The White Buffalo Roams to Hermosa

As fans anticipate his forthcoming album, singer-songwriter Jake Smith, known as The White Buffalo, will bring his storytelling lyrics and voice as rugged as the Wild West itself to on Wednesday night.

The Southern California native's album, Once Upon a Time in the West, will be released in February on Unison Music.

Since Smith’s first full-length album, Hogtied Like a Rodeo, in 2002, he has been either in the studio or on the road. As hard as the singer-songwriter has worked, it was a chance incident that helped spread his music to the masses—including Hermosa Beach.

The White Buffalo caught the ear of surf veteran Chris Malloy, who has been using his music in his popular Woodshed films. Smith’s breakthrough came in 2002 when Malloy put the song "Wrong" in his popular film Shelter.

"He was one of the main influences who got behind me and made me realize that this is what I should be doing," Smith said.

Since then Smith has cultivated a strong following within Southern California's skate and surf communities. His music also has appeared in TV series, such as Sons of Anarchy and Californication, both of which reflect the outlaw nature of his sound.

After a few years of hard touring—sharing the bill with artists like Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Gomez, and appearing at Bonnaroo—Smith has built off the recent momentum in recording new material.

Both Once Upon a Time in the West and Smith’s previous EP, Prepare for Black and Blue, were culled from the same recording sessions last year. Looking back on recording 16 songs with producers Bruce Witkin and Ryan Dorn, Smith said he had a tough time choosing what tracks would make the record.

"They were all album worthy," he said. "We knew those songs would live somewhere so initially, we were gonna put 13 songs on the full-length and there would be a couple of songs that would be on the EP that would bleed over onto the album. I thought all of the songs deserved to be put out properly instead of as part of a special edition."

Smith added, the songs that didn’t make the full-length, ended up on the EP.

"That’s not because I thought any lesser of those ones, but a matter of how they flowed together thematically," he said. "It was sort of like figuring out a puzzle of how all the songs fit together."

In the end, Smith’s storytelling and songwriting is deeply personal. Most of the songs relate to his life, though vague, he prides himself on being an open songwriter who expresses himself through his words: "It’s personal, but I like writing stuff that is accessible to other people.

"On the album, there seems to be more of a nostalgic theme about growing up in suburban California," he said. "It’s all very American music in that there was a broader story to tell about upbringings and things like that. There’s more of a common thread on the album than the EP."

The White Buffalo and his backing band bring their brand of outlaw rock to Saint Rocke on Wednesday, taking the stage around 10 p.m.; Shelby Earl performs around 9 p.m. Doors open at 5.