BANDS OF DIXIE MagazineFranceIssue #91 March/April2013English Translation

MICHAEL BUFFALO SMITH: SOUTH CAROLINADREAMS

by Dominique Turgot

He has been called by Charlie Damiels “The Ambassador of South-ern Rock.” Musician, journalist, webmaster, and author MichaelBuffalo Smith has a brand new book out. The memoir is called“Prisoner of Soutrhern Rock,” and it tells his life story and gives usthe scoop on his life backstage and onstage with the greats of South-ern Rock.

While reading your book, I discovered you had healthproblems. I hope these are long gone and that you're nowback in good shape.Can you tell when and why you decided to write aboutyour life?Well thank you. The past ten years have been quite a challenge, forsure. But I believe it is all leveling out now, finally. I felt a need toshare some of the stories about meeting and getting to know somany of the musicians whom I had looked up to as “heroes” back inmy highschool days inthe ’70’s.

You mixchapters re-gardingyour lifeand chap-ters abouteach groupyou've beena fan of andyou've beenin contact with. Why did you mix these two topics? Whynot a book about southern rock and one about your life?Because my life and Southern rock became the same thing some-where along the line. When Charlie Daniels first called me “TheAmbassador of Southern Rock,” and I was living and breathing themusic and publishing Gritz Magazine it became very clear to methat my life path had always crossed over into music. Always.

How long did you need to write this book?

I started making notes as far back as 1998. That first hospitaliza-tion. I wrote it all down so I would never forget. That also happenedto be the same time I started Gritz as a web zine. But I really startedpulling the stories together about five years ago.

I've been surprised with all the details you integrate inthis book. How did you remember all these details? Didyou have a notepad somewhere?(Laughing) Many, many note pads. Also, I had written reviews of somany events, it helped me to recall those moments in time. I havealways been a detail oriented kind of writer.

Did you write chapters you've not included in this book?Not chapters, really, but I do have more stories. I am already work-ing on a sequel. It will be less about my life, and more about mysouthern rock experiences. I am also writing a history of SouthernRock that I hope will be published next year.

Was it difficult to find an editor? Tell us about the process.I was going to pitch the idea to some larger publishing houses, butwhen I saw what Mercer University Press had done with ChuckLeavell (Between Rock and a Home Place); Willie Perkins (NoSaints, No Saviors); and most recently Johnny Sandlin (A NeverEnding Groove), and the fact that they are located in Macon, Geor-gia, where it all began, I really hoped they would be my publisher.They have been great.

Is the book sold worldwide? It is. It can be ordered from Amazon in various countries, from Eu-rope to Japan. We have sold well in Germany and in France.

Do you know if your editor is planning on having transla-tions of your book?

No, the University presses are too small and privately funded to dointernational translations. Same with audio books. It would justcost too much.

I knew you were "addicted" to southern rock but didn'tknow you love bands such as Kiss. Tell us about the non-southern rock bands you like, and why.Music is my life. Back in high school, 1972-76, a lot of my musicaltastes were shaped. Many of the bands from that era still hold a spe-cial place in my heart. At the same time I was learning about TheAllman Brothers and Marshall Tucker, I was also getting into AliceCooper, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and KISS. I loved the wholetheatrical aspect of some of these bands. I was and am a big fan ofDavid Bowie. Some of the other music I love includes Kate Bush,Meat Loaf, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter, country like Merle Hag-gard, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks... I love everything from Otis Red-ding to Jimi Hendrix, from The Carpenters to Kelly Clarkson.

For our French readers who can’t read your book. Can youtell us about the birth and the ending of Gritz?I started Gritz in 1998 after spending 48 days in the hospital. I was-n’t able to work, so I would go online and build this website aboutSouthern Rock. At first it was called “Hot Grits.” After a yearIchanged it to “Gritz” and we started to get a huge worldwide fol-lowing. At the time there were no other sites about Southern Rock.Of course, immitators started popping up all over, but we were theoriginal. If you did search for “Southern Rock,” you would fine twothings - Gritz and Bands of Dixie. Then in 2002, I teamed with aninvestor and started the print magazine version of Gritz. It lastedfor almost three years. We had eleven issues and we were printing25,000 copies. We had two distributors, so it was in all the majorbookstores. It was sold in thee Rock and Roll Hall of Fame giftshop, at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, and all over.

