Buckra

Artist Information

Biography

Buckra is a four piece of road happy, live music playing crazy bastards from Cincinnati, OH. We have recorded 3 full length CD's, 2 Ep's, and played over 500+ gigs from one side of the county to the next. Here is what other people have to say about us.

"From there, the only thing that could cap the evening would be a visit to the Lodge Bar for Buckra. I don’t know how much more I can actually say about these guys without sounding like a publicist or a shameless fanboy, but sweet shit, put them under a roof and they will the bloody thing into the stratosphere. I wouldn’t take a chance on booking Buckra outdoors; they might just Chicken Little the sky.

Their originals are avowed classics — “Shake Your Baby Fat,” “Camouflage Playboy’s International” and last night’s show stopper, “Stop Callin’ Me Names” — and last night’s covers were indicative of the band‘s mastery of any genre they touch. Their take on Sly and the Family Stone’s “If You Want Me to Stay” amped up the original’s quiet Soul to an appropriately thumping level, but their spin on the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” was positively inspired, deer-hooking the song’s execrable Disco beat (although the mirror ball was in use) for a driving Funk undercurrent and making the song, for me, insanely appealing for the first time in three decades.

Dylan Speeg is the perfect frontman, a combination Lounge singer/Punk shouter/carnival barker; Jacob Heintz is Django Reinhardt and Eddie Van Halen in one body; and the rhythm section of Andrew Laudeman and Chris Lanahan on bass and drums respectively should get some kind of government service award for bravery in putting the perfect beat behind the two madmen at the front of the stage. Buckra swings and swaggers while simultaneously embracing and altering every genre they touch. A Buckra show is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. And there’s no guarantee they’re going to stay on. The perfect end to a perfectly imperfect first night of MidPoint."
Brian Baker (CityBeat)

"Admit it - in this ever-evolving, always advancing world, music doesn’t always keep up the way we think it should. But Buckra, with its swinging grooves and rockabilly/old school virtuosity, knocks the half-hearted bands off the stage and into the wings.

Rising from the gloom of America’s Bible Belt (Cincinnati, Ohio), Buckra is anything but Bible thumpers. Nah, these guys trudge through the layers of bullshit and grab at the heart and soul of music, leaving what’s left over for the less enthusiastic musicians to dig through. Not versed in sophistication, this is a majestic project that wallows in the glorious world of back woods brawls and beers.

Their live shows are hailed as jumpin’ jivin’ good times, and you may even have to pop some uppers in order to keep up with their reckless nature. But hey, do whatcha gotta do to make it through!"
Rachel Heisler (Pitch Perfect Reviews)

"Cincinnati's Buckra are the kind of band who understand that tonight is way more important than tomorrow. In other words, this is not the kind of outfit who'll pack it in early-these guys will close the bar, wear out college students and drive home happily by dawn. Put together with sly humor, swinging swagger and true rock and roll nerve"
Alex Green (Caught in the Carousel)

"musical playfulness that could bring a smile to the face of even the most bitter music snob."
Mike Breen (City Beat)

"Cincinnati's foursome Buckra gives a wild kick and a spit in the eye to any sense of normalcy in the pop rock world."
(Music Morsels)

Check out some Video's:
Shake your Baby Fat - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL6fIItEmNc
Crash and Burn Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xyw4B6z4iA

Some of the bands we have shared the stage with:
Offspring, G Love & Special Sauce, Goo goo dolls, Blondie, the Donnas, Rancid, Violent Femmes, Los Lobos, OK Go, Talib Kweli and Hi tek, Gore Gore Girls, and Oh My God

