Norton Buffalo

Norton Buffalo stood out among contemporary music's harpists for his remarkable versatility, achieving peak recognition within blues communities while demonstrating proficiency across rock, country, and new age styles. He entered the world on September 28, 1951, in Oakland, California. His most notable achievements came through membership in the Steve Miller Band, a role he maintained for more than twenty years starting in the mid-1970s. As a session musician, he contributed harmonica to albums by the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, and Elvin Bishop. In 1977, Capitol released his first solo effort, Lovin' in the Valley of the Moon, with Desert Horizon arriving the subsequent year. Buffalo functioned mainly as a sideman throughout the 1980s before partnering with blues slide guitarist Roy Rogers in 1991 on R&B, which received a Grammy nomination for the song "Song for Jessica." The pair released their next recording, Travellin' Tracks, the following year. He also directed his ensemble known as the Knockouts.