We sold subscriptions. We had about 5,000 subscribers, many ofwhom were in Europe. I was really proud of it. But paper costs wereway up and it cost a fortune, so we went back to the internet. Thenin 2007, a guy from Florida bought the name and made Gritz a partof Swampland, with me as editor for three years. At the end of thethree years, it had lost too much money and my contract was not re-newed. There was a little bad blood, but all’s well that ends well. Istarted Universal Music Tribe online, along with my weekly radioshow, and in 2012 launched the digital magazine called Kudzoo. It’sall Southern. Southern rock, food, places to visit, reviews, and thegreat thing is that it is absolutely free! Folks can read it online ordownload it to their desktop. It is much cheaper to produce than aprint magazine, and we are having great fun with it.,

You've been working on the web for a few years. Do youthink this is the only media that can survive in the indus-try?I love print. Love it. But it is phasing out. With iPads, smart phones,Nooks. Kindles, etc, everything is going electronic. I believe therewill always be magazines, at least for now, but only mass market ti-tles like Rolling Stone.

Do you run this company using advertising? If not, tell ushow this company gets its money?Money? What money? (laughs) It is totally advertising based. Rightnow I am trying to hire a couple of sales people because I just can’t“do it all” any longer. We have a great magazine with Kudzoo and anice place for people to advertise inexpensively.

Is working on the internet an expensive media? You've gotto invest in hardware and have expert webmasters?Well, the equipment is a big cost up front, but then it levels out.And as far as our magazine goes, I do all the layout, web master

stuff, everything. If I were getting paid on an hourly basis I wouldbe rich. (Laughs)

I've read you had a few books you've been working on. Tellus about them?I just self-published my second collection of Southern Rock inter-views, Outlaws, Rebels & Renegades II. Like the first one, it isavailable only through www.lulu.com. It’s another big 500-pagebook with lots of never before published photos. I am also workingon a book of non-southern rock interviews called Hippies, Heretics& Rockabilly Rebels. Interviews with rockers from the 50s, 60’s and70’s- from Ted Nugent to Paul Rogers, Gene Simmons, PeterFrampton, Alvin Lee, etc. My next book for Mercer University Pressis an oral history of Southern Rock called Rebel Yell. The starsthemselves tell the story of the genre via my interviews.

You've written "Carolina dreams", a book about MarshallTucker Band. If you were asked to write about the biogra-phy of a major southern rock band, which one(s) wouldyou like to write about?I could write one about Lynyrd Skynyrd fairly easily, but there arealready a lot of books on them. I’d love to write about The Outlaws.Love The Allmans, but that’s been done already. Any of the bandsthat recorded for Capricorn Records I could get behind.

You've had many many people interviewed. Is there some-one you never been able to have for an interview butwould like to? I think I have met or interviewed everybody in Southern rock. Inother music, I’d dearly love to interview Bruce Springsteen, PaulMcCartney, Kate Bush, David Bowie or Alice Cooper.

Let's talk about music now. It's been a while since you re-

leased your last album. Are you working on an other one?Always. I have tons of new songs. I have two albums I’d like to do.One acoustic and one electric. I hope to record again this year. I amhoping to work with Paul Hornsby as my producer, and have a fewfamous friends sit in.

Aren’t you also working on someone else's project?There’s a great artist from Texas named Billy Eli. He and I are put-ting together an album as a tribute to Toy Caldwell, with variousbands performing Toy’s songs, including The Outlaws, BonnieBramlett, Charlie Daniels. We are just getting started on this one.

