by Chad Campbell, senior producer
I’ve been a Richard Buckner fan since I picked up his 2004 CD called Dents and Shells. I’m still amazed and thrilled every time I hear his voice – which has been described as “husky, powerful and muscular.” We had him on for a performance chat back in 2006 when he released Meadow. But for the past five years, Buckner had been silent. Turns out he was working on a score for a movie called Dream Boy released in 2008. That was a successful venture for Buckner, but legal differences with producers have kept him from performing or selling the soundtrack. Unfortunately, the music is sitting silently in Buckner’s desk drawer. After that disappointment, he got to work on a new CD of his own called Our Blood. The production was fraught with delays. There was a piece of recording hardware that kept failing and taking his work with it. Buckner had it fixed a few times, only to have it die again at a different part of the recording process. Then there was the headless body found in a burning car near the place he was renting with his girlfriend in upstate New York. The long-haired, new neighbor living in a former Grange hall was questioned by local police who informed him that the quarry road was a popular spot for dumping bodies. So Buckner moved into a safer place close to town, where a burglar broke in and stole his laptop which contained his writings, music and mixes. Long story short…Buckner had to record this album FOUR times, almost from scratch each time. It’s my kind of moody, atmospheric music (what my wife would call “depressing”), but I think it’s beautiful.
Click here for a sample of Buckner’s music.
Click here for Richard Buckner’s upcoming tour dates.