Indie-folk Band Buxton to Re-Release Integral Album 'A Family Light'

Houston-based indie-folk band Buxton came onto the scene in the early 2000s and kind of never left. With a blend of psych-rock and Americana that's all their own, they've released five albums in the last two decades—the latter three on New West Records. One of the band's first albums, A Family Light, is getting its own spotlight this fall with a re-release on New West imprint Strolling Bones Records, set for release on September 15. “Flame,” a slow-burn lament of an irresistible attraction, is out today. 

“'Flame' is probably still one of our favorite songs that we've written,” the band says. “And it's also probably the first time we saw how much you can elevate a song from the writing process to what comes out in the studio.”

To celebrate its 15-year anniversary, A Family Light will be available on vinyl for the first time. Remastered by Chris Longwood (Khruangbin, Shinyribs, Blaggards, The Suffers), the record celebrates friendship and the classic pursuit of being in a band—and faith in seeing where it all can take you. It represents a specific moment and further embodies a core group of friends that dedicated a large portion of their life to building and creating something together. 

A Family Light never really saw its own light of day back in 2008: it was released by a now-defunct local label that was quite literally disassembling its offices as the band was doing overdubs. Its rollout was confined to a small run of CDs, though it is still an integral piece in the rest of their story, and eventually led to their record deal with New West. 

Bandmates Sergio Trevino and Chris Wise met in La Porte, TX, a small town outside of Houston surrounded by chemical plants and a ship channel. After meeting and adding Jason Willis to the lineup, the soon-to-be band began tossing ideas around and formed a somewhat shaky foundation for the sound to come. In an effort to find inspiration beyond their hometown, the three moved to downtown Houston.

After many, many, many poorly attended shows, Buxton began to hone in their sound and signed with a local label to produce A Family Light. Recorded entirely in houses split between The Heights and Kingwood, producer Reggie O'Farrell helped dial in and refine a collection of nearly 40 demos. The result was, to the band, a surprisingly cohesive album. The album garnered local praise and began to sell CDs: a stark difference from the piles of boxes left by their previous self-released album Red Follows Red. As a result, they brought Justin Terrell to permanently fill in for drums. 

After self-releasing a 7” in 2009, the cosmic gumbo that is their song “Feathers,” they caught the ear of George Fontaine Sr. who would then sign them to New West Records. To recreate a soundscape for Nothing Here Seems Strange the band brought on Austin Sepulvado and toured for the next 8 years, releasing two more albums along the way, Half A Native and Stay Out Late.

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