You've been writing for other people. Who did you write songs for?I have a guy in Nashville named Joe Meador who is pitching mysongs. I have one I co-wrote with Lee Bogan that is perfect for VanZant or Mongomerty Gentry. Silver Travis is doing a couple of mysongs on their new album as well.

How were the sales of your different albums?I have done five. The first two were pretty much local. “MidwestCarolina Blues” was on the Rockabilly Hall of Fame label, and soldpretty well. But the two most recent releases did really well worldwide, “Southern Lights” and “Something Heavy.”

How many gigs a year are you performing?The past 2-3 years have been rough. I have had lots of illness, plusdeath in the family and divorce. So I have not been onstage overfour times in a year. That’s all about to change.

Which were the greatest moments on stage? And theworst ones?I have been blessed with some really special onstage experiences.

Singing with The Marshall Tucker Band in front of thousands ofrowdy rockers was a blast; playing guitar with Molly Hatchet in LasVegas at this huge out door festival was a rush; singing and playingwith Bonnie Bramlett, Tommy Crain and Pete Carr all at the sametime; some of my happiest memories are the many shows I did withThe Southern Rock Allstars, jamming with Jakson Spires, CharlesHart, Jay Johnson, Dave Hlubek and Jimmy Farrar. So many greatexperiences! Worst stage experiences? I don’t think any stage expe-rience is bad. Even if you break a string, you are still ON STAGE!

If you could have anyone you wanted on your next album,who would you like to collaborate with?I have been able to work with most of my heroes already, but I’dlike to have Charlie Daniels on there. Henry Paul. Of course, I am ahuge fan of Bruce Springsteen, so that would be pretty awesometoo.

And who would you like to have in a band on stage withyou?Oh, this is fun. Dickey Betts on guitar, Warren Haynes guitar, JohnGalvin organ, Chuck Leavell on piano, Bonnie and Bekka Bramletton backing vocals, Tim Lindsey on bass, Matt Abts drums, EdgarWinter on sax.

What do you think is the future of the southern rockmusic? "Old bands," such as Skynyrd and Hatchet, make amusic different from the original bands; the Allman, Mar-shall Tucker and the Outlaws seem to be close to theiroriginal music. There are great new bands but do you seea band able to carry on the torch? Well, there are a few bands that really have the same feel and soulof the original southern rock bands. Certainly Swampdawamp isawesome. Blackberry Smoke I love. Preacher Stone from North Car-

olina is a great band, as are Pinetop Lightning from South Carolina.I really love Thomas Wynn & The Believers from Florida. Brotherand sister Thomas and Olivia Wynn are the children of Tom Wynn,the original drummer for the band Cowboy, and their music hasthat same country folk element of southern rock that Cowboy had.There are some really good southern rock bands out there thesedays.

Do you only listen to old southern rock music, or do youlisten to new bands?Oh no, as a matter of fact, I don’t listen to the old stuff nearly asoften nowadays. I am always on the lookout for great new bands.Honestly, there have been some amazing releases coming out thispast year. I highly recommend the new Skinny Molly album, andDevon Allman’s solo CD “Turquoise.” Billy Crain’s “Creole Shows”and the outrageously good “It’s About Pride” from The Outlaws.

You certainly heard about the Blackfoot affair. What doyou think of this band, with no original members, man-aged by Medlocke? To me, it's complete nonsense butwhat is your point of view?Well, I must agree with you. On the Rock Legends Cruise in Janu-ary I saw Greg T. Walker and Charlie Hargrett with Mike Estes andthey were calling it “Fired Guns,” but it was pretty damned close tobeing Blackfoot. Attatching the legendary name to a whole newgroup of guys, especially kids, had me scratching my head. That islike someone hiring six 20-year olds and calling them LynyrdSkynyrd. What? I see absolutely no sense in it.

What’s the best way to find your books and CDs online?I have this new one page website at www.michaelbuffalo.net . It hasthe latest news, and a page of links to every record, every book, allof my projects. Thank you so much for doing this interview. I have