Buffalo Skinners celebrate their excellent recent album, Picking Up What You’re Putting Down, with a triumphal homecoming show .

It was something of a homecoming for Buffalo Skinners, the band that first hooked up in Scarborough back in 2010 and who, only a few short weeks ago, blew our threadbare socks off our sweaty feet with their new album, Picking Up What You’re Putting Down. Indeed, vocalist/guitarist, Peter Seccombe, was fearing parental admonishment because he was choosing to spend his fleeting time in Leeds entertaining the substantial crowd who had gathered in the cellar of the Hyde Park Book Club in Headingley, instead of joining his family at home to celebrate his sister Clair’s birthday. But it was a celebration of a different kind that he played no small part in delivering, and a thoroughly raucous one at that. Aided and ably abetted by local lads, Boss Caine and the versatile Tommy Arch, Buffalo Skinners helmed a night that will dwell long in the memories of everyone fortunate enough to have been in the environs of LS6 1BL on the evening of 16th May 2024.

HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB

Hyde Park Book Club is typical of the marvelous small venues that seem to have cropped up recently in cities and towns all over the country. By day, the upstairs area is a well-regarded café which, as the sun starts to set, transforms itself into a laid-back and very hip bar, that has become a favourite haunt of the local student population. But it’s the performance area down in the establishment’s cellar that’s of particular interest to aficionados of live music, like ourselves. Down a steep staircase lies a concrete-floored cellar, with a low stage at one end; the place holds just 150 people but, as we all know, that’s more than enough to get a place rocking, provided that the performers provide the stimulus for them to do so. And, by golly, that’s certainly what happened tonight.

BOSS CAINE

Boss Caine were first up, and what a choice they were to kick off a vibrant evening. Based in Leeds – “We volunteered to play tonight so we could get in to see Buffalo Skinners for free” – I’d describe their musical style as Reluctant Yorkshire Americana. Reluctant, not because they hold back anything in the delivery of their tight, joyous songs, but because admitting that their music is redolent of a high life that exists outside of God’s Own County would never do, now – would it? The band’s current lineup – they describe themselves as “A constantly evolving collective” – is: Dan Lucas (guitar, vocals and the songs), Kieran O’Malley (fiddle) and John Burr (harmonica) and, for just three guys with acoustic instruments, they’re irrepressible.

Dan’s brand of gritty Americana is the perfect fit for his Tom Waits-ish voice. He’s no slouch on that acoustic guitar of his either. Kieran’s fiddle licks are straight out of the Swarbrick primer and the whole offering is topped off by the divine howls of John’s harmonica. As the band’s tones percolated through the building, the cellar started to fill as the upstairs punters descended the stairs to investigate. They kicked off with the earthy Slave To The Song, before taking a folkier turn with Ghosts And Drugs, a song that gave each member of the band a platform to show what they could do. Perhaps the highpoint of their short set was the magnificent Truckstop Jukebox, a raunchy song, awash with references to the late, great Gram Parsons, before they finished off with a blast through the image-laden In the Town Where Good Things Go to Die (so tight it almost blocked my windpipe) and an as-yet unnamed set-closer that put me in mind of a bluegrass-flavoured take on Earl Green’s Six Days On The Road. Buffalo Skinners couldn’t have picked a better outfit to get the evening off to rousing start.

TOMMY ARCH

Regular ATB visitors may well be aware of Tommy Arch. He’s probably best known as the drummer in Holy Moly And The Crackers – one of our go-to bands, but he’s also making quite a name for himself as a purveyor of what he’s been known to call “Soulful, Timeless Folk.” I’m not sure whether that’s the term I’d use to describe the high-presence acoustic music he produces, but – who cares. I’ll just say that he’s a captivating performer and he’s got a shedful of great songs up his sleeve.

He described his song Mercy On Me as “A cheesy song, written on a train.” I’d suggest that “happily derivative” is an equally appropriate description – his passionate delivery ensured that he never spilled over into “cheesy” territory, even when he tried his hand at quasi-yodeling – a moment that the audience loved! Debut single Lucky was next, and it lived fully up to its reputation, before Tommy treated us to a new song, the intense The Wind Blew South. 2023 single Rolling to Ruin is a wonderful bluesy number and, when Tommy sings lines like: “I drink whiskey in the evening, after cold beer all day,” he’s so sincere that you HAVE to believe that that’s exactly how he spends his time.

We were bidden a fond farewell with the words: “My name’s Tommy Arch. Not my real name – just my name for when I’m stood here. I’ll f*ck off the stage after this next one!” And what a closing number it was. Anywhere I Look is a gospel-tinged anti-war ballad. His guitar playing was sublime and he seemed almost trance-like as he half-sang, half-bellowed the song’s climatic line: “War is over, said the radio.” Watch out for Tommy Arch; he’s got lots of great songs and he’s an excellent performer. And don’t be fooled by the ‘happy drunk’ act either. You can’t sing and play like that when you’re pissed!

