Buck 65

Lovers,

- Do you know any super-stylish foxy ladies? Are you perhaps a super-stylish fox yourself? Well, my unbelievably foxy wife has made a foray into the field of fashion. If you want to have your mind blown and/or want to blow the minds of your fashion-forward friends, take a gander at this: hotness.

- 20 Odd Years, Volume 4 is coming. September 14. I’ll have full details for you shortly.

- Download “Paper Airplane” free! Look: pretty (you may have to scroll a little). And please don’t forget to request “Paper Airplane” on Triple J if you believe in magic.

- Two words: Loose Cougar.

- You should watch the movie “The Thin Man”.

- I should have more tour dates for you soon. And I’ll have some dynamite new t-shirt situations at the merch booth when the time comes. Brace yourself.

- I joined a baseball team a few months ago. I joined part way through the season. Before I joined, the team lost every game it played. Since I joined, we won every game. What does that tell you?

- Time to make more songs.

Lovelovelove,

Buck

Shot and edited by a good egg named Jeffrey Garriock.

Lovers,

This past Monday, something quite amazing happened…

At the release show for 20 Odd Years, Vol. 3 at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, I asked the room if anyone knew any Buck 65 songs by heart. A guy near the back raised his hand rather tentatively, and I asked him to come up to the stage. I asked him what his name was and he told me, “Casper”. Then I asked if he’d be willing to perform one of my songs and he offered to take a crack at “Wicked And Weird”. So I cued up the instrumental and turned him loose. He RIPPED IT!! It was incredible! I think he did it better than I’ve ever done it!

After he finished, the crowd went bananas and I thanked him. Then he told me about the amazing thing that he’s doing: he’s riding a bike across Canada to try to raise awareness and a million dollars for Canadians living with Down Syndrome. This Casper fellow is a good person. If you would like to know more about his project and want to help out, click here.

That’s all for now. More soon.

Love,

Buck

Lovers,

On Monday, August 9th, we’ve got some celebrating to do. 20 Odd Years Vol. 3 – Albuquerque is being released and so we’re going to have another get-together at the Drake Hotel in Toronto. I’d love to see you there. I’ll tell you a story and sing you a song and we can get our picture taken together. I’ve got a nice outfit all picked out and will probably bring a special friend or two along. The show is free. If you want to come, RSVP here: buck65music@gmail.com

Once again, you are invited/encouraged to shoot some video. If you do, upload that shiz to YouTube and tag it like this: “Buck 65 20 Odd Years Volume 2 Distance Launch Party at the Drake” Then, send the URL to buck65music@gmail.com. Bam. We’re in business.

Guess what else… I’m goin’ back to China, China, China… I’m playing in Shanghai on September 24. Glass Candy is also on the bill. That’s going to be good night. Then I’ll be in Beijing the next night. Between Australia and China, I’ll be visiting another Asian country. I’ll have more details on that for you shortly. Then, on the way back home, I’ll be playing a bunch of dates in the USA. Again, details soon.

A few weeks ago I asked y’all to pester the good people at Triple J radio in Australia to play “Paper Airplane”. Well, I want to thank you for doing that because it paid off. The song has been added to their rotation. This is totally amazing and one of the biggest things to happen to me in my career so far. So why don’t we shoot for the stars?! Let’s go for number one! Keep hitting them up for requests. Just click here. I appreciate it more than I can tell you. But I’ll work hard to show you when I get to Australia in September.

I’ve been recording lots of new material in the last few weeks. I’m psyched. I’ll tell you all about it soon.

Better run.

Talk soon.

Buck

Lovers,

EP number three in the 20 Odd Years series will be released on August 10th. It’s called Albuquerque. Why, you may ask? Simply because I love Albuquerque and the people there. I had one of the best shows/best nights of my life there. So it’s just a nod to some good people who made me happy to be alive.

Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect:

“Final Approach” – This song features Marie-Pierre Arthur, who is from Montreal. It’s a bi-lingual song (French and English) and is about airport reunions. I’ve never had a hit before, but when I finished this song, I thought to myself “this kinda sounds like a hit”. I hope you like it. I love it. I became a fan of Marie-Pierre when I heard her song “Elle”. Check it out…

“Cold Steel Drum” – The first two EPs featured collaborations with my good friend Jenn Grant. Those two songs (“Who By Fire” and “Paper Airplane”) have had the strongest response of all the new stuff so far. So why not make it three in a row? This is the last of three songs I recorded with Jenn last summer. But fear not, Jenn and I are working on more stuff for a future project now. I’ve performed this song live a few times already and it bangs ridiculously hard. Jenn’s voice will give you chills and/or bring you to tears. Listen…

“Lights Out” – This is a song for hedonists and features my two not-so-secret weapons: Buddy Peace (one of the best DJs/turntablists on Earth) and Charles Austin (my favorite guitar player in the world). Buddy and I have been working together for a few years now (we’re currently working on a top-secret project together) and Charles and I go back 11 or 12 years. The first song we ever worked on together was “Pack Animal”. On “Lights Out”, Chuck pretty much goes berserk. Check out this video of Chuck (on guitar, of course) with his band, The Lodge, performing a Wire cover…

“Zombie Delight” – This is an educational song about the zombie apocalypse. It was built around a dirty guitar lick played by my friend Afie, who’s in a band called Bahamas. It also features a break-neck scratch solo from Buddy Peace. I’ve been playing this one live for a while now and it seems to be shaping up as a crowd favorite. Afie is amazing, by the way. Check out Bahamas…

Voila.

As usual, the EP will be available on this website and iTunes. And will be on vinyl soon.

We’ll have another shin-dig to celebrate the release of this thing at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. It will be another RSVP situation and I’ll have more info on that here for you soon. But I can tell you now that the show will be early in the evening of August 9th. Come on out, won’t you?

Team Buck 65 is working away on putting together more tour dates to follow my trip to Australia in September. Be on the lookout for word on that soon.

And speaking of Australia, here’s another gentle reminder that Triple J radio is willing to play “Paper Airplane” from the Distance EP. So if you would like to request it (and I’d love you forever if you did), you can just click here.

Finally, here’s an update on the vinyl situation!

See you soon, Sexy.

Buck

Lovers,

Australia has been good to me. Back in ‘96 or so, when I made the first run of my album Vertex (on cassette), only one distributor in the world was interested in taking copies off my hands. That distributor was in Australia. They took all the copies I had (which was a few hundred). That same year there was an independent magazine/fanzine in Australia that named Vertex album of the year. I found an audience and strong support in Oz before I found much success in my own country (or anywhere else for that matter).

Well, now Australia is supporting me in an amazing way again. I’ve never had much radio play in my career, but Triple J is currently playing my song “Paper Airplane”. It’s not in regular rotation or anything, but any play at all is a huge boost for me. So if you’d like to help out the cause of a broken-down rapper with a rose in his teeth and make the world a more beautiful place, let the good people at Triple J you’d like to hear it. To do so, just click here.

So I want to thank the beautiful people of Australia for your humbling support through the years and in advance for requesting my song. Let’s jam the circuits!

I’ll see you in September.

Lovelovelove,

Buck

Lovers,

I’m heading to Australia! Again! And not a moment too soon! I’m bringing my friend Valery along to charm your pants off. We’ll be performing a bunch of new songs and putting some new twists on some of the older stuff. Come see us! We’ll work as hard as we can to change you life for the better.

Melbourne – September 16 (Corner Hotel)
Sydney – September 17 (Factory Theatre)
Brisbane Festival – September 18, 19 (The Spiegeltent)

By the way, more exotic tour dates will be announced soon. Watch this space.

This Thursday (July 15), I will be in beautiful London, Ontario at the Aeolian Hall! London has been one of my very most favorite places to play for a long, long time. So I’m always excited to get back. Seems something memorable always happens in The Forest City, so come take a look. We’ll make history together.

A week ago, I had my first in a series of 20 Odd Years release shows at the Drake Hotel in Toronto. It was crazy-fun and prizes were given away. I’ll be doing it again on August 9th. Come on down. I’ll be bringing some fancy-pants friends along. I have some tricks up my sleeve and I promised a guy I’d do The Food Song.

All last week I was recording with Canadian super-weirdo, Hawksley Workman. We came up with four bonkers new songs and you will hear them soon. Consider yourself warned.

