The Spiritual Side of Music With Cordelia & The Buffalo

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Cordelia & the Buffalo don’t make the kind of music you listen to in the car on your morning commute. At least not for the first few dozen times you play their self-titled debut EP. Their layered, textured sound works better through the headphones, maybe with the lights out and your eyes closed so you can concentrate not just on the words, but on the sonic landscapes they create for each song.

“I’m obsessed with the spiritual side of music, not in a religious sense but in the way it makes you feel as you listen to it,” Cordelia explained in an interview with Color Magazine. “The songs I write all start with the emotion I’m trying to convey and the sounds that represent that emotion. I bring it to a certain point and then take it to the Buffalo in the studio and let them add their own energy to the experience.”

Cordelia’s need to connect on an emotional/spiritual level with the music she creates stems in large part from her cultural heritage: The Texas born Mexican/American musician draws her unique musical inspiration from Mexican Indian tribes and Native American cultures. Her love and admiration for their percussive instruments, flamboyant wardrobe, vibrant war paint, and feathered headdresses all helped to nurture her identity as a songwriter, a musician and as a performer.

“I love the sound of traditional instruments – I’ll often wear shaker/bells called ayoytl on my ankles when I perform – but I also like the way those instruments and traditional rhythm patterns connect with the musicians of the past and the way they used music and chanting as part of the traditional story telling process.”

And while it certainly pays off in terms of the experience one gets listening to Cordelia & The Buffalo in an intimate alone setting, Cordelia is equally adamant that the songs they create be ones that they can also play live on stage. “We may use some pre-recorded music played back as part of the song. For example, if there is a violin on a song we will prerecord that because we don’t have somebody there on stage to play it, but the rest of the music you hear is being made in front of you on the stage,” she said. “It takes a lot of work because we want the songs to sound the same, or at least to capture the same mood and emotion, but at the same time the live experience adds another level to the experience. There’s nothing as communal as playing music to a roomful of people.”

Cordelia & the Buffalo perform at The Red Room at Cafe 939 on July 15.