A musician whose influences span hard rock, psychedelia, '60s garage rock, and energetic pop, Andy Gabbard has long been a force on the Southwestern Ohio music scene, recording and touring extensively with two noted bands, Thee Shams and the Buffalo Killers, before launching a solo career in 2015. Andy Gabbard was born in Middletown, Ohio on February 11, 1986, and began playing guitar when he was eight years old, learning Neil Young songs from his father. Andy's dad and older brothers played in bands, and the youngster spent many hours in their basement practice space, learning the ropes of the guitar, bass, and drums. While Andy played in a few local bands in high school, he stepped up to professional status when his brother Zachary Gabbard invited him to join his band, Thee Shams, a Stones-inspired garage rock outfit, in 2004. Andy came aboard in time to appear on the band's second album, Please Yourself, released by Fat Possum that same year. Thee Shams toured extensively, and released a third album, Sign the Line, through Shake It Records in late 2005, but the group soon decided it was time to explore a new creative direction. In 2006, the Gabbard Brothers and drummer Joey Sebaali transformed Thee Shams into Buffalo Killers, a power trio that embraced hard rock, psychedelia, and boogie in equal measure. Bomp Records released the Buffalo Killers' self-titled debut album in 2006, and released five albums and an EP between 2008 and 2014. Despite the Buffalo Killers' busy touring and recording schedule, Gabbard found time to work on a solo project, inspired by his longtime songwriting method in which he worked out the tunes while recording demos on a four-track, playing all the instruments himself. For his solo debut, Fluff, Gabbard wrote the songs by himself and handled all the instrumental chores as well, laying down all tracks in a single 12-hour session. Fluff was released by Bomp in the spring of 2015. ~ Mark Deming