Awards and Honors:
2011 Buckra's "Shake Your Baby Fat" featured in the new movie and trailer for Meet Monica Velour : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln_gnZwbHzY
2010 CEA nominee for Best Live Band
2009 Just Plain Folks nominee for Best Rock Album "Camouflage Playboys International" and Best Rock Song "Stop"
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Invited Performer at Midpoint Music Festival
2006 CEA nomination for Best Live Band
2006 Zippo Hot Tour Semi-Finalist
2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 Midwest Music Summit Performer
2006 Midpoint Music Festival/Sonicbids ad campaign
2005 Invited performer at DFest
2005 Invited performer at Motor City Music Festival
2003, 2004, 2005 Budweiser True Music Selected Band
2004 Invited performer at MEIC
2004 Shake Your Baby Fat Billboard Runner Up track
2004 One of Blender Magazines Best unsigned bands
2003, 2004 Invited Performer at Cutting Edge Music Festival
2004 Invited Performer to 6 Flags Rock n' Ride
2004 "Shake your baby fat" used in Scion commercial
2002, 2003, 2004 Invited Performer Taste of Cincinnati
2004 Invited Performer Fringe Festival
2004 Invited Performer Pepsi Jammin' on Main
2004 Invited Performer Florida Music Festival
2003 CEA nominee Best Artist, Best Album
2003 WEBN Best Midpoint Band
2003 Invited Performer at MEIC
2002, 2003 Invited Performer at Nashville New Music Conference
2003 Invited Performer at VH1 Summer End Concert in Las Vegas
2003 Grammy Recording Academy(Chicago) runner-up for track "Shake Your Baby Fat"
2003 Online Rock Fest Finalist
2003 Invited Performer at NXNE (Toronto,CA)
2003 CityBeat Best Local Band (readers), Best Local Musician (readers), Best Fan Friendly (staff)
2003 CAMMY Award Best Garage/Rock/Power Pop Band
2003 Broadjam Top Ten in the Word "Shake Your Baby Fat"
2002 CEA Alternative/Indie Band of the year
2002 CAMMY Favorite Band of the Year
2002 Invited Performer Millenium Music Conference (PA)
2001 97xposure Finalist
2001 Invited Performer Rising Star Showcase (IN)
2000 FarmClub Hot Track List "Lawn Man"
2000 Mad Frog Battle of the Bands Champ

Instrumentation

Dylan Speeg - Vocals
Andrew Laudeman - Bass
Chris Lenahan - Drums
Jacob Heintz - Guitar

Discography

Buckra Discography:
2011 New CD on its way
2009 Free Lap Dances - 5*
2008 Free Lap Dances - 4*
2008 Camouflage Playboy's International
2007 Free Lap Dances - 3*
2006 Free Lap Dances - 2*
2005 Detonation Laboratories EP
2005 WEBN/Budweiser Episode 2 CD*
2004 Blender New Music Compilation CD (Sept)*
2004 Seventeen Year Itch*
2003- Free Lap Daces* (homeless animal benefit CD)
2003 – So Many Weapons (Detonation Laboratories)
2003 – Dayton After Dark *
2003 – SKRATCH warped tour *
2002 - Essence of Now Vol 2 * (DW records)
2002 – Loose Gems (Detonation Laboratories)
2002 - SKRATCH magazine Vol 11 *
2002 - CatSnip Benefit CD *
2001 - SKRATCH magazine Vol 10 *
2001- East Coast Indies Vol 2 *
2001 – Bittersweet Relief(Northern Aggression) *
2000 - Fall of Porkopolis (Detonation Laboratories)
*Compilation CD with 1 or two Buckra tracks

Audio

• Crash and Burn
  Listen  
• Camouflage Playboys International
  Listen  
• Cruelty
  Listen  
• Beautiful Thing
  Listen  
• Shake Your Baby Fat
  Listen  
• Andy's Room
  Listen  
• Bad Idea
  Listen  
• Moon
  Listen  
• Stop
  Listen  
• Don't Fight
  Listen  
• The End
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Crash and Burn
• Shake Your Baby Fat
• Beautiful Thing
• Bad Idea

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Caught in the Carousel [+ Show ]
  

