Buffalo Nichols - “Lost and Lonesome"

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 3

Pairs Well With…J.S. Ondara, Leon Bridges, Son Little

An authentic bluesman gifted with a rich and textured vocal, Buffalo Nichols strikes hard and poignantly with just an acoustic, slide guitar, and his stories in hand. Nichols’ style recalls blues and Americana founding sounds rather than progressive influences throughout his debut, self-titled full-length. The minimal setting emboldens the music, letting hints of box percussion build subtle tension, finger-picking grace providing the complexity, and Nichols’ low, rumbling vocal tackle the heart. His songwriting plays around down-on-your-luck loss and hope, always feeling personal while still following classic blues storytelling patterns. Nowhere else better is this played out than on the crushing “Another Man” - Nichols opens up on Black experience in America and lives lost in a seemingly never-ending pattern of young men and women struck down by police and the roots of white supremacy. The Austin-based musician is at the start of what should be a long, fulfilling career with this mastery so early in Buffalo Nichols’ musical journey. (Kevin McStravick)