Written by James Killen
Jul 12, 2013 at 08:00 PM
ImageBuxton returned to Houston from a writing and recording session in Athens, Georgia this week and had some new tunes to share with fans at the Mucky Duck on Friday night. The evening was a wonderful showcase of some of their songs from “Nothing Here Seems Strange” mixed with some songs that were so new that they didn’t even have names, yet.

Buxton is Sergio Trevino- lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Jason Willis- lead guitar and mandolin, Chris Wise- bass, Justin Terrell- drums and Austin Sepulvado- vocals, guitar, keyboards and accordion. Their songs are well written lyrics, full of imagery, presented in a country/folk/Americana style that is seasoned just right with some psychedelic reverb and organ flourishes. The presentation is original and refreshing with effects applied tastefully and generally with a restraint not common in a band this young.

The evening started out with an ethereal entry to “Down in the Valley” followed by “Fingertips” that came across more as splashes of tones with strategically placed distortion, than a running rhythmic trail. They followed those two with “Blown a Fuse”, a song with a great hook and a nice lead. They ran the lead vocal through a reverb and a loop at a lower volume as if trailing off into the distance. It was a very cool live effect and in no way overbearing.

The band began to introduce some of their non-recorded fare on the fourth song with “Tarzan and Jane” which came across as country fried with psychedelic gravy. The next two songs had not been named yet, but were tentatively called “Lonely Boy” and “Touch Me Underneath My Clothes”, the latter featuring a nice vocal harmony between Sergio and Austin that sounded almost bluegrass.

Image“Boy of Nine” started with a cool rhythmic drum intro and featured Jason on the mandolin and Austin on the accordion, all played through reverb. They followed that with a spooky 60’s psychedelic tune called “Old Haunt” and featuring vintage guitar and organ riffs. The first set ended with another new composition that I couldn’t catch the name of.

The second set started out bare bones with Sergio playing acoustic and singing “Arizona Girl”. He was joined for “Cold Like a Dog” by Austin Sepulvado on harmony vocals and they were both joined by Haley Barnes for a wonderful three part harmony on “The Leaves”.

The whole band returned to the stage then and continued to play new tunes for the next 6 songs. All of them were great compositions, but “Hole in the Back of my Head” featuring Austin on lead vocals with a nice Jason Willis reverb lead guitar stood out, as well as “Be Somebody”.

The set ended with “Body Count” and a new song called “Time Out” featuring a psychedelic guitar lead and organ fill. Buxton seems to me to be a well of new musical innovation and a group of very talented young men with the ability to work together toward a bigger musical picture. I’m looking forward to hearing whatever their trip to Georgia has begun to incubate. These guys are a group to watch.