DtB's New Year's Eve Show Will Take Place In Raleigh, NC
According to Artsplosure, Donna the Buffalo will celebrate the arrival of 2011 by headlining the 20th Annual First Night in Raleigh, NC. The band's set will start at 10:30 pm and leads up to the annual Acorn Drop and fireworks at midnight to ring in 2011. Admission buttons will be available beginning 12/1/10 for $9. For more information, visit Artsplosure.org. (posted 9/1/10)McCracken To Play At B3 Showdown 8/21 In St. Pete
On Saturday, 8/21/10, Donna the Buffalo keyboardist David McCracken will perform at a very special event, the Hammond B3 Showdown N'awlins Style, which will take place at the Palladium at St. Petersburg College (253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg, FL). At this show, Dave and fellow B3 masters Joe Krown and John Gros each will play his own set with the legendary Russell Baptiste Jr. (Funky Meters) on drums and Walter Wofman Washington on guitar; Dave's set will also feature former DtB bassist Jay Sanders. On his site, www.folkswaggin.com, David writes "My set will include funky psychedlic jams and material by the likes of organ greats Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff and Steve Winwood." For more info or for tickets, visit www.spcollege.edu/palladium or call 727-822-3590. If you're going to this show, feel free to send me your photos of Dave's set: fans@donnafans.com. (posted 8/19/10) First Photos: Bands on the Bricks, 8/6/10 Rochester, NY
On Friday, 8/6/10, Donna the Buffalo returned to Rochester, NY for the band's second appearance in this city in 2010. The event was Band on the Bricks at the Rochester Public Market. DtB has performed at this free concert series each August for the past several years. Photos of this gig come to us from the same two DonnaFans.com contributors who provided photography from DtB's last show in Rochester, the Lilac Festival on 5/21/10. John Miklasz kindly shares with us 12 photos of Donna the Buffalo playing in Rochester, NY on 8/6/10, while Greg Cotterill generously provides 11 photos from this same night. The band opened the show with Ring of Fire and went on to play a set that included It's Love Time, It's a New Day, Conscious Evolution, and the relatively new Jeb Puryear song We're Working on That, which the band debuted at Great Blue Heron Festival in Sherman, NY on 7/4/10. The show was opened by the Lawnmowers and Ry Cuming, who also joined DtB for one song. Thanks for the photos, guys!
(posted 8/14/10) GrassRoots Photos, Part 3: Saturday 7/24/10
Of all of the sets Donna the Buffalo performs at each year's GrassRoots Festival, the Saturday night gig is the hardest to photograph: It's dark, the Infield crowd is typically huge, and getting close enough to the stage to take decent shots can be a challenge. But longtime DonnaFans.com contributor John Yust knows the drill, and comes through with 9 excellent photos of DtB playing on 7/24/10 in Trumansburg, NY. John's shots include a few images of Joe Thrift, the former DtB keyboardist who sat in on Part-Time Lover and Hot Tamale Baby; Paige Lindsey also joined in on tambourine for the latter. Other highlights of this set included Rockin' Horse, If You Only Could, a superb and super-extended version of Me and Depression, Funky Side, and Jeb and Tara doing Seems to Want to Hurt This Time as the encore. Thanks for the photos, John! (posted 8/8/10) More Amazing Photos From GrassRoots, Trumansburg, NY
One of the things that makes every GrassRoots Festival unique is the special guests who join Donna the Buffalo, especially during the band's festival-ending Sunday night sets. What made this year's GrassRoots collaborations particularly memorable was the abundance of former DtB members who joined their old bandmates at various points during the festival. Former DtB keyboardist Joe Thrift sat in on scrubboard for parts of all 3 of DtB's GrassRoots sets. In addition to performing her own set in the Cabaret, former DtB keyboardist Kathy Ziegler sat in with Jeb & Them on Saturday and with DtB on Sunday night on both keys and guitar. And former DtB drummer Tom Gilbert helped Jeb, Tara, and David McCracken back The Believers, and also sat in for a good part of DtB's Sunday night set. These former DtB members were only a few of the close to 30(!) guests who sat in on Sunday night's epic gig, which started at about 9 pm and ended at 1:45 am. Amazingly, DonnaFans.com Larry Franklin captured photos of all of this and then some, and kindly shares with us 15 photos of DtB and friends performing at GrassRoots in Trumansburg, NY on 7/23/10 - 7/25/10. How he managed to be in all of the right places at all of the right times is anyone's guess, but we're sure grateful he was. Thanks, Larry! (posted 8/3/10)
First Photos From GrassRoots: Thursday 7/22/10
As has become a tradition here at DonnaFans.com, Greg Cotterill provides us with photos from opening day of the beloved Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance, which this year celebrated its 20th anniversary. Greg generously supplies us with 12 photos of DtB playing on Thursday, 7/22/10, in Trumansburg, NY, plus three photos of Bubba George (with Jeb Puryear on fiddle) opening up the festival. As mentioned below, this set was webcast live by HaveYouHerd.com, DaBabe, and the Vest Brothers, and included stellar performances of Let Love Move Me, Funky Side, and Hot Tamale Baby. Greg's images include a shot of former DtB keyboardist Joe Thrift sitting in on scrubboard. Thrift joined the band for a cover of the Darryl Carter tune No Sad Songs, In The Shade, and Tides of Time. Greg also snapped a photo of the eager crowd on the rail and in the first few rows, so if you were there, you'll probably be able to spot yourself in this shot. Thanks for the photos, Greg! (posted 7/30/10) Live Webcasts From GrassRoots!
