Buffalo Tom

Buffalo Tom are an alternative rock band from Boston, best known for a string of popular albums & singles released in the mid-90s.

They were formed in 1986 by fellow UMass Amherst students Bill Janovitz [guitar], Chris Colbourn [bass] and Tom Maginnis [drums]. They named the band partly after Buffalo Springfield and partly after their drummer Tom.

In their early years, they were largely written off by critics as a band trying to ape the sound of Dinosaur Jr.. These accusations weren’t entirely unfounded – though that has a lot to do with the fact that they were actually close friends with J Mascis, who produced their first two albums (Buffalo Tom and Birdbrain).

With time, they grew into their own style, and with their 1992 album Let Me Come Over (and its college-radio-mainstay single “Taillights Fade”), they gained quite a bit of success on the alternative circuit. However, commercial success was a bit slow to catch up – they didn’t make any dent on the charts until 1993’s Big Red Letter Day (and its attached MTV-hit single “Sodajerk”).

Soon, they became a rather prominent figure in the big alternative culture push of the mid-90s—especially through their guest appearances on TV shows like My So-Called Life and The Jon Stewart Show, which they were actually the last band booked on. Jon was a devout fan of Buffalo Tom – he once named them one of his top three favorite musical acts – so, they played over the end credits of the last installment of his MTV show in 1999.

After that, they took an extended hiatus until 2007, when they reunited at the South by Southwest festival, toured the country and released a new album (Three Easy Pieces). The newly-revived band has gone on to release one further album, 2011’s Skins. They continue to perform every so often in and around the greater Boston area.