Gabe Carter’s Dream Inspired “Buffalo Road” from Dan Auerbach-Produced Blues Compilation [Exclusive Premiere]

On August 11, Easy Eye Sound is set to release the new compilation, Tell Everybody! The anthology showcases a prominent slice of and current state of the blues.

Today, American Songwriter premieres one of the tracks from that collection, “Buffalo Road,” from the Chicago blues artist, Gabe Carter. The song is out officially on Thursday.

Featuring hypnotic guitar riffs, Carter’s sharp-yet-raspy voice, and an old-fashioned AM radio quality in the best of ways, “Buffalo Road” showcases those raw sensibilities that often make blues music so attractive. Carter says the song and its composition came from a dream.

“This song came from a dream I had while I was on tour in Switzerland,” he explained. “In my dream, late at night two wolves came into my grandparents’ house, where we were staying in the dream, which is on a rural street called Buffalo Road. I had to protect my baby daughters and I shot the two wolves dead. The dream stayed with me and the next day I sang about it on stage at a festival.”

The new Tell Everybody! album is a collection of “wide-ranging” 21st-century musicians compiled by acclaimed rocker Dan Auerbach, frontman for The Black Keys. The album also includes a pair of never-before-heard tracks from both The Black Keys and Auerbach’s solo work.

The new album features artists like North Mississippi’s R.L. Boyce, Betonia’s Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and the Delta gospel sounds of Leo “Bud” Welch alongside brilliant youngbloods like Detroit duo The Moonrisers and Korean-American Kentucky native Nat Myers.

The exclusive premiere of “Buffalo Road” and a Q&A with Carter are below.

American Songwriter: What does it feel like for you to be part of this new blues collection?

Gabe Carter: It feels exciting and like a big honor to be a part of this album. And I feel like the group of artists was really wisely selected. They’re all excellent musicians with incredible sounds. 

AS: What does the history of Chicago music, and especially the blues, mean to your creative spirit?

GC: I used to believe that blues was a universal musical language that the whole world could speak, in a sense. But as I’ve traveled the world, I’ve found that isn’t so. Blues is to Chicago and much of the Midwest what salsa is to certain Latin countries or what jazz is to New York. It’s in the water and has to be infused early and often in a musician to create the right results. And I’ve realized that happened in my case at a very young age largely due to my geographical and, as a result, cultural upbringing in this part of the country. So essentially, without the blues history of this region, I wouldn’t be who I am musically. 

AS: What was it like to work with Dan Auerbach? 

GC: Working with Dan was very focused, fast, and no-nonsense. Dan is a hard worker and he has developed the right process to get immediately to the heart and the magic of creating music. 

AS: What does this particular song mean to you?

GC: This song is a reminder to me that dreams can become reality, in more ways than one. 

AS: What do you love most about music?

GC: I love how music can be a form of escape. It can make you cry, it can make you laugh, it can give you strength, it can heal a broken heart, it can change the trajectory of your life.  

Photo by Christophe Losberger / Courtesy Shore Fire Media