Congratulations go out to Claire, who you should remember from the Secret House album. Her first novel has just been picked up by a publisher. It’s a great accomplishment and I’m so proud of her. She worked so hard for so long. I’ll have more info for you soon and then we’ll all go out and buy the book.

Let’s ride bikes!

Buck

Buck 65 – Australian East Coast Tour this September


Thu Sept 16 – Melbourne, Corner Hotel
Tix: www.custommade.com.au (ph 1300 762 545), Corner box office (11am-8pm Mon-Sat : ph 9427 9198), www.cornerhotel.com


Fri Sept 17 – Sydney, Factory Theatre (an official selection of the 2010 Sydney Fringe)
Tix: www.custommade.com.au (ph 1300 762 545),
www.factorytheatre.com (9550 3666)


Sat Sept 18 & Sat Sept 19 – Brisbane, The Famous Spiegeltent
Tix: www.brisbanefestival.com.au (ph 1300 438 849)

20 Odd Years: Volume 2 – Distance is available now in the Buck 65 Music Store and at iTunes!

Lovers,

I’ll be playing at The Drake Hotel in Toronto on July 5th to celebrate the release of the second EP in the 20 Odd Years series. Admittance is free! All you have to do is RSVP at this here email address: buck65music@gmail.com. All RSVP-ers will be entered in a draw for a stay at the hotel and $165-worth of food and drank. Pas mal!

Also, you’re encouraged to shoot some video. If you get anything good, you’ll have a chance to win a complete CD/DVD library. And then we’ll hang out at the final release event-thing in October (we’re going to do one of these for each EP release). I’ll tell you a good story and we can get our picture taken and stuff. How’s that sound? So shoot away and I’ll let you know where and how you can upload stuff soon.

The show (next Monday, July 5) starts at 7:00 pm (early, yo). And keep in mind that space is pretty limited, so jump on it!

By the way, the second EP is called “Distance”. I’ll play some songs from it. I’ll play some oldies. I may bring a special guest along – you never know. I might be wearing a wig. The Canadian rapper known as Drake WILL NOT be there (I think that’s safe to say).

This is the first of four events that I will be having monthly at the Drake to mark each release.

See you there, Sexy…

Buck

Lovers,

On July 6th, the second EP of the 20 Odd Years series will be released. Like the first one, you’ll be able to get it digitally on this website and at the iTunes store. Plus, the vinyl is coming very soon! I promise…

Here’s what you can expect:

BCC – This is a song I made with my pal John Southworth. I think he’s probably a genius and he gave me a piano once. If you’re not already familiar with John’s amazing work, check this out:

Paper Airplane – This song appeared in a primitive (and crappy sounding) form on Dirtbike 2. It was also on my Myspace page for a while. When I took it down, lots of people wondered why. But the reason was because I had decided to go back into the studio with it and do it proper justice. So Jenn (Grant) and I got together and wrote some new parts. We also added a strings part that made me faint when I first heard it. So now the song is bigger and better than ever and I can’t wait for you to hear it. It’s real pretty, I think. Jenn was featured on a song on the last EP – you heard her voice on my cover of “Who By Fire” by Leonard Cohen. Check this out – it’s what made me fall in love with Jenn in the first place:

The Niceness – I made this one with my friend Colin Linden. You should know Colin, but if you don’t, know this: he’s in a band called Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and he also works/has worked with Emmylou Harris, The Band, T-Bone Burnett, Leon Redbone, Lucinda Williams and well, the list goes on almost forever. He’s also in the Cohen Bros. film Intolerable Cruelty, which is bonkers. Colin is one of the greatest guitar slingers on Earth. Together we made a song about being nice that sounds like it was found in the attic of your great-grandfather. Here’s a little clip of Colin showing you how it’s done:

Tears In Space – This is a song inspired by the great French artist, Yves Klein. During his life, he was admired and ridiculed in almost equal measure. Among many other amazing things, he believed he had the power to fly all the way to the moon without the aid of a ship or any equipment whatsoever (I don’t doubt he could). So one day I imagined him flying to the moon to be alone and cry because people didn’t believe him and they laughed at him. But there’s no gravity in space, so instead of the tears rolling down his cheeks, they just drifted from his eyes to float among the stars forever. I liked that image, so I wrote a song about it. You should read about Yves Klein. He was something else. The song features the crazy-beautiful voice of Meaghan Smith. Check her out:

Don’t forget there will be another EP in August (then one in September and one in October too). I’ll be back to tell you more about that soon.

