Great songs can make beauty of battles. This certainly proves true on Wes Chiller’s 2nd EP, entitled “Buffalo John & The Rainbow Crew.” The four-song collection is inspired by his recent experiences fighting the wildfires of 2020.
“The idea for this EP was to illuminate what kind of crazy stuff can happen out there on the road,” Chiller says. “I bring a ukulele out with me, in case I’m struck by inspiration and can get a voice memo down to revisit when I get home.”
Born and raised in southern CA, Chiller is also the son of a fireman, and very passionate about using music as an artistic reflection of this rugged line of work. His sound has grown rich and ripe with reverb for this album, tracked live in Tackytown Studio by Long Beach producer Matt Wignall (Cold War Kids, Wargirl). “Buffalo John & The Rainbow Crew” is a sweeping, majestic cross-stitch of Americana and folk rock. Full of Neil Young-style sizzle and plunk, warm steel pedal strings, and gorgeous melodies.
Opening track “Buffalo Highway” was written about fighting a fire on the PCH, the image of flames over water striking Chiller as a strange intersection between his personal and professional life, as he has long been an avid surfer. “No Good Luck” was written after fighting a wildfire in northern CA, where gigantic trees dropped lethally around the crew.
“The redwood trees were falling way less often than the firs because they would grow near family, around other redwood roots, whereas the Douglas firs were loners and toppled easily,” Chiller reflects. “That was full of the magic and purpose of life, to me. I took a lot from that.” He and his partner had a moment where they turned back to see that a massive tree had fallen right where they’d been standing just seconds before. The album swirls with the pulse of these incredible stories.
To accompany the EP, a 4-minute mini-documentary has been made that includes live footage from the recording studio as well as from California wild fires this year. The full album will be released February 5th, which also happens to be Chiller’s birthday.
