Buffalo Gals

Buffalo Gals, the UK’s favourite and longest-standing Old Time Country String Band, sits firmly at the forefront of the current wave of American roots-inspired music, representing a revival of the Old-time U.S. string band tradition in its most vibrant form.

It's not only a great musical experience, but a complete show that will make you laugh, cry and come away feeling fully entertained. Through the driving energy of banjo and fiddle, soaring harmonies, syncopated percussive step-dance, and award-winning original compositions, the visual and musical delights of ‘the Gals’, as well as their humorous repartee, produce irresistible concerts, perfect for most music venues and festivals as well as arts centres or more intimate village halls.

The band revel in the traditional old songs and tunes of Appalachia, early Bluegrass, early Country music, Old-time country, blues and rags, ballads, spirituals, Cajun and gospel, all brought to life with a talent for fresh arrangement, as well as their own compositions, written by the band’s two talented songwriters, Sooz Clare and Kate Lissauer. The result is a highly accessible show that brings praise and applause from aficionados and new-comers alike.

Their performances are uniquely punctuated by the stunning and thrillingly syncopated traditional Appalachian step-dance that has, during the band’s 20 years of touring, become one of their trademark features as well as one of many reasons that audiences come back time and again.

Audience rapport is a big feature of Buffalo Gals’ appearances, and the dry-wit ‘true stories’ wrapped in band-leader Kate Lissauer’s comic delivery, round off the shows in warmly engaging and often hilarious style.

Buffalo Gals tours as a six or seven-piece band, including:

Kate Lissauer  - violin, guitar
John ‘Johnny’ Whelan – banjo
Sue ‘Sooz’ Clare – ukulele
Pete Dunn – guitar
Jolene Missing – bass
Hippy Joe Hymas – mandolin
Sara Rose – percussive stepdance