Vivre sans temps mort,

Buck

Lovers!

Today – June 8 – is a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. My DVD, “The Lost Tapes” and the first EP from the 20 Odd Years series (Avant) is out today! You can buy it through this here website, or from iTunes in the following countries:

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States

The EP will be available on vinyl very soon. Keep your eyes on this space for more details about that. And remember – more EPs will follow: a new one every month between now and October! Exciting!

More soon.

Buck

Hello Lovers,

Welcome to the new and improved Buck65.com. I hope you like it.

People have been asking me about “Love Letters” and if they will continue. Indeed they will. In fact, they will appear right here – front and center – on the main page from here on out.

Also, Dirtbike is still available – free of charge – on the STORE page. Tell your cousins.

The first EP of the 20 Odd Years series – Avant – will be released next week and will be available on vinyl very soon. The DVD, The Lost Tapes, will be out next week too. You’ll find that stuff on the STORE page too. I just chose the songs for the second EP – which will be called Distance – last night. It will be released (like the first, both digitally and on vinyl) next month.

With everything that’s happening right now, I’ve been doing a lot of press recently. Mostly, it’s gone well and has been fun. But a few weeks ago, I encountered another nasty bad-apple journalist with a chip on their shoulder who tried to besmirch my good name. In their story they tried to paint a picture of me as a viciously competitive egomaniac and a red-neck with an identity crisis.

Well, after having had some bad experiences with the press before, I now make it a policy to record all my interviews myself for my own protection. So, just to clear things up, I’m posting the full interview – unedited – so you can hear the truth. Have a listen. I think you will come to the same conclusion I did – that this “journalist” had some kind of weird agenda and was on drugs from outer space or something.

More soon.

Buck

65interview (uncut)

Hey Y’all!

Check me out! New website!

This is part of a big year-long celebration of my first 20 years as a rap weirdo and international romantic. For a breakdown on that, click on ‘HISTORY’.

Alert! My first full-length DVD, The Lost Tapes is available for preorder! Click on the banner above to make it happen. It will dazzle your senses. You can see the trailer on the VIDEO page along with all my videos from over the years.

I also have some special plans for a series of shows in my current hometown of Toronto, right in my neighbourhood at the Drake. Keep checking in for more info on that soon. And I’ll be playing some festivals in Canada this June and July. My friend Valery Gore will be coming along for the ride to me out with those. Keep an eye on the ‘SHOWS’ page. We’re also getting geared up for a world tour later in the year.

But what about new material, you ask?

Coming soon! 20 Odd Years: Volume 1 – Avant

In 2010 I’ll be releasing new music all year long in four-song sets. Along the way, you’ll hear lots of exciting collaborations with people like Gentleman Reg, Meaghan Smith, Colin Linden, Olivia Ruiz, Gord Downie and lots more.

In the first release you’ll hear a song called “Superstars Don’t Love”, which pays tribute to Michael Jackson and is a collaboration with my friend and super-producer Jorun. Jo and I have been working together since my early days. 20 Odd Years is all about celebrating the fact that this is my 20th year in the game, so what better way to kick things off than with a friend who’s been with me from the start?

You’ll also hear a song called “Gee Whiz” which is a collaboration with Nick Thorburn of Islands. This one also features an incredible contribution from my old pal, and one of the best DJs on the planet, Buddy Peace. Buddy wrote a verse, then constructed it with a rapid-fire succession of scratches. I’ve never heard anything like it. You’ve got to hear it to believe it.

“Red Eyed Son” features banjo stylings by Neil Osborne of legendary Canadian band 54-40, it was co-written by his daughters Coral and Kandle and features vocals from Coral! It’s a banger with banjo!

There’s also a cover version of “Who By Fire” by Leonard Cohen which features the incredibly beautiful voice of Jenn Grant. Before I started recording this new material, I asked the audiences at shows what song I should cover and this is the song they chose overwhelmingly.

I hope you enjoy. There’s more on the way! Soon!!

Buck