  "Never turn your back on a good time cause it might not happen again," warns Buckra frontman Dylan S..."Never turn your back on a good time cause it might not happen again," warns Buckra frontman Dylan Speeg. It's good advice. Sounding like Glenn Danzig singing for Royal Crown Revue, Cincinnati's Buckra are the kind of band who understand that tonight is way more important than tomorrow. In other words, this is not the kind of outfit who'll pack it in early-these guys will close the bar, wear out college students and drive home happily by dawn. Put together with sly humor, swinging swagger and true rock and roll nerve, the quartet's debut is a hell of a good time. Much to suggest here: There's bluesy punk ("Cruelty") rock and roll jive ("Beautiful Thing") and straight up urban grind ("Stop"). "If you've got some issues/And a full box of tissue/I know an alcoholic who can help," Speeg sings on the swinging punk number "Andy's Room." Okay, so maybe he'd be a bad choice for a therapist, but somewhere near three in the morning in the sweatiest bar in the city, he's the guy you want with the mike dancing on the table.

• Recoil Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  BUCKRA CAMOUFLAGE PLAYBOYS INTERNATIONAL CINCINNATI, OHIO August 2008 With a vital energy and...BUCKRA
  CAMOUFLAGE PLAYBOYS INTERNATIONAL
  CINCINNATI, OHIO
  August 2008
  
  With a vital energy and inventiveness missing from modern good-time music, this produced-but-not-overproduced album is a reminder that studio trickery can only do so much and will never replace a band which is truly on fire. This is a rock ‘n’ roll disc which borrows heavily from swing, jazz/R&B; sometimes sounding like the Cult covering Billie Holliday, the voice weaves the spirit of cool through the constantly changing chords, glued tight as the drummer commands the rhythm. “Never turn your back on a good time,” they say, and this seems like the perfect reasoning for checking out this Ohio quartet on their website at www.buckra.com. — Benjamin Hunter

• Music Emissions [+ Show ]
  

  Buckra - Camouflage Playboys International In times of sour thoughts and negative emotions, turn...Buckra - Camouflage Playboys International
  
  In times of sour thoughts and negative emotions, turn to Buckra’s “Camouflage Playboys International.” Cincinnati, Ohio, brings to us a very refreshing and playful band that is ready to take the scene by storm with some wailing funk rock.
  
  Vocalist Dylan Speeg has a potent voice perfect for the songs that Buckra creates. Amid the jamming and the swinging, Speeg sings with such incredible swagger. The title track is the best example of how Buckra’s attitude gets to the core of what music should be.
  
  Above the incredibly catchy music, Buckra’s lyrics paint quite the picture. Tracks such as “Crash and Burn” are vivid in words, which adds to their amicable quality. Furthermore, the album hits almost every possible tempo. While “Bad Idea” is a slow Western croon complete with the guitars and harmonica, the transition into “Beautiful Thing” is fast-paced and suspenseful. The entire album weaves in and out with the pace, and the time with which the ten tracks play goes by very quickly.
  
  “Camouflage Playboys International” is Buckra’s third album, and the band has perfected their concoction of swaggering gypsy rock. There is a lot of soul in what this band has created, and it also has the potential to get listeners up and swinging. With a creation like “Camouflage Playboys International,” it is hard to listen to the album and stay in a bitter mood.
  
  Reviewed by: Lisa Kwon
  Date Reviewed: 2008-07-27
  

• The Aquarian [+ Show ]
  

  Buckra Ready Steady Go In Camouflage Let's get it outta the way fast. Buckra's self-released Camo...Buckra Ready Steady Go In Camouflage
  
