
BUFFALO NICHOLS
with special guests The Oxleys
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DateJuly 31, 2021
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Event Starts8:00 PM
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VenueThe Back Room @ Colectivo
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Doors Open7:00 PM
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On Sale AvailabilityOn Sale Now
Event Details
For all the moonlighting he’s done in other genres over the years, Carl Nichols always comes back to the blues. At various points in his career Nichols has played gospel (despite being an atheist), West African music (despite being born and raised in Milwaukee) and, as one half of the acclaimed folk duo Nickel & Rose, Americana (despite having some deep reservations about that genre’s long history of appropriating black music without always welcoming black musicians). None of those gigs, however, extinguished his desire to play the kind of traditional, acoustic blues he grew up admiring.
Maybe on some level he’s pathologically drawn to spaces where he’s an outsider. As a twentysomething black musician, Nichols is all too aware that the modern blues scene doesn’t look much like him, but he never outgrew his childhood love of the music. “It seemed cool to me when I was young,” he says. “You’d just hear people like Lightnin’ Hopkins or R.L. Burnside, and they just seemed cool. That’s why anybody gets into music, because it speaks to them.”
And it continues to speak to him, so much so that he’s tabled Nickel & Rose just as the duo was establishing itself as a major folk festival draw to pursue his dream of returning the blues to its songwriter roots. “I think a lot of what’s been lost in the blues since the early ’60s is the black experience, so I try to sing about that,” Nichols says. “I can’t escape racial realities, but I’m also aware that my audience is different than me, so the way they receive my message is different. I have this nostalgia for an era where blues musicians sang about their experiences to their own people, but that audience isn’t there now.”
It’s a challenge, he admits, but there’s power in crossing racial and generational divides. And on a personal level, he sees Buffalo Nichols as a form of justice for the music he’s always loved. “I want to redeem the blues after all the experiences I went through when I was younger,” he explains. “When I first started getting into the blues, my mom would take me to blues shows, and inevitably there’d be some old white guy there who would try to take me under his wing and explain ‘the rules’ of the blues to me. It chased me away.
“I always related to the blues,” Nichols concludes. “I grew up in abject poverty. I experienced racism. And when I would sit down with a blues record, I could hear that in the songs. Now I want to be that person that I never got to see on stage.”
Parking & Directions
Group Sales
For group sales information, please email groups@ptglive.com or call (414) 286-6200. Inquiries can also be submitted via our Group Sales Page.
Please note that group rates are typically offered for groups of 20 or more, but are sometimes offered for groups of 10 or more. Discounts range from 10-20% but vary from show to show (not all shows support a group rate due to high demand or other restrictions).
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Bag Policy & Prohibited Items
SMALL PURSES ONLY, PLEASE. PURSES ARE SUBJECT TO SEARCH
To efficiently create a positive and safe experience for all patrons, only small purses (13″W x 4″D x 9″H and smaller) are allowed into the theater and all are subject to search.
All other bags including backpacks and oversized purses are strictly prohibited and bag storage is NOT available at The Pabst, The Riverside, Turner Hall Ballroom or The Back Room @ Colectivo.
THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE PROHIBITED AND ARE NOT ALLOWED INTO ANY OF THE VENUES.
Weapons, laser pens, signs, banners, electronic smoking devices (vapes, Juuls, etc.), oversized bags, backpacks, outside food and beverages including water, cans, bottles, alcohol, illegal substances, iPads/tablets, selfie sticks, laptops, professional audio recording devices (unless approved by artist), and any professional photography equipment. The use of vape pens inside the venues are prohibited as well.
PLAN AHEAD: LEAVE YOURSELF EXTRA TIME
Plan to arrive 30 minutes before you want to be in your seat to allow time to go through our security check. Please leave large bags at home or in your car.
We are not responsible for any personal property that is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Thank you for helping to make all of our events efficient, enjoyable and safe for all.
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