Richard Buckner

[jgriff]

Does anyone have any news on what's going on with Buck this year. The Merge site is no help and no website. Played some recent dates with Jay Farrar and Tift Merritt so that's pretty good. & he did stop by Daytrotter on March 22nd and played 4 songs and they were flawless, but unfortunately no interview. I rank him up with just about anyone and its too bad he's remained an underground treasure. So anyone out there who goes to see him, please relay any news. Thanks.

[lizish]

someone told me he was living in Alberta these days, but have no idea if that is true or up to date.

[brianjeremy]

I know he's playing at the Grey Eagle in Asheville on September 8th.

[nodep5]

I've enjoyed all of his records, however admittedly finding his most recent few albums lacking a little of his genius. In my opinion his run from Devotion Doubt to Since to The Hill were amazing

 

oh no new news.

[brianjeremy]

I had won free tickets to a show he did in Asheville a a few months back but ended up not going. I regret that now. He's alright but I have never given his work a fair shake I suppose. But when I do hear his work, I am generally into it.

[jgriff]

Devotion + Doubt is fantastic. In my all time top 10.

[jakobnicholas]

Coincidentally, I've been listening to old live Buckner recordings the past few weeks.

 

I remember the first time I "discovered" Buckner, opening a show for Son Volt in '95 or '96. He was a hulking prescence, with a beard that looked like Grizzly Adams. His ex, Penny Jo, was very small but fierce on the drums. Then Buckner would command silence with a chilling acoustic song like "22". He had a mystery and voice that was very intriguing. I've purchased every album since and haven't really been disappointed by any of them.

 

"Devotion + Doubt" is probably his peak. His most recent, "Dents & Shells" and "Meadow", don't quite reach the level of all of his earlier works but still have a uniqu-ness and greatness about them.

 

"The Hill" or "Impasse" might be my personal favorites. Haven't even mentioned "Bloomed" or "Chance", both very good as well.

 

I read earlier this year that he hoped to have another album out by the end of the year. But he always seems to struggle with the finacial part of making music, so who knows if that will happen or not. Here's the only tour dates he has scheduled right now for the remainder of 2010:

 

07.31 Baltimore, MD Ram's Head Live

09.08 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle

09.09 Columbia, SC Columbia Museum of Art

09.10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival

09.11 Charlotte, NC Evening Muse

09.18 Murray, KY Lovett Live at Murray St. University

09.22 Chicago, IL Schuba's

09.23 Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival

09.24 Nelsonville, OH Stuart Opera House

[willywoody]

Those shows with his wife were cool, more "punk" attitude than his solo outings which usually had interruptions for crowds talking, bottles breaking, etc. Seems I saw him with a band once for The Hill Release but maybe I'm confused. Then there was the tour with Alejandro with Hector, Ganz and seems like Eric Heyward, iirc.

[jgriff]

Found a couple of articles. Looks like he was driving a forklift and working a road crew near Beacon NY. My link

 

And here's the link to the Daytrotter Session from March. My link

[nodep5]

Yeah I also first heard of Richard opening for Son Volt during their Straightaways tour. I immediately was drawn to "lil wallet picture" and went and picked up Devotion and Doubt. There a some albums that seem like genius to me and that are criminally overlooked and hipster kids will get into 30 years from now, and I believe his album "Since" is one of those. Freaky amazing.

[jakobnicholas]

Yeah I also first heard of Richard opening for Son Volt during their Straightaways tour. I immediately was drawn to "lil wallet picture" and went and picked up Devotion and Doubt. There a some albums that seem like genius to me and that are criminally overlooked and hipster kids will get into 30 years from now, and I believe his album "Since" is one of those. Freaky amazing.

 

 

It's hard to pick a favorite album of his. "Since" is very good.

 

I think the one with his best voice and the one that draws out so many different emotions is "The Hill". It's dark & creepy mostly. But it's also very touching and, at the very end, beautiful. And Joey Burns and John Convertino's accompanying music is perfect.

[cryptique]

"Devotion + Doubt" is probably his peak. His most recent, "Dents & Shells" and "Meadow", don't quite reach the level of all of his earlier works but still have a uniqu-ness and greatness about them.

I'm a big fan of Dents and Shells. To me, that one seems underappreciated.

[jakobnicholas]

I'm a big fan of Dents and Shells. To me, that one seems underappreciated.

 

 

To me, Buckner albums are like Pixar films. You can say one of them isn't as good as another, but it's still great.

 

"Invitation" is probably Dents & Shells track. "Charmers" is wierd but great. "Fuse" is a good rocker.

 

That album, along with Impasse and Meadow, REALLY make me wish there could be a way to see Buckner with a full backing band. But because of his personality and finances, I don't think it will ever happen. A shame.

[nodep5]

what is the word on his personality?

[howfast]

Merge HQ says he is working on new record now

 

https://www.mergerecords.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=15973

[jakobnicholas]

what is the word on his personality?

 

 

I've just read numerous times that he prefers touring alone. He doesn't seem they type that would WANT to travel with a bunch of band members.

 

On some older recordings I have, he's fairly engaging and humorous on stage. He tends to be much more quiet now. I still hold out hope the guys in Calexico or some other guys go on a tour with him one of these days.

[willywoody]

Those shows with his wife were cool, more "punk" attitude than his solo outings which usually had interruptions for crowds talking, bottles breaking, etc. Seems I saw him with a band once for The Hill Release but maybe I'm confused. Then there was the tour with Alejandro with Hector, Ganz and seems like Eric Heyward, iirc.

 

Make that Heywood. And just like that he shows up in Tift Merritt's band when I saw them Friday.

[rockinrob]

I saw him play at a super small place (50 people, maybe) here in tampa. I used to play at the place every wednesday, and the owner basically forced me to come. I had never heard of richard Buckner.

 

I got there and he had 3 vintage 60s Valco amps, which I am big into and have had before myself. He had some cool 60s cheapo electrics, an acoustic 12 string, and an acoustic guitar with a couple looper pedals. He was really quiet and shy, but he was nice to me. We talked a little about his amps before he went on. He saw me oogling them, and asked if I knew what they were.

 

Anyways, he started playing, and would record a section and layer over it with a different guitar. He did this to change songs, but it made the entire performance seem like one long, morphing song. He didn't look up the entire time, and was literally in a trance. It was really awesome. He was about 2 and a half hours into this, and this guy actually walked up and patted him on the back (while richard was still in the trance state) to tell him he was doing great or something like that. It scared Buckner, and he stopped the song he was doing and said, "good night".

 

The rest of the audience was so pissed at that guy. Every now and then I will see him at a local show, and I always make a point to ask him if he is going to disrupt any performances during the evening.

[jgriff]

Happy Friday. Here's a bunch of live sets circa 1996 from the hard core troubador. My link

 

 

Saw him play some sweet acoustic shows with kelly willis a bunch of years ago and the man can pick. If I'm not mistaken, he did a short tour with a band a couple of years ago. Six Parts Seven or something like that, but yeah I'd like to see him with some backing musicians. Thanks for keeping the thread alive.