Buffalo Nichols blues: “We sing about everyday life” | Tac

Barre Opera Barre Opera presents Buffalo Nichols at 8 p.m. Friday, May 10 at 6 N. Main St. in Barre. Tickets cost $37 to $44; call 802-476-8188 or go online to

barreoperahouse.org

Member tickets for this show are half price.

He didn’t have the “no money, no love, no luck” kind of blues, but Buffalo Nichols got bored one day and picked up the guitar, which unintentionally led him to a whole career.

Inherently sad, if you listen to the blues you know the beautiful irony is that it has the power to make you feel better. Comfort in sadness is the soul of the blues.

Nichols’ inspiration was boredom, an old garden variety. I just didn’t have anything else to do,” he said recently by phone from North Carolina.

But from that boredom, the ball started rolling, and Barre Opera presents up-and-coming blues virtuoso Buffalo Nichols and his trio at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 10.

“Listen to the lyrics: We’re singing about everyday life…the rich trying to keep money, the poor trying to get it and everyone has problems with their husband or wife!” Chicago blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy said:

“I started playing music when I was 12,” Nichols said. And nearly 20 years after picking up his sister’s acoustic guitar and teaching himself to play, he continued his momentum by redirecting boredom and never feeling comfortable in a single creative process.

“I have to keep trying different methods,” he explained. “I feel like once you do it a certain way, you (have to) do it a different way next time.” At least that’s how I approach it: try to avoid doing it in a formal way to keep it interesting.

“It’s just a habit of trying to use different approaches,” Nichols said. “Something I think I’ve done before, I try to be conscious of it. Once it feels like it’s getting easy, I know it’s time to move on.

His style, quirky and familiar, with poignant lyrics delivered in a grainy midnight voice, Nichols sings: “I don’t know the difference between love and companionship. »

The PBS documentary series “The Blues.” produced by Martin Scorsese, had a great influence on Nichols from a young age, leading him to have a deep interest in vintage blues, black music traditions and finding his own style.

“After years of playing different styles of music, I finally absorbed it enough to understand how to use it on my own,” he said.

No Depression Magazine reviewed his 2023 album “The Fatalist” saying, “Consistently intimate storytelling, combined with Nichols’ nuanced and heartfelt vocal delivery, is what makes Buffalo Nichols such a rewarding listen and the one of the most promising first records to be released in a relatively short time. sometimes.” NPR said his music “is in the best tradition of American blues…with vocals that are by turns gritty, soulful and passionate.”

Truly, the opposite of boredom, the soul of the blues.

[email protected]