When he sat down with the Chronicle upon moving to Austin a few years ago, Buffalo Nichols admitted to never feeling comfortable being attached to genres or scenes, whether folk, Americana, or his brand of weary and fire-branded blues. Fitting then that the gruff-voiced songwriter spent the past year experimenting with what the blues can be – most notably in the heavy, sludgy riffs of “Precious Nothing” and haunting ambience of “Absence of Light,” imbued with his characteristic fury and immaculately low-down guitar. Nichols kicks off a monthlong Thursday residency at C-Boy’s with the funky-tonk grooves of Trainwreck Express. – Doug Freeman
