Jake Smith of The White Buffalo has a voice that will wrench out your soul and use it as a chaser for a shot of Jack. Smith bypassed the sickly music stereotype of slick hair and skinny jeans and confronted the crowd as a giant mountain man in red plaid, whose long wavy brown hair brought to mind pioneers of old and whose voice was as powerful and gravelly as a river god.  It was the voice of Americana (as recently recognized by Walmart in one of their commercials which features “Where Dirt and Water Collide”). But unlike the wholesome imagery in said commercial, Smith sings the classics. “This song is about falling in love with a prostitute,” Smith smiles knowingly at the crowd as he strummed the opening bars of “10 ‘til 2.” He has an aura of a man that has lived a hundred years, seen it all and is ready to tell his tale. Drinking, loose women and weaponry all feature in The White Buffalo’s gorgeous, raw songs of love, life and its terrible consequences.

– Molly Bergen