Buffalo Nichols - "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond"
Photo by Samer Ghani I first became a Buffalo Nichols fan after seeing him open for Drive-By Truckers. Not many people could keep DBT fans entertained with just a guitar, but Nichols pulled it off. His 2021 self-titled album solidified my fandom, and now he's back with new music. "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" continues his classic blues sound, but adds in a little experimentation. If it was just a straightforward blues song, it would be a spectacular blues song. But Nichols adds in samples of Charley Patton's version of the song, making a timeless classic as modern as it could be. This is a truly unique take on modern blues that still sounds like the most classic version of the genre as possible. Is there another artist that could have pulled this off? Buffalo Nichols says of his new song: “ A traditional song made modern. Which aspects of ‘the Blues’ are essential? Is it a melody? A certain vocabulary? Delivery? Instrumentation? Is this still a blues ...