Donna the Buffalo is a band from

Trumansburg Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 1,797 at the 2010 census. The name incorporates a misspelling of the surname of the founder, Abner Treman. The Tremans spelled their surname several differen ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It plays both original songs and

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s. A musician friend suggested "Dawn of the Buffalo" as a name for the band, which was misheard as "Donna the Buffalo" and, over thirty years later, the band is still called "Donna the Buffalo". The followers of the group are called The Herd, a self-organized "tribe" of people who found each other at the group's live events.Interview with Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins
The Americana Music Show, episode 147
released July 8, 2013 Donna the Buffalo is one of the founding and host bands of the annual

Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance Started in 1991, the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance is an annual festival held the second-to-last weekend of July in Trumansburg, New York, a small town ten miles north of Ithaca. The GrassRoots Festival, or simply GrassRoot ...

, and of the

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance is a biannual music and dance festival in the United States, held on the first Thursday thru Sunday in May and October in Pittsboro, North Carolina. The festival takes place on a venue whi ...

; and is among the headliners at The Great Blue Heron Music Festival in

Sherman, New York Sherman is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It is an interior town in the county, west of Chautauqua Lake. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,618. The town contains the village of Sherman. History The area w ...

. The band was featured in ''On The Bus'', a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

co-directed by

Dave Sale David Sale is an American singer-songwriter, who, after releasing "''Sins of the Father''" on Atlantic Records under the name Camus, and co-writing and producing other projects, he started investigating wrongful convictions. The transition lan ...

. The band has performed and recorded with a variety of musicians, including such prominent folk/roots performers as

Jim Lauderdale James Russell Lauderdale (born April 11, 1957) is an American country, bluegrass, and Americana singer-songwriter. Since 1986, he has released 31 studio albums, including collaborations with artists such as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Buddy Miller, ...

, the father and son zydeco musicians Preston and

Keith Frank Keith Frank (born October 9, 1972) is an American singer, accordion player, and producer. Dubbed the "Zydeco Boss," Frank is one of the most well-known figures in zydeco music, especially in the nouveau zydeco sound, which was influenced by other ...

Bela Fleck Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur ...

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara *Bela, Dang, in Nepal *Bela, Janakpur, ...

, the Malian musician

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Claire Lynch Claire Lynch (born February 20, 1954) is an American bluegrass musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. She is a three-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year honors. She is considered one of ...

David Hidalgo David Kent Hidalgo (born October 6, 1954, in Los Angeles) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requi ...

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and Amy Helm. In 2009, Tara Nevins toured with the former

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

drummer

Bill Kreutzmann William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to ...

and his band, BK3.

Members

*Tara Nevins - vocals, fiddle, acoustic guitar, accordion, washboard ("frottoir" in Louisiana French ), tambourine *Jeb Puryear - vocals, electric guitar, occasional pedal steel *Chris English - drums *David McCracken - Hammond organ, Hohner Clavinet, piano *Ted Pecchio - electric bass guitar Stage jeb

Nevins and Puryear do most of the songwriting. Past band members include: *Keyboards: Joe Thrift, Richie Stearns, Kathy Ziegler and Sam Fribush *Drums: Mark Raudabaugh, Vic Stafford, Tom Gilbert, Shane Lamphier and Jimmy Triplett *Guitar and frequent vocalist: Jim Miller *Bass guitar: Bill Reynolds, Kyle Spark, Jay Sanders, Jordon Puryear and Jed Greenberg.

Discography

*''The White Tape'' (1989) *''The Red Tape'' (1991) *''Donna the Buffalo'' (a.k.a. ''The Purple One'') (1993) *''The Ones You Love'' (1996) *''Rockin' In the Weary Land'' (1998) *''Positive Friction'' (2000) *''Live From the American Ballroom'' (2001) *''Life's A Ride'' (2005) *''Silverlined'' (2008) *''Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday'' (2013) *''Dance in the Street'' (2018)

References

External links

Band official websiteDonna the Buffalo Internet ArchiveDonna Fans official websiteThe Donna Base: Search lyrics of all Donna the Buffalo songs, and live shows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donna The Buffalo Jam bands Musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1989 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from New York (state)