Northwest Dance & Music Venues

Binj (aka: Binge Brothers) at the Buffalo Tavern - 1980 (Image Courtesy of Martin Ulstein)
Buffalo Tavern
Ballard, Washington

Some of the bands that performed at this place during those great years of NW music were:
 

Annie Rose & The Thrillers
Baby Knockors
Big Momma Thornton
Binj
Charlie Musselwhite
Cool Ray & The Shades
Dynamic Logs
Earthquake and The Tremors
Eddie & The Atlantics
High in The Saddle
Joe Lee Hooker
Jr. Cadillac
Kidd Africa
Loverboy
Queen Ida
Red Dress
The Reputations
Robert Cray
Seafood Mama
Skyboys
Wise Guys
Zydeco
 

Others ?


Image courtesy of  Ali Hamilton
Image courtesy of  Ali Hamilton

My husband's (Blake Hamilton) parents owned the Buffalo Tavern from 1976-80.  Their names are Jack and Connie Hughes.

He remembers Robert Cray playing there,as well as Quarter Flash (when known as Seafood Momma), Jr. Cadillac, Queen Ida, High in The Saddle, Baby Knockers, The Skyboys, and Charlie Musselwhite.

He has two Buffalo Tavern windbreakers, and a chrome zippo Buffalo Tavern lighter.  An image of the back of one of the windbreakers is pictured above.

Paul Hammons, a  man who worked for them and built the larger stage and made some modifications, recently died.

 Ali Hamilton, July 2010


Every Friday night the rock radio stations listed bands playing at local taverns and the Buffalo was always rocking.

Some of the other bands that played there were Dynamic Logs, Big Momma Thornton, Joe Lee Hooker, Loverboy, and Zydeco.

When the Hughes bought the Buffalo,the bar already had a huge buffalo head, and Jack stuck a joint in its mouth.  A customer drew the picture, and the rest was history.

Ali Hamilton, July 2010


 I always loved the layout of the Buffalo - as good a tavern layout as I ever played in.

I played sax there with Annie Rose and The Thrillers, The Dynamic Logs, and also Cool Ray and the Shades (our first gig was there).  I played with Kidd Afrika for a while, and I believe we played there also.  They were both excellent regional bands and were very popular, full time working bands during their era. Both played numerous originals, as well as covers.  I’ll always have fond memories of the Buffalo!

Aloha,

David Link, June 2015


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Last Update:  29 May 2019
Credits: Kirsten Anderberg, Jon Goforth, Ali Hamilton, David Link, Martin Ulstein, Paul Thomson