The Best of 2018

KUDZOO is pleased to present our list of the TOP 15 album releases of the year.

1. Blackberry Smoke   Find a Light
The first best hope for the new generation of Southern Rock bands released yet another outstanding studio rocker.

2. Bruce Springsteen   On Broadway
One man. A guitar and a piano. Amazing.

3. Paul Thorn  Don’t Let the Devil Ride
The pride of Tupelo, Mississippi pulls out all the stops on his first ever all-gospel album. Hallelujah.

4. Cowboy   10’ll Getcha Twenty
The original band reunited for a new album ten years ago and thankfully it was finally released in 2018. Sadly, it would be the swan song for the great Scott Boyer.

5. Beau Weevils  Songs in the Key of E
Charlie Daniels had so much time on his hands (lol) he formed a second band with “Slidebilly,” Billy Crain. Just a great record.

6. Jimi Hendrix Experience   Electric Ladyland Deluxe
It was the year for 50th anniversary reissues, and this one is reigning champion. Excellent alternate takes, demos and a beautiful book. Celebrate Hendrix.

7. Pearl   Heartbreak and Canyon Revelry
Pearl Aday is much more than just Meat Loaf’s daughter, she is a fabulous singer and entertainer.

8. Earl & The Agitators  Shaken & Stirred
The side project of Roger Earl from Foghat, The Agitators turn in some awesome covers and originals, playing everything from rock and blues to country.

9. Billy F Gibbons  The Big Bad Blues
ZZ Top’s frontman Billy Gibbons delivers a second smoking solo record. Good stuff.

10. Boxmasters   In Stereo
      That prolific little ol’ band from L.A. put out another fab double-cd set in 2018. It’s so good, I heard a DJ refer to them as just “The Boxmasters” without saying “Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters.” Natch.

11. Buddy Guy   The Blues is Alive and Well
      Yes, they are! And so is Buddy! Amazing.

12. Cary Morin  When I Rise
       An amazing Native American singer-songwriter. Absolutely amazing.

13. Uncle Walts Band  Anthology: Those Boys from Carolina, They Sure Could Sing
They were from my hometown, Spartanburg, SC before moving to Austin. David Ball, the late Walter Hyatt and Champ Hood.The best. 

14. John Prine  The Tree of Forgiveness
It’s the most overused cliche in the world, but Prine ages like fine wine. His latest release is filled with genius.

15. Southern Halo   Just Like in the Movies
Three beautiful young ladies with harmony to spare and great songs. The “next big thing” in country music!  •

Passages 2018

I'm still dealing with the massive amount of losses within the KUDZOO community from 2017, and now another year has passed that brought even more sad and shocking passages. Among those we lost this past year were:

• Scott Boyer, of Cowboy (and the Decoys and solo) .  Died  February 13, 2018  from peripheral artery disease at age 70.

• Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame who wrote the timeless guitar lick that opens “Sweet Home Alabama” died August 22 from  Lung cancer at age  68

• Tony Joe White, Singer-songwriter of “Poke Salad Annie” and “Rainy Night in Georgia” died  October 24 from a  heart attack at age  75.

• Jimmy Farrar, the second lead singer for Molly Hatchet (also of Southern Rock Allstars and Gator Country), died  October 29, of heart failure at 67

• Jeanie Greene, Backing singer for Elvis, Percy Sledge, Don Nix and many more as well as being an excellent solo artist and a member of Alabama State Troopers died August 19. 

• Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” died Aug 16 from pancreatic cancer at 76.

• Burt Reynolds, actor/star of Smokey & The Bandit died September 6  at age 82 from a heart attack.

• Stan Lee, the legendary Marvel Comics creator died November 12 after a heart attack and respiratory failure at 95 years of age.

• Roy Clark, country music singer and guitar hero, star of Hee Haw, died   November 15  from pneumonia at age 85.

• Yvonne Staples of the Staple Singers died  April 15 at 81.

• Mickey Jones, drummer for Kenny Rogers & the First Edition, Bob Dylan, & actor regular on Home Improvement, and in the film Slingblade died February 7 at  76    following a prolonged illness.  •

Consolodating Twitter

Twitter followers! Some of you may notice that I deactivated the Southern Rock Hall of Fame Twitter account. It was just too much to keep up with. Moving forward, all info of me, my writings, music, life and the Hall of Fame will be Tweeted from @buffalotribe    Thanks!  

New Issue of Kudzoo: Spreading the (Blackberry) Smoke!

