Buford

Buford is the second studio album by American jazz rock group The Free Rock Trio. The album features two songs and was released with no prior promotion on April 10, 2020 via Pink Hat Records.

Background and conception
In April 2018, as New Threads was discussing album titles for their would-be self-titled sophomore LP, one of the unused options was to title the album Buford and put a photograph of a cow on the cover. It was an idea that seemed to have potential, and was the original concept for the album that became Felonious Wilma. The idea was swept under the rug for a while, but resurfaced towards the end of Bootleg Series season 1, with guitarist Jacob Keplinger pitching the idea of a two-track free jam titled Buford. The idea seemed novel at the time, but became a reality following the release of Free Rock in February of 2020.

The album's two tracks were actually recorded in November 2019, during the last two episodes of Bootleg Series season 1. Keplinger rediscovered the recordings in March 2020 and decided to pursue them as the band's next release.

In many ways, this album is the true debut of the Trio- it is the earliest recording (other than Bootleg 1) from the band, dating back to November 2019, and more potently captures the spirit of free rock due to the album's improvisational nature. While their actual debut did include unplanned tracks like "Free Rock," most of the improvising took place within structured songs, whereas this entire recording was improvised from start to finish- true free rock. The band has strayed away from this sound with each record, if you order them by recording date: Buford, which was compressed down into Free Rock, into Gone Wild, and now into New Threads is Dead, the latter of which features no live jams at all.

Release
Buford was released with no singles or prior promotion on April 10, 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The album was made free on their website, and a YouTube video was released featuring the entire album. It was been promoted alongside Free Rock, given the proximity of their release dates.

Track Listing
All songs were written on the spot by Jacob Keplinger, Justin Siegel, and James Siegel. The album's total running time is 40:27.
 * 1) Back to the Barnyard (22:56)
 * 2) Laughing Gas (17:33)

Personnel
Justin Siegel - drums

Jacob Keplinger - guitar, keyboard, production

James Siegel - bass

Trivia

 * The name 'Buford' is taken from the fast food chain Checker's menu item "Big Buford." Checker's was a common eatery for New Threads. Another inspiration for the title was the character of the same name in the Disney animated series Phineas & Ferb.
 * While Buford is the band's second, it was actually recorded prior to their debut Free Rock.
 * The original titles for the free jams were different prior to the release of the album- "Back to the Barnyard" and "Laughing Gas" were titled "Bayside Breeze" and "110919," respectively. When the idea to release Buford resurfaced prior to the release of Free Rock, Siegel decided that the two songs (which had not been re-discovered yet) should be titled as they are. When the two jams were discovered, they were re-titled under Siegel's ideas.
 * While not released widely on vinyl, the track listing appears as "Side 1" and "Side 2" on digital platforms and CD.
 * The cow on the front of the album is a public domain stock photo. This is the only stock photo featured in the Pink Hat catalog other than The Russ Anderson Mixtape (which features a stock photo of then-President George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI).