A visual, artistic interpretation of the story of the album, The White Buffalo: Year Of The Dark Horse the film was created by Jake Smith (THE WHITE BUFFALO) and features four different directors tackling each of the 12 songs on TWB’s forthcoming album YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE, in an epic and cinematic way. The unique, high-concept, art film was produced by award-winning director Lee Diskin, and also features directors Gene Sung, Pete Macomber and C.W. Mihlberger. Similar to the new album which is based around the shifting of the four seasons, each director took three songs to symbolize Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. As a result, The White Buffalo: Year Of The Dark Horse delivers the ultimate artist statement realized through captivating performance art.
“My forthcoming album is a sonic and lyrical journey of one lunar year in one man’s life” says Jake Smith, THE WHITE BUFFALO. “Four seasons in 12 songs… Loosely based on my twisted truths and adventures. I wanted to show the seasonal effect on the heart and the mind. I also wanted to abandon, sonically, everything. Escape the acoustic clutches and genres I’ve been associated with and shackled to. I wanted to make my headphones album. Every song bleeds into the next. I took it further and created a visual companion as an art film comprised of vignettes for each of the 12 songs. Part performance art, part cinema, The White Buffalo: Year Of The Dark Horse will take you, the listener and viewer, on the emotional roller coaster that is this album with a feast for the senses. Four directors take three song sections of the album and each taking a season into another. Winter to spring, spring into summer, and so on. This piece of art is made to be consumed in one sitting. Hopefully mildly sedated or elevated. Enjoy!! This is… Year of the Dark Horse.”
THE WHITE BUFFALO will return this fall with his eighth studio album titled YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE. The Oregon-born, Southern California-bred artist completed the record with GRAMMY Award-winning producer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Brothers Osborne, Fidlar) at his Neon Cross studio in Nashville. For THE WHITE BUFFALO, aka singer-songwriter-guitarist JAKE SMITH, it was time to take the less-traveled path and embark on a voyage of discovery.
Roughly based around the shifting of the seasons paralleled with the shifting of a relationship, on YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE, SMITH continues his evocative storytelling through emotionally weighted songs that allow the imagination of the listener to play an important part throughout; the music builds on a tale of debauchery (of the drunken variety) and blame, of love and loss, a life lived against the odds, the whole thing set in one lunar year, following our anti-hero through the highs and lows of the seasons.
From highlights “Kingdom For A Fool,” “52 Card Pickup,” and “Donna,” YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE offers an invigorating and wonderfully unpredictable listen. A collection of 12 musical vignettes individual yet constant in flow, it’s THE WHITE BUFFALO’s most ambitious and well-rounded work to date, with the full scope of SMITH’s songwriting craft is on view.
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| Above: THE WHITE BUFFALO is the alias for singer-songwriter-guitarist JAKE SMITH (pictured far right); the touring/recording band also includes Matt Lynott (pictured left) on drums, and Christopher Hoffee (pictured in mirror) on bass/keys/guitars. |
Now with seven albums plus various EPs in its locker THE WHITE BUFFALO--is rounded out by touring/recording compadres CHRISTOPHER HOFFEE, bassist/keyboards/guitars, and drummer MATT LYNOTT.
NPR’s All Songs Considered tagged THE WHITE BUFFALO as an “amazing storyteller,” the Los Angeles Times added “Smith’s baritone echoes with villains and misfits, drunks, and philistines,” and Classic Rock magazine declared TWB “America’s darkest country/blues export…imagine a blue collar Tom Waits, or Nick Cave pumping gas in a station just off the highway.”
A powerful and prolific storyteller through his songcraft, SMITH’s body of work includes prominent song and soundtrack placements in the worlds of TV and film including the shows Sons Of Anarchy, This Is Us, Californication, The Punisher, The Terminal List, and the films Shelter, Safe Haven and West of Memphis. THE WHITE BUFFALO’s dark blues and light Americana-roots-tinged folk provided a soundtrack of tunes for the entire seven season run of the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, which included 11 songs overall. The last song in the series finale for SOA “Come Join The Murder,” earned THE WHITE BUFFALO his first-ever EMMY Award Nomination.
THE WHITE BUFFALO are currently on tour for Canadian dates, and on Friday, September 16, will perform at Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach. THE WHITE BUFFALO will kick off their nationwide Fall U.S. headlining tour on Friday, November 4 in Las Vegas, NV.
