Online Edition Monday, August 16, 2004
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This weekend, it's All About BufordA cappella group melds funk and popBy Diane Nolan Correspondent
If you go • Who: All About Buford and Full Frontal Folk • Where: Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead • When: 8 p.m. tomorrow • How: Tickets are $12 and available at the door; for more on the group, check out www.allaboutbuford.com MARBLEHEAD - An a cappella pop-funk band making a name for itself by playing at venues on the East and West coasts will return home this weekend. Amy Malkoff of Marblehead will get a chance to play at home tomorrow when she performs at the Marblehead Arts Association's Hooper Mansion with her band All About Buford. Malkoff's cat, Buford, is the band's namesake. "He's from Marblehead, too," said Malkoff, one of the band's vocalists. All About Buford members use only their voices as instrumentation. Malkoff started the band - which has performed in many locations including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and California - with fellow vocalists Taunia Soderquist and Shah Salmi in 2000. Vocal percussionists Wes Carroll and Ben Jackson joined Buford more recently. Soderquist said the addition of Jackson and Carroll has brought a new dimension to the band. "Wes is a very respected vocal percussionist," Soderquist said. "Ben is also very talented. He brings a playfulness to the stage ... a youthfulness." Jackson, who joined Buford last year, started vocal percussion while he was attending Harvard University as a linguistics major and a music minor. Jackson was a part of Harvard's a cappella group, The Harvard Callbacks. "Doing (vocal percussion) with a group is really the best practice," said Jackson. Carroll lives in San Francisco and performs with the band when he can, which Soderquist said is a few times a year. About 50 percent of the band's songs are covers, "but they are pretty obscure songs," said Soderquist, who said she tries to use "everyday things" as inspiration for her own songwriting. From lyrics to arrangements, each band member has had a role in putting songs together. "We all bring something to the table with that," Soderquist said. For Soderquist, who is also from Massachusetts, playing in Marblehead will give her friends and family who can't travel to other shows a chance to see her perform. "I know it sounds really cliche, but when I'm onstage, I feel like that's the real me," Soderquist said. The band's love of performing has led them to lots of positive feedback from their audiences. "The response has been excellent," Salmi said. "There are very strong performers in this group." Salmi was doing a solo act before joining All About Buford, but said that he enjoys the group atmosphere. "I have no worries about any of the members of the group. I trust them all," Salmi said. All the members agreed that they would like to increase their fan base and the number of shows they perform. "I would like to do this full time, ideally," Salmi said. The band's 2002 CD "Supercar" features songs like "Wolf at the Door," "My Funny Valentine" and "Car Wash." Its next CD is currently in the works. Buford released its first DVD early this year, which takes fans on a road trip with the band and to live concert performances. Full Frontal Folk, a contemporary folk band, will join All About Buford at the Hooper Mansion performance Saturday.
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