rock drum sound, which is cool. It’s a little bit more pastoral and moody.

There’s always been a melancholy feel to Buffalo Tom songs, and I can hear it in Jump Rope. Without giving too much away, what was influencing you guys as songwriters?

CC: I love listening to sad songs – but for myself the subject of the songs come out quite randomly.  I don’t think about sitting down and writing about any particular feeling for lyrics. I personally lean towards Bill’s more abstract and melancholy tunes – which I think he has really mastered on the last few albums. I think in the end we might be best known for our 1990s indie pop songs, but I would hope that we are remembered later for the more thorny and poetic Bill songs we have recorded in the past ten years.  This is ‘indie rock’ on a whole other level for BT – like a strong peaty single malt whiskey, not for everyone, but very powerful dark stuff. It takes years of living and decades of songwriting to achieve this level. Impressive to me.

I look at you guys’ longevity and it’s quite rare to have the same lineup. I think it’s something very special. As you’ve got older, have you recognised how fortunate you are to still have this chemistry and to be still making music with the same people?

BJ: Yeah. We’re not middle aged anymore. I’m going to be 58 next month and Chris is 60 this year. Tom is somewhere in the middle. You hear of mortality more and more, about people and their spouses getting sick. Just from that perspective, to be healthy and to have a healthy family is a feeling I am fortunate for. But to have these friends with whom I was friends before we even formed, and then to make a band out of friendship and collaboration – I do feel extremely fortunate about that.

Back in the day, it was much more life or death for me. It was part of my identity and it was how we made a living. I’m a very competitive person and was very wrapped up in it. But then I stepped off of that and said this was no longer my occupation.

When I started doing other things and having a family, it puts everything into perspective. Buffalo Tom will probably be the first line of my obituary, and it’s been one of the hugest parts of my life.

What do you feel has contributed to this longevity?

CC: Buffalo Tom, perhaps, keeps going through the years because we don’t really identify too much with being in a band.  It’s a perk at the end of the day for sure though. Having only modest success in music was a good fit in my life. It could be different for the other guys, but I identify as a dad, raising kids. I was also part of a big family growing up (youngest of five kids), and totally wrapped up most days in a book or movie than ever being a rock guy.  I value humor and jokes as much or more than songwriting at the end of the day – this world is such a crazy fucked up mysterious place, and such a short time to enjoy it. 

Having kids was a big change in your life, and there are many other artists who’ve released albums this year – MGMT and Real Estate are two that spring to mind – who have very young children and speak of how it influenced their songwriting. Your kids are all much older, but has that influenced you? The fact they are now independent adults entering the real world?

CC: Seeing our kids the age we were when we formed our band is a great circle of life feeling. Curiously, I don’t feel ancient. I still more or less view life out of twentysomething eyes. Quite a shock when I pass a mirror, of course. But I’ve not lost that excitement of plugging into a guitar, practicing new songs and playing concerts yet.

BJ: I don’t know that their perspective or my perspective of them is coming into it or their place in the world. I don’t know. I’d have to go through my songs and try to remember specific things.

But pieces of dialogue and feelings and things like that that come from them, I’m sure, make their way into it. But what was I just going to say about that here? I just lost my train of thought a little bit. Oh, but the way they do influence me in songwriting is actually by, for example, real estate might have been either way.

The excellent new Blue Rose Code album Bright Circumstance is both a culmination of over ten years of writing and playing, and the setting out of new musical directions. Blue Rose Code is Ross Wilson who, after road testing many of the new songs live, went into the studio to record the new album with his well-established touring band. The new record reflects all these elements, particularly in the impactful songwriting and expansive and sympathetic musical arrangements, that have delivered a classic album which surely must figure in album of the year lists.

To accompany our review of the new album, Louder Than War asked Ross to throw some more light on the recording of the album, the accompanying tour, and recently-announced headlining of the final day of the Cambridge Folk Festival.

LTW: Can you describe the driving spirit behind the songs on the new album?

Ross Wilson: I wanted to get back to music; we’d built a load of momentum before the Pandemic and then, all of a sudden, everything stopped. My overriding feeling was one of ‘I want to be free again’, free to travel, free to connect with people and places I hadn’t seen in a long time. There is a real sense of emancipation, I think.

The album was recorded with your established touring band. What did that bring to the recording sessions?

For the first time in my career, I feel like I’ve a settled band; we’ve played all over the UK and abroad together and I feel a kinship with them that’s meant we’ve been able to let that breathe in the studio. Maybe I’ve felt comfortable enough to lean on them more – certainly the studio process was more democratic, and the energy we’ve been able to generate on the big stages, I think that’s been distilled into this record.

You have a number of musical guests on the album. Can you say a little about their contributions?

Eddi (Reader) has been a bit of an inspiration to me. Watching her perform, it’s a spiritual experience; the way she lives in the song, from number to number. There’s no phoning it in. There’s a realness to everything she does. As a singer, I can think of no finer example of a performer of songs than Eddi. Likewise, getting Donald Shaw in was a bit of a moment for us. His ear and musicality are incredible. Donald came into the Glasgow West End studio for the morning and just gave himself to the process. Watching him work was wonderful and I love what he’s brought to the album with his accordion.

Your songs over time are often reinterpreted in the live setting. They never seem to stand still, which is something audiences seem to really appreciate. How would you describe your relationship with your songs?

I believe the song is never really finished. Once given over to an audience, it takes on its own form. You can feel an audience moving to a song and, in turn, the song responding to the audiences’ attentions. I think it keeps us invested in songs that we’ve played many times before, and it gives people a different experience from show to show.

You are supporting the album release with a series of shows around the UK. What can we expect at the shows?

We’re taking the big noise out for most of the dates, Liverpool, London, Hebden Bridge and beyond. People (myself included) get bored hearing musicians talk about the financially parlous state of music and touring so I won’t go on, but I’m investing in taking the band out this Spring – I want people to see the real deal live.

This year’s Cambridge Folk Festival is partnering with Showcase Scotland Expo to host live performances from emerging artists from Scotland. Blue Rose Code will be closing the Festival on the Sunday evening in a finale highlighting the impact of Scottish music. Can you tell us a bit more about this exciting initiative.

This will be our biggest show, to date. It’s a tremendous honour and opportunity, as well as responsibility, for us to be closing the great Cambridge Folk Festival. We’ll be performing lots of Blue Rose Code songs and also we’ll be joined by Justin Currie (Del Amitri), Karine Polwart and Steve Knightley to sing some of their songs and some Scottish classics. A personal highlight will be having the legend Danny Thompson come out of retirement to perform with us for a song or two also. It’s going to be a great night, and I can’t wait.

Blue Rose Code – some final reflections

Ross Wilson and Blue Rose Code embody the spirit of the healing power of music. Live and on record, Ross performs songs that speak to the power of connection, empathy, and hope, even when life gets challenging and the way forward is not clear. Alongside this, Blue Rose Code offer an irresistible and joyous blend of soul, jazz, folk and blues that never fails to move an audience. The current touring band are an ensemble of incredible musicians not to be missed. So, seeking out Blue Rose Code is something you won’t regret, and will be the beginning of a journey with one of our most authentic and gifted singer songwriters.

Watch here the video of Blue Rose Code performing Jericho, from the new album, live at Solas Sound, Glasgow: