There’s a reason Donna the Buffalo’s fanbase calls themselves “the herd.” Once you’ve caught this band live, you understand the devotion: the fiddle-driven Cajun swing, the danceable roots rock that defies genre, a room full of people who showed up to actually move. On Saturday, December 5, they play an intimate night at the Waterhole Music Lounge in Saranac Lake.
About the Show
Tara Nevins and Jeb Puryear co-founded Donna the Buffalo in Trumansburg, New York in 1988, and the band has been touring relentlessly since. They describe their own music as “lovingly road worn roots rock” — which is a compressed way of saying traditional mountain music blended with Cajun/zydeco, rock, folk, reggae, and country, almost entirely through original songs. They’ve headlined Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Telluride, and Austin City Limits. They also launched the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival in 1991, which now draws around 12,000 attendees annually. Their album Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday reached number five on the Americana Music Association’s airplay chart, and their most recent studio record, Dance in the Street, came out in 2018.
The herd follows Donna the Buffalo the way Deadheads followed the Dead — for good reason. The band performs more than 100 shows a year, and the version of that set you get in a 200-person room is a different experience than a festival lawn.
Supporting is Cast Iron Cowboys, a six-piece from Ithaca that blends classic country, blues, and bluegrass with a gift for storytelling and a reputation for turning audiences into line dancers. Their debut full-length, For the Locals, came out in December 2025 with a sold-out release show, and they’ve played the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival in back-to-back years. The Ithaca Voice praised the album for “intentionally highlighting a different lead singer” across its opening tracks. They share more than a bill with Donna the Buffalo. They share a scene.
Venue & Logistics
The Waterhole Music Lounge sits at 48 Main St in Saranac Lake in the North Country, a bar and music venue with a 200-person capacity. At that scale, a band that regularly fills festival grounds across the country becomes something altogether more immediate. This is a 21+ show. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; the set starts at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets
Tickets are $22 in advance or $25 at the door. Buy tickets