  Let's get it outta the way fast. Buckra's self-released Camouflage Playboys International sounds completely retro. But that's not a put-down by any means.Emulating a bevy of lovingly remembered ‘70s rock luminaries, the affable Cincinnati combo refry Black Oak Arkansas' mindless boogie, Wet Willie's Southern-cultured white soul, Atlanta Rhythm Section's rural funk, and Robert Palmer's primordial R & B artfulness. Eclectic indeed, but Buckra's sharp interplay and taut arrangements give the flawlessly executed tunes a versified validity. Hand-clapped choral-chanted juke joint opener, "Andy's Room," slips into a snappy jazz interlude that then imbibes the bluesy title track's swooning saloon slunk. Sneaking Kings Of Leon's contemporary blues-rock skronk into a scrappy rockabilly groove, orchestral cow-punk scorcher, "Crash And Burn," takes us on a contagious love-stung whiskey-bent venture. Whiny harmonica teases anguished dirge, "Bad Idea," a swampy Delta blues brood in search of an understanding vixen, as well as full-on Southern rock boogie tilter, "Beautiful Thing." A slick jazz-tinged whimsicality infests "Moon" and foments snubbing hook-filled jubilee "Stop (Calling Me Names)." Even easier to consume, "Don't Fight" registers with a top-down summer drive breeziness so familiar you'd swear it's from a Z-grade drivein movie or a long-lost Little Feat album. Could greater exposure be far off?

• Pitch Perfect Reviews [+ Show ]
  

  Admit it - in this ever-evolving, always advancing world, music doesn’t always keep up the way we th...Admit it - in this ever-evolving, always advancing world, music doesn’t always keep up the way we think it should. But Buckra, with its swinging grooves and rockabilly/old school virtuosity, knocks the half-hearted bands off the stage and into the wings.
  
  Rising from the gloom of America’s Bible Belt (Cincinnati, Ohio), Buckra is anything but Bible thumpers. Nah, these guys trudge through the layers of bullshit and grab at the heart and soul of music, leaving what’s left over for the less enthusiastic musicians to dig through. Not versed in sophistication, this is a majestic project that wallows in the glorious world of back woods brawls and beers.
  
  Their live shows are hailed as jumpin’ jivin’ good times, and you may even have to pop some uppers in order to keep up with their reckless nature. But hey, do whatcha gotta do to make it through!

• Positively Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [+ Show ]
  

  Buckra—Camouflage Playboys International (Detonation Laboratories) lounge swanky and barnstormin’ th...Buckra—Camouflage Playboys International (Detonation Laboratories) lounge swanky and barnstormin’ the beat to make the ladies squeal, this rowdy Cincinnati quartet features one of the fastest, slickest set of pipes in the “cocktail nation” in showman Dylan Speeg, a must-seek all-night party destination that enlists homeboy Justin Jeffre of 98 Degrees to blow harp on two tracks

• CityBeat [+ Show ]
  

  'Weapons' of Ass Destruction Booties will no doubt be shaking to their demise.. Weapons, the quar...'Weapons' of Ass Destruction
  Booties will no doubt be shaking to their demise..
  Weapons, the quartet's sophomore full-length, is a frolicsome, aural tickling session, loaded with amusing couplets and a musical playfulness that could bring a smile to the face of even the most bitter music snob. The band's genre defying and whimsical bent would be a disaster in most hands -- Barenaked Ladies have taken similar ingredients and ended up with a steaming-hot bowl of diarrhea. Buckra have a musical tactfulness that keeps them from even approaching "joke band" status. And their original arrangement skills and solid chops help maintain a relative cohesiveness from start to finish.
  
  Like the self-crafted album cover suggests, Buckra is indeed cartoonish. But it's a damn good cartoon -- more Simpsons than Looney Tunes. It's the band's explicit gift for detailing that makes them miles beyond mere goofydom. Weapons has innumerable great moments within the individual songs, resulting in an album that offers something new with each listen. Weapons is the perfect album for the ADD generation, roaming freely between Hard Rock, Hip Hop, Swing, AltRock, Latin and Jazz. The ace rhythm section of Chris Lenehan and Andrew Laudeman provide a fluid yet sturdy base for Buckra's diverse, groovecentric style. Jacob Heintz has evolved into one of the best guitarists in the city, though he nobly shows off his talent by writing creative parts that best fit the songs and not simply whacking off.
  
