Basic Folk 140 – Buffalo Nichols

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Carl Nichols (aka Buffalo Nichols) found out that he liked playing guitar way more than anything else when he was around 12 years old. He took his older sister’s guitar (what? she wasn’t using it) and started obsessively learning to play. He’d listen to songs 200 times in a row to get it right. Very soon, he was out performing his peers as a young teen. He started playing gigs around town in many different bands and many different styles, over extending himself. He was perhaps best known for being in the folk duo, Nickel & Rose, who released music from 2017 – 2019. He eventually got burnt out and realized he wanted to play music that resonated with him. He gave himself a break and went overseas to West Africa and Europe. There he discovered there was a way to connect tradition in music with modernism.

Carl uses the blues on his self-titled debut album to tell and express Black stories and the Black experience. He chose the stage name Buffalo Nichols because he was fascinated with the Buffalo Soldiers. He actually learned his grandfather was part of an all-Black infantry in the Korean War also called the Buffalo Soldiers. The writing process for the album was a new venture for Carl. Normally, he works on songs slowly and takes his time (he is more of a cat friend, even though he’s allergic to them). For this album, he just let the songs flow out of him without overthinking or over editing himself. The end result is a raw record from someone who’s pushing himself outside of his comfort zone. However, don’t be surprised if he abandons that free flowing process in the future!

Watch the interview with Carl!:

Buffalo Nichols on Spotify