Buffalo Drops New Album with a Lot of Help from His Friends

My new album is available!  MAKIN' IT BACK TO MACON was produced by legendary Capricorn Records producer Paul Hornsby (who also plays piano!) , and features special guests Tommy Talton (Cowboy), Billy Bob Thornton (Oscar and Golden Globe winning Actor/Director/Writer/Drummer/Singer), "The Georgia Songbird" EG Kight, along with drummer Towson Engsberg (Tommy Crain & The Crosstown Allstars), bassist Joey Parrish (Silver Travis Band), Guitarist Daniel Jackson (Silver Travis Band), guitarist Greg Yeary (Buff's long time band mate from Buffalo Hut Coalition) and Austin singer songwriter Billy Eli on acoustic guitar!

The album is available at CDBaby and soon on iTunes, Amazon and everywhere, or you can purchase directly from Buffalo if you'd like it signed! Just email Michael for details michaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com Southern Fried Americans, Southern Rock and Blues! Get you some!

Buffalo Releases New EP Recorded in Austin, Texas

The Austin Sessions

April 2018

The Austin Sessions (Dreaming Buffalo) is the first release from Spartanburg, SC artist Michael Buffalo Smith since 2005's Something Heavy. The four song EP contains songs written by Smith that include "Painting Her Toenails," a song written several years ago after observing his wife sitting on the front porch of their house late one night, sipping wine and painting her toenails. The only light available was reflecting from the huge Harvest Moon overhead, which inspired the song.

            "Empty Eyes" was written in the 1980's but never recorded for release until now, and "Karl Childers Blues" was written about the main character in Buffalo's favorite movie, Slingblade. The song is dedicated to Buffalo's buddy, the actor and screenwriter who created Karl, Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton.

"She Likes to Ride a Fatboy" is a song about a woman and her obsession over Harley Davidson motorcycles. What did you think it was about?

The session took place in Austin, Texas in December 2016 at Green Garage Studio, and was produced by local heroes Billy Eli and Jim Hemphill, both of whom also played on the album, along with Joey Parrish (Silver Travis Band) on bass and Michael McGeary (Jerry Jeff Walker) on drums.

     Smith has previously released five albums, and is a respected journalist and author, founder of Gritz magazine as well as Kudzoo magazine. His eighth book, From Macon to Jacksonville, will be published in October, and a new album, Makin’ it Back to Macon, produced by the legendary Paul Hornsby, will be released in May.

     The Austin Sessions EP is available for download from CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon , Google Play and other online outlets, and physical copies of the CD will be available by mid-April at CD Baby, Amazon or directly from the artist.

For review and airplay copies, write michaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com. Buffalo is also available for media interviews in support of the release.

New Issue of KUDZOO Magazine, Tribute to Scott Boyer

Hi Gang. . .
Welcome to issue #25! Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we have been doing KUDZOO for six and a half years. Time flies when you’re having fun.

This issue, we look back at 2017, listing the best albums, books and movies of the year, and present our far too large listing of musicians we lost during the year. It was a terrible year for Southern rockers, losing two founding members of the Allman brothers plus their producer and friend, as well as two founding members of Molly Hatchet. And then there was the great Tom Petty. As you can see in the article, these were but a few tragic of the losses. In fact, the past two years together robbed us of an unbelievable amount of great artists.

And speaking of passings, we had this issue ready to publish when we received word that founding Cowboy member and singer/songwriter Scott Boyer had passed away the night before in his sleep in Killen, Alabama. It was a shock and a heartbreaker. All I could think was “we have to scrap the cover and put our buddy Scott on the cover,” which we did. As a tribute, we decided to run my interview with Scott that appears in my book Capricorn Rising (Mercer University Press). Rest easy, Scott. We will miss you buddy.

We also present an archived interview with Gregg Allman in tribute, and a never before published interview I had with Butch Trucks just a little over a month before his tragic death. Butch was in a great mood that day and very excited about life and getting back out on the road with his band Freight Train.

We pay tribute to our friend Dave Hlubek of Molly Hatchet by digging up an article we did in the first issue of GRITZ magazine over 15 years ago in which Dave shares his famous fried chicken recipe, and as a bonus, his own take on cornbread. I’ll never forget how happy Dave was to see that issue come out. He asked for extra copies. He couldn’t wait to show it to his mother. I thought that was cool.

There’s a restaurant review you need to check out, especially if you plan to be in Upstate SC anytime soon. As always there are the usual album, DVD and book reviews in a blatant attempt to influence your personal tastes.Tom Bell shares some great photographs from the first Southern Rock Cruise, and our friend Electra looks at the problem of drug addiction and it’s long term effects in her Rock and Roll Health Chick column.
I hope you guys dig this issue. Please e-mail me and let me know. We welcome all communications including “letters to the editor” for publication. Thank you for reading! Rock on!

  - Michael Buffalo Smith
  michaelbuffalosmith@gmail.com

READ ISSUE 25 NOW