  In Buckra, each member is an indispensable cog in the machine. But singer Dylan Speeg brings the band its strong personality, with his lyrical come-ons and catcalls painting him as a combination street-corner pimp/late-night piano-bar huckster. Vocally, Speeg is like a cross between The Cult's Ian Astbury and Sammy Davis Jr., turning on the Full Rock Power when appropriate, yet still capable of slinking into a velvet croon without so much as a flinch. Offstage, Speeg is one of the funniest people you'll ever meet; in the band context, that cleverness helps make him one of the best frontmen in the city as well.

• Spill Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  NXNE Buckra Bovine Sex Club June 5, 2003 “This is our first time in Toronto, but I feel lik...NXNE
  Buckra
  Bovine Sex Club
  June 5, 2003
  
  “This is our first time in Toronto, but I feel like I’ve already been here because of Degrassi High”, Buckra’s lead singer announced before the first note was struck, and an approving buzz floated throughout the crowd. With electrifyingly catchy tunes and hints of funk blended with upbeat rock, along with a frontman who knows how to shake things up, this Ohio band showed Toronto a really fun time. With an interesting twist in their music and an amazing stage presence, Buckra helped keep the night alive.
  

• Amplifier Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  The Cincinnati area has a long and illustrious history of producing bands with a particular talent f...The Cincinnati area has a long and illustrious history of producing bands with a particular talent for hedging their guitar rock bets with a foundation of pure ass-out funk and soul. On the harrowing side of the equation, you'd find the histrionic magnificence of the Afghan Whigs; on the lighter end of the spectrum, there's the soulfully amped-up smirk rock of the Royal Crescent Mob. Queen City quartet Buckra tip toward the latter on their second album, So Many Weapons, incorporating hip-hop cred (Dylan Speeg's mad rhyming skills reign on the self-referential "Bubble Gum Bandit" and the rump roasting "Shake Your Baby Fat"), punk/pop energy ("Smoke Signals") and a little something the band calls lounge-core, which variously offers up Middle Eastern surf guitar, jazzy blues and swinging bursts of anything else they feel like throwing into the stew ("Whisper in my ear", "Sweet Face"), Buckra may be all over the map but with their great musical compass, they rarely get lost.

• Skratch Magazine [+ Show ]
  

  Buckra - Fall of Porkopolis Cincinnati's foursome Buckra gives a wild kick and a spit in the eye to...Buckra - Fall of Porkopolis
  Cincinnati's foursome Buckra gives a wild kick and a spit in the eye to any sense of normalcy in the pop rock world. But considering what a lot of that normalcy has produced over the years, that's actually a good thing. Think a little of the Bosstones without the horns and with cleaner vocals. Add in a bit of Run Westy Run, B-52's, Dead Kennedys and you get an idea of some of the influences, but the music hops back and forth, keeping a certain distinguishable undercurrent that assures you it is the same band. Take the brash punk sound of "Dirty Mirage" and compare it to the frenetic jazzy lilt in "Trophey Song." But then comes the near heavy-metal guitar riff laden "Ransack" which is closely followed by the gin-house blues of "Lawn Man." Sounds hard to pigeon hole into one genre, doesn't it? But in order to pull off this kind of mishmash, you have to have several elements, primarily players with talents, solid lyrics and well-written songs, and this band has all three. The lyrics tend to be tongue-in-cheek and that even adds more spice to the music. It is a trip where you don't know what your next destination will be, but you'll probably have a good time when you get there.

Setlist

We have 85+ originals, and a handfull of covers.

Typical set is 50min to 90min, we have done from 20min to 4 hours sets. Whatever is needed.

Typical set:
Andy's
Bad Idea
Moon
Confessions
Stop
Lawn Man
Panties
Shake Your Baby Fat
Sweet Face
Beautiful Thing
The End

Basic Requirements

Calendar