Let’s start things from track one here, why don’t we? Jake Smith, much more popularly known as The White Buffalo, is a musician and singer-songwriter who hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but for the past decade has called California home. Smith is a baritone, a common, but classical male singing voice that lies between the proper bass and the tenor voice types. But, however common the voice style, Jake’s music itself is far from ordinary.
His music can best be described as someone who grew up on a heavy diet of punk rock but then sprinkled in some servings of Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, and a heaping side of Johnny Cash as their palette got a bit more refined. Altogether, his work is one part rock and another part folk with a heaping side of Americana. Together, it’s a spectacular auditory experience.
Jake found success early in his career, with his first few EPs and LPs picking up commercial and word-of-mouth traction. But it wasn’t until a bootleg tape made it into the hands of professional surfer Chris Malloy (brother of Keith Malloy, who directed our 805 Beer Film, “Mind Surfing”) that things really started to take off. Chris featured one of Jake’s songs, “Wrong,” in Malloy’s surf movie, Shelter. This eventually led to further film scoring and composing work, with many of his songs featured in FX’s hit show Sons Of Anarchy, Showtime’s Californication, Netflix’s The Punisher, and others.
The White Buffalo is joining the 805 family as our newest Authentico, and we couldn’t be more stoked about it. Not only has he helped soundtrack all our cold one-enjoying sessions over the years, but he’s a great person, a great friend, and a great representation of what it means to be a part of the 805. Welcome to the family, Jake.