HaveYouHerd.com, DaBabe, and the legendary Vest Bros. will be webcasting from the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, NY this weekend! For details, and to watch the webcasts--and participate in the infamous chat room--go to http://webcast.haveyouherd.com. On Thur. 7/22, the webcast featured Donna the Buffalo's set, which started at about 7 pm and ended at 8:30. Paul Roberge provides the setlist: Movin' On, Beauty Within, Voice in My Head, No Sad Songs (with Joe Thrift on scrubboard), The Ones You Love, Positive Friction, In the Shade (w/Joe Thrift), Tides of Time (w/Joe Thrift), Let Love Move Me, Love and Gasoline, Funky Side, and Hot Tamale Baby. Thanks, Paul, for the list, and thank you very much to our dedicated webcast crew! (posted 7/22/10)
Live Updates From GrassRoots On Twitter.com/donnafans
Not going to be at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival this weekend but still want to keep tabs on what's going on? Starting around 4 pm on Fri, 7/23, I'll be posting highlights, photos, setlists, etc. on www.twitter.com/donnafans. You do not need to have a Twitter account to view this page.Also, if you ARE going to be at this Fest, be sure to stop by the Side2Side booth on the Infield. Side2Side, also known as Herd Charity, is a group of Donna the Buffalo fans who "want to share the good energy we feel at the shows, so we raise money for local organizations that serve people in need wherever the band takes us." Side2Side will be selling raffle tickets for a variety of handmade artwork and other prizes, with proceeds going to Loaves & Fishes of Tompkins County in Ithaca, which provides a place for free meals, hospitality, companionship, and advocacy for those in need, regardless of their faith, beliefs, or circumstances. See you there! (posted 7/21/10)
Video Of New Jeb Song From GBH Songwriters' Circle
At this year's Great Blue Heron Festival, Jeb Puryear debuted a new song at the Songwriters' Circle. Thanks to a group of dedicated fans, you can check out a video of Jeb playing the new song, Mystery, on 7/4/10 in Sherman, NY. This high-quality video was shot and mixed by Bill D., the audio was provided by Madtaper, and the video is hosted by Rand and Carol from Oregon on their HerdDotTV channel on YouTube. A big thanks to everyone involved! (posted 7/18/10)
Photos Of Jeb Playing Solo Acoustic In Ithaca
On Friday, 7/9, Donna the Buffalo's Jeb Puryear was interviewed and performed solo acoustic on a radio station in Ithaca, NY. Longtime DonnaFans.com Greg Cotterill, explains: "Jeb was a guest last Friday when Ithaca's newest radio station--WITH 90.1 FM--broadcast all day live from The Commons. He talked with Open Tunings DJ Scott Regan about GrassRoots and played one song." Greg, who is station manager of WEOS 89.7 FM and a tremendous supporter of the Ithaca-area music scene, kindly shares 6 photos of Jeb appearing on WITH 90.1 FM on 7/9/10 in Ithaca, NY. The song Jeb played was It's Love Time. You can see a video of Jeb performing this tune solo acoustic on Jeanne Fisher's YouTube channel. Fischer has on her YouTube channel several videos of other local musicians who performed during that broadcast, including Johnny Dowd, Hubcap, Joe Crookston, Djug Django, and Mary Brett Lorson and The Soubrettes. Thanks so much for the photos and info, Greg! (posted 7/17/10)
More Great Photos From Great Blue Heron
In addition to the terrific video he shot of the Herd groovin' to Donna the Buffalo playing The Ones You Love at Great Blue Heron (see below), Bill Davis also took the time to capture a dozen photos of DtB playing at GBH in Sherman, NY on 7/4/10. Bill got some great shots, including this one of a smiling Kyle Spark, several very beautiful black and white photos, and a few of special guests Keith Secola (on flute) and Joseph Martens and Jessy Daumen of Hindu Cowboys, who sat in for a pair of songs during this all-star set. Thanks, Bill! Also be sure to check out 11 of Larry Franklin's photos from the same gig. (posted 7/14/10)
Awesome Video From Great Blue Heron Festival
If you've never been to one of Donna the Buffalo's festival gigs and have wondered what it was like, wonder no more: Bill Davis' video of DtB playing at the Great Blue Heron Festival in Sherman, NY on 7/4/10 captures the experience in all its glory. The video was shot during DtB's performance of The Ones You Love, and the band looks and sounds great, but the real stars of this video are YOU, the Herd, as Bill took his camera and strolled through the happy, smiling, dancing crowd for the second half of the song. Thanks to Rand Knapp, you can watch Bill's video on HaveYouHerd.com or on the HerdDotTV channel on YouTube. This best shows why so many people spend so much of their time and energy to see Donna the Buffalo whenever and wherever they can. Whether you recognize every face in this clip or just haven't met everyone quite yet, you're going to love this video! Thanks so much, guys! Bill's also kindly shared with me some terrific photos from this gig that I'll post soon. (posted 7/13/10)
New Photos: 7/4/10 Great Blue Heron Fest, Sherman, NY
As is their custom, Donna the Buffalo wrapped up the annual Great Blue Heron Festival with a monster all-star jam that included plenty of special guests and surprises. Fortunately for us, Larry Franklin was on hand, and generously shares with us 11 photos of DtB and friends performing on 7/4/10 in Sherman, NY. After opening the set with a solid string of tunes that included Do It for Love, No Sad Songs, Seems to Want to Hurt This Time, The Ones You Love, Conscious Evolution, and I'll be Gone, the collaborations began. First came Joseph Martens of Hindu Cowboys, followed by Rachel Eddy (fiddle) and Kristian Herner (banjo). Later in the set, Keith Secola (flute) joined in for a pair of songs. Toss in a new Jeb song and a stellar version of Let Love Move Me, and you've got a set for the ages. Thanks for the photos, Larry! (posted 7/8/10)
