Donna the Buffalo News & Rumors

April 2007 Joe Thrift Sits In During DtB's Saturday Night Set At Shakori Former Donna the Buffalo keyboardist Joe Thrift hasn't been a member of the band since February 2000, but he sits in with DtB whenever the occasion presents itself. The most recent of these events occurred last weekend during the band's Saturday night set at the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival in Silk Hope, NC. Oddly enough, Joe didn't play keys. Instead, he first came out relatively early in the set to play scrubboard during Hey Trudy (right). Later he came back out for the enocre to sing Seminole Wind, which arguably was Joe's signature tune during his time with Donna the Buffalo. John Yust generously shares with us 12 photos of DtB playing on 4/21/07 in Silk Hope, NC. His images included shots of the other special guests--Ward Puryear on scrub for Revelation Two-Step, and Dave McCracken on keys during Spinning World and Mystic Water. Thanks for the photos, John! (posted 4/27/07)

"I Want My Herd TV" OK, you have to be kinda old to catch the reference in the above headline, but Herd TV (www.herd.tv) is in fact a reality, thanks to Rand and Carol of Oregon, who also host www.HaveYouHerd.com. Herd TV is a YouTube site that features videos of Donna the Buffalo, the Avett Brothers, and other Americana-type bands. Thanks so much, Rand and Carol, for putting this together. (posted 4/24/07)

Photos From 4/19/07 Shakori Hills GrassRoots Fest Terry Killebrew has been making his photos of pretty much every Donna the Buffalo show in the state of North Carolina available to DonnaFans.com within days of the gig, and this year's Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival is no exception. In his 12 photos of DtB playing on Thursday, 4/19 in Silk Hope, NC, Terry caught all of the special guests. The set featured Ward Puryear on scrubboard during Your Breakin' My Heart and Revelation Two-Step. Later in the set, the band dedicated a heartfelt Seems to Want to Hurt This Time to the Virginia Tech community. For this song and Standing Room only, which came next, Ward played scrubboard, former DtB fill-in keyboardist Dave McCracken sat in on keys, and Maggie Roberge was on vocals. Jeb switched to his Kent guitar from Seems To Want until the end of the set, which concluded with Funkyside with McCracken on organ. Thanks, Terry! Hope to see you up north sometime. (posted 4/23/07) Deadline For Early Bird Tix For Trumansburg GrassRoots Fest Is Almost Here If you're planning on heading up to NY for Donna the Buffalo's Trumansburg GrassRoots Festival 7/19 - 7/22, you can save some cash by taking advantage of the early bird ticket deal. Buy a four-day pass before 5/1 and it will cost you $65; then it's $85 advance sale after May 1 and $110 at the gate. (posted 4/23/07)

DtB Breaks Out Rare Song On 4/6/07 In Rochester, NY Donna the Buffalo's Good Friday performance at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY was the band's 18th appearance at this venue. First-time DonnaFans.com contributor Christine Blakesley, who is a regular at many of DtB's gigs in New York and New England, generously shares with us 9 shots of DtB playing on 4/6/07 in Rochester, NY. In addition to the audio from this show being webcast live as it happened (see below), this gig was notable for the return of the song Hundred Miles (One Cold Dollar). DtB performed this Jeb Puryear tune only once last year (8/19/06 at T-Dawg's in Lafayette, GA); before that, the song had not been played since 2003. Check out the lyrics for Hundred Miles on Donnabase.com. From the setlist from Rochester and other recent shows, it appears that Arrows Pointing Sideways and Revelation Two-Step are back in rotation. Christine has also offered up her photos of the next night's show in Troy, NY, which I hope to post soon. Thanks, Christine, for the photos! (posted 4/15/07)

