Bloody well right!
So Bloody Hollies guitarist-vocalist
Wes Doyle recently granted an interview to a Southern California
paper, during which he was asked some questions about Buffalo,
the city where the Bloody Hollies formed and centered their operations
for many years. The words "bleak" and "terrible"
were uttered, as reported in The News in early February. On the
surface, at least, it sounded like Doyle was bidding a bitter
"good riddance" to Buffalo, a city that never fully
embraced his band, despite its widespread reputation as one of
the finer garage-punk outfits in the country. Thing is, Buffalo
never really fully embraces any band, unless it's already successful
or plays music made successful by other bands. That's a hard,
cold fact learned by many an independent artist around these
parts. Many of them do well, amassing a decent-sized following.
But more often than not, that following fails to grow. The loyal
independent, original music audience in Buffalo is a small one.
For musicians playing their own music in the small number of
clubs that actually hire non-cover bands, often for not a whole
heck of a lot of money, Buffalo can feel pretty cold, at least
professionally speaking. That's not just Wes Doyle's opinion.
It's reality. Doyle posted a note under the heading "Sorry
Buffalo," on the band's Web site, wwww.bloodyhollies.com,
the day after the citing ran in The News. In it, he offered the
context for his remarks that he said was missing from the initial
piece in the Southern California paper. According to the note,
Doyle was lamenting the lack of substantive economic change in
the area, and bemoaning a tough music scene that seems to only
be getting tougher.
All of this aside, Doyle and the Bloody Hollies are certainly
positive ambassadors for the Buffalo music scene, musically speaking.
Consider that in 2004 the group made it to Austin's revered SXSW
Festival, earning positive notices from several of the various
newspapers in attendance. Shortly thereafter, the group was spotted
and hailed by legendary BBC DJ John Peel, who played the band's
music and then invited Doyle and Co. across the pond for a visit
and high-profile guest slot on his "The Peel Sessions."
After relocating to San Diego in 2005, and reforming the band
with new musicians, Doyle and the Hollies released "If Footmen
Tire You . . . " (Alive Records), which handily nailed a
San Diego Music Award for rock album of the year. - Jeff Miers
/ Buffalo
News
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