BANDS OF DIXIE Magazine France Issue #91 March/April 2013 English Translation MICHAEL BUFFALO SMITH: SOUTH CAROLINA DREAMS by Dominique Turgot He has been called by Charlie Damiels “The Ambassador of South - ern Rock.” Musician, journalist, webmaster, and author Michael Buffalo Smith has a brand new book out. The memoir is called “Prisoner of Soutrhern Rock,” and it tells his life story and gives us the scoop on his life backstage and onstage with the greats of South - ern Rock. While reading your book, I discovered you had health problems. I hope these are long gone and that you're now back in good shape. Can you tell when and why you decided to write about your life? Well thank you. The past ten years have been quite a challenge, for sure. But I believe it is all leveling out now, finally. I felt a need to share some of the stories about meeting and getting to know so many of the musicians whom I had looked up to as “heroes” back in my high school days in the ’70’s. You mix chapters re - garding your life and chap - ters about each group you've been a fan of and you've been in contact with. Why did you mix these two topics? Why not a book about southern rock and one about your life? Because my life and Southern rock became the same thing some - where along the line. When Charlie Daniels first called me “The Ambassador of Southern Rock,” and I was living and breathing the music and publishing Gritz Magazine it became very clear to me that my life path had always crossed over into music. Always. How long did you need to write this book? I started making notes as far back as 1998. That first hospitaliza - tion. I wrote it all down so I would never forget. That also happened to be the same time I started Gritz as a web zine. But I really started pulling the stories together about five years ago. I've been surprised with all the details you integrate in this book. How did you remember all these details? Did you have a notepad somewhere? (Laughing) Many, many note pads. Also, I had written reviews of so many events, it helped me to recall those moments in time. I have always been a detail oriented kind of writer. Did you write chapters you've not included in this book? Not chapters, really, but I do have more stories. I am already work - ing on a sequel. It will be less about my life, and more about my southern rock experiences. I am also writing a history of Southern Rock that I hope will be published next year. Was it difficult to find an editor? Tell us about the process. I was going to pitch the idea to some larger publishing houses, but when I saw what Mercer University Press had done with Chuck Leavell ( Between Rock and a Home Place ); Willie Perkins ( No Saints, No Saviors ); and most recently Johnny Sandlin ( A Never Ending Groove ), and the fact that they are located in Macon, Geor - gia, where it all began, I really hoped they would be my publisher. They have been great. Is the book sold worldwide? It is. It can be ordered from Amazon in various countries, from Eu - rope to Japan. We have sold well in Germany and in France. Do you know if your editor is planning on having transla - tions of your book? No, the University presses are too small and privately funded to do international translations. Same with audio books. It would just cost too much. I knew you were "addicted" to southern rock but didn't know you love bands such as Kiss. Tell us about the non- southern rock bands you like, and why. Music is my life. Back in high school, 1972-76, a lot of my musical tastes were shaped. Many of the bands from that era still hold a spe - cial place in my heart. At the same time I was learning about The Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker, I was also getting into Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and KISS. I loved the whole theatrical aspect of some of these bands. I was and am a big fan of David Bowie. Some of the other music I love includes Kate Bush, Meat Loaf, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter, country like Merle Hag - gard, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks... I love everything from Otis Red - ding to Jimi Hendrix, from The Carpenters to Kelly Clarkson. For our French readers who can’t read your book. Can you tell us about the birth and the ending of Gritz? I started Gritz in 1998 after spending 48 days in the hospital. I was - n’t able to work, so I would go online and build this website about Southern Rock. At first it was called “Hot Grits.” After a year Ichanged it to “Gritz” and we started to get a huge worldwide fol - lowing. At the time there were no other sites about Southern Rock. Of course, immitators started popping up all over, but we were the original. If you did search for “Southern Rock,” you would fine two things - Gritz and Bands of Dixie. Then in 2002, I teamed with an investor and started the print magazine version of Gritz. It lasted for almost three years. We had eleven issues and we were printing 25,000 copies. We had two distributors, so it was in all the major bookstores. It was sold in thee Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gift shop, at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, and all over. We sold subscriptions. We had about 5,000 subscribers, many of whom were in Europe. I was really proud of it. But paper costs were way up and it cost a fortune, so we went back to the internet. Then in 2007, a guy from Florida bought the name and made Gritz a part of Swampland, with me as editor for three years. At the end of the three years, it had lost too much money and my contract was not re - newed. There was a little bad blood, but all’s well that ends well. I started Universal Music Tribe online, along with my weekly radio show, and in 2012 launched the digital magazine called Kudzoo. It’s all Southern. Southern rock, food, places to visit, reviews, and the great thing is that it is absolutely free! Folks can read it online or download it to their desktop. It is much cheaper to produce than a print magazine, and we are having great fun with it., You've been working on the web for a few years. Do you think this is the only media that can survive in the indus - try? I love print. Love it. But it is phasing out. With iPads, smart phones, Nooks. Kindles, etc, everything is going electronic. I believe there will always be magazines, at least for now, but only mass market ti - tles like Rolling Stone. Do you run this company using advertising? If not, tell us how this company gets its money? Money? What money? (laughs) It is totally advertising based. Right now I am trying to hire a couple of sales people because I just can’t “do it all” any longer. We have a great magazine with Kudzoo and a nice place for people to advertise inexpensively. Is working on the internet an expensive media? You've got to invest in hardware and have expert webmasters? Well, the equipment is a big cost up front, but then it levels out. And as far as our magazine goes, I do all the layout, web master stuff, everything. If I were getting paid on an hourly basis I would be rich. (Laughs) I've read you had a few books you've been working on. Tell us about them? I just self-published my second collection of Southern Rock inter - views, Outlaws, Rebels & Renegades II . Like the first one, it is available only through www.lulu.com. It’s another big 500-page book with lots of never before published photos. I am also working on a book of non-southern rock interviews called Hippies, Heretics & Rockabilly Rebels . Interviews with rockers from the 50s, 60’s and 70’s- from Ted Nugent to Paul Rogers, Gene Simmons, Peter Frampton, Alvin Lee, etc. My next book for Mercer University Press is an oral history of Southern Rock called Rebel Yell. The stars themselves tell the story of the genre via my interviews. You've written "Carolina dreams", a book about Marshall Tucker Band. If you were asked to write about the biogra - phy of a major southern rock band, which one(s) would you like to write about? I could write one about Lynyrd Skynyrd fairly easily, but there are already a lot of books on them. I’d love to write about The Outlaws. Love The Allmans, but that’s been done already. Any of the bands that recorded for Capricorn Records I could get behind. You've had many many people interviewed. Is there some - one you never been able to have for an interview but would like to? I think I have met or interviewed everybody in Southern rock. In other music, I’d dearly love to interview Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, David Bowie or Alice Cooper. Let's talk about music now. It's been a while since you re - leased your last album.