New Photos: 4/7/07 Troy, NY The members of Donna the Buffalo have been known to mix things up from time to time by swapping instruments for a song or two during a set. But rarely have they carried it as far as they did during their Good Friday show in at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY. Frequent DonnaFans.com contributor Val Williams was at this show, and had the presence of mind to keep hitting the shutter during the hijinks. Her 11 photos of DtB playing on 4/7/07 in Troy, NY include shots of drummer Tom Gilbert obviously enjoying playing Jeb Puryear's guitar (right), Tom on Bill Reynolds' bass, Jeb on Tom's drums, Jeb on Tara Nevins' fiddle, Jeb on Tara's scrubboard, keyboardist Kathy Ziegler on Jeb's guitar, Tara on Tom's drums, Jeb on Kathy Z's keys, and Bill on Kathy's keys. In fact, only one of these photos has the musicians playing their proper instruments! To figure out exactly who played what on which song, keep checking Donnabase.com,as the setlist should be posted soon. Thanks for the photos, Val! (posted 4/10/07)

Big News From Last Weekend's Shows In Rochester And Troy Well, well, well, last weekend certainly was an interesting chapter in Donna the Buffalo history, now wasn't it? First the band played at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY on Friday, 4/6. Rand and company produced an audio-only live webcast of this show, and Rand even put together a chat room on HaveYouHerd.com so Herd from around the country could discuss the show as it happened. Rand has kept an archived copy of that webcast on his site. Then, while the details aren't exactly clear at this point, apparently during Saturday's show at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY, some fans (male and female alike, I've been told) decided to get Tara to smile by flashing her their nipples. The Troy set also featured the old instrument switcheroo, with various members playing different instruments during Family Picture and The Ones You Love, and again throughout the three-song encore, which included a Kathy Ziegler tune. Fortunately, all of this action--including the flashing--was captured both on audio and video. Looks like I picked the wrong weekend to stay home! Hope to be able to share some photos of this madness soon. (posted 4/9/07)

Never-Ending Coverage From Suwannee Springfest The 2007 version of the Suwannee Springfest is going to go down as one of the most photographed Donna the Bufffalo festivals in history, and all of what I've seen has been good. The latest batch of images comes from first-time DonnaFans.com contributor Bella Moon, who kindly shares with us 12 photos of Donna the Buffalo performing in Live Oak, FL from 3/22/07 through 3/25/07. Bella's shots including several of former DtB keyboardist Richie Stearns joining the band, both on Thursday and Sunday. "Made it to Springfest and wanted to say it was the best EVER!" Bella said. "I was able to process over 800 images from Springfest, including many of Donna the Buffalo, and wanted to share." Thanks so much, Bella Moon! (posted 4/5/07) Audio Of Rochester Show To Be Webcast Rand of HaveYouHerd.com and a few others are going to attempt to webcast (audio only) Donna the Buffalo's show at Water Street in Rochester, NY on Friday, 4/6/07. Rand said, "It will probably be FM quality due to limited bandwidth but could be CD quality if bandwidth cooperates." The earliest it would start is 9 p.m. EDT. He asks that we please don't post this info to any other band's fan list or MySpace, as they can only support about 220 listeners, anything over that will be rejected. But you certainly tell any hardcore DonnaFans you know. Check out http://webcast.haveyouherd.com for more details. (posted 4/5/07)

More Photos From Springfest: Friday, 3/23/07 John Yust's massive contribution of photos of each day of this year's Springfest continue with this dozen photos of DtB peforming on 3/23/06 in Live Oak, FL. John's shots include several of Lydia Garrison of the Turtle Duhks joining the band on scrubboard (right), and the alway popular Jim Lauderdale sitting in for a pair of songs to end the night: King of Broken Hearts and Halfway Down. Thanks so much, John! (posted 4/2/07) Jeb To Release A Solo CD? A rumor that allegedly received confirmation at Springfest from a source close to the band has Jeb Puryear recording his first solo CD and releasing it sometime later this year, along with Donna the Buffalo's next CD. While tracks for DtB's next release have already been recorded, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the Jeb project. Smart money says while DtB's next CD will come out in late 2007, we'll enjoy another New Year's Eve show in St. Pete before Jeb's disc sees the light of day. Remember, you heard it here first. (posted 3/30/07)

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