BUFFALO SKINNERS

And so to the act that persuaded us to come out in the first place. Ever since I heard Picking Up What You’re Putting Down, I’d been counting down the days to when I could catch a Buffalo Skinners live show. And how easily they managed to exceed my sky-high expectations! I can’t stress this strongly enough: if Buffalo Skinners happen to be performing anywhere near you, don’t miss them. You could regret it for the rest of your days. Peter Seccombe is a stunning frontman and every single member of the band has a special aura. They’re all top-notch musicians, they blend perfectly together and their choice of material – from a songbook that takes in everything from 50s-style folk ballads to Doors-flavoured psychedelia, via country rock – is awesome. And the whole shebang is delivered with such infectious vitality.

There’s seven of them at the moment and there wasn’t too much space left on the stage once it had been loaded with Buffalo Skinners. The current lineup is pretty much the same as the one that gave us Picking Up What You’re Putting Down: Peter Seccombe (guitar and vocals), James Nicholls (violin and vocals), Lawrence Menard (accordion, piano, and electric guitar) are joined by Becca Philip (bass and vocals) and Clare Quinn (vocals). Tommy Arch was back on stage, this time in his familiar position behind the drumkit – and still a bundle of energy – and it’s great to see founder-member Bobby Thompson (guitar and vocals) back in the band’s ranks. He guested on the closing track of the album and now, it seems, he’s back in a more permanent role.

There’s a Creedence feel to Do What You Want, the 2019 single, chosen as the set opener, whilst the single’s B-side, You Say Love, But You Mean Hate, is redolent of The Band and packed with beautiful vocal harmonies to which every band member makes a contribution. The Americana strain was continued with California State, a song that Peter wrote when aged just 19. The song’s opening lines – “Well Sonny was mean and he sure was tough” left such an impression as it became the inspiration when the time came for Peter to choose a name for his son; it’s a great song to which, I’m sure, Rod Stewart will be attracted, if he ever has the good fortune to hear it.

Lawrence takes his seat at the piano for the haunting He’s Troubled, a song that features yet more of those delightful vocal harmonies, before the band pay their first visit to their new album – first with Washing My Hands, the lead single from the album, and next with an ace version of Picking Up What You’re Putting Down, the album’s title track. The cellar setting was perfect as Lawrence got down to business on his Fender Rhodes piano to transport us all back to 1966 Los Angeles, and the audience reception was ecstatic.

Wear it On Your Sleeve, from the same album, was wild and glorious, before we took a step back to 2014 and the The Other Nine-to-Five album, for Lose My Soul, an irresistible chunk of bluesy gospel with great vocals once again and a churning harmonica solo from Lawrence. I’ve already mentioned that Peter is an amazing frontman with a special ability to get audiences to do his bidding but, happily, nobody in the cellar complied with his (possibly hopeful) instruction to “Take your clothes off.”

It was time for guitarist and recently-returned founder-member Bobby Thompson to take his turn in the spotlight. After a deliberately convoluted intro, relating to Nissan Micras, it was, appropriately, Remember Me, from the 2016 Cease Your Dreaming album that he chose to resurrect. After an introduction to the band by Lawrence, we were taken even deeper back into the formative Buffalo Skinners past for Mississippi Moonlight, an authentic country song from the band’s very earliest days that featured some fantastic wheezy Cajun accordion form Lawrence.

Lawrence stuck with the accordion and James played some ripping fiddle licks on Wrong Crowd, one of the truly outstanding tracks from Picking Up… , before Cease Your Dreaming was plundered once again for the solid blues of the cautionary gambling story, Monkey on Your Back. James was outstanding on fiddle, and I loved Lawrence’s piano flourishes during the song’s outro.

The features of Robbie’s Nissan Micra were still giving cause for concern as he took another plunge back into the early Buffalo Skinners years for the Pete Seeger-flavoured Seventh Street. The crowd clapped along as the song gathered pace and I swear I saw smoke rising from James’s violin bow as he made a valiant effort at sawing the instrument in half, such was his vigour.

Home time was looming but there was still time for a couple more. The ever-popular Sam’s Chop House was first out of the traps, before the band ‘pretended’ to leave the stage, whilst the audience obligingly called them back on for an exhilarating take of Sonny Song, after which there was only one thing left to do. Be it by chance or accident, local pianist and celebrity Richard Vickers was in the audience and he was persuaded – with no little effort, I have to admirably remark – to swell the numbers on the already-cramped stage to play piano on a raucous, Regret, Regret. Each band member took a lead vocal turn and Richard, despite his insistence that he hadn’t rehearsed, delivered a blistering piano solo. The audience swayed and sang, then it was over. A marvelous ending to a wonderful night.

Buffalo Skinners are an unmissable live act. If you haven’t seen them yet, then that’s an omission that you have to put right. as soon as possible.

Get yourself in a Buffalo Skinning mood. Watch the official video to Wrong Crowd, a standout track from their new album – Picking Up What You’re Putting Down – here:

The Buffalo Skinners online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter)

Tommy Arch online: Facebook / Instagram

Boss Caine online: Facebook / YouTube / Bandcamp

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