Lecturers hit top note with band

Dry Island Buffalo Jump is made up of lecturers from St Andrews University

Academics at a Fife university have swapped lecture notes for musical notes by forming a bluegrass band.

The six-strong band, named Dry Island Buffalo Jump, is made up of two poets, three historians and a French linguist from the University of St Andrews.

The musicians, who play for a hobby, humorously describe their style as "alternative country with an East Neuk Fife edge".

The band has proved a hit at gigs in and around the university town.

"It's like being in the sixth-form again," said founder member Dr Chris Jones, a senior lecturer in English poetry and a specialist in medieval writing.

At first, people thought we were a joke band, then people were saying to us 'You sound like a proper band' Dr Chris Jones St Andrews University

"It's the most fun I've had for ages. We're letting our hair down in a fun way."

The group came about during a jam session at Dr Jones's home earlier this year.

Most of those involved got to know each other through the St Andrews Institute of Medieval Studies.

The band's title, taken from a provincial park in Canada, was given to them by a friend, Alex Woolf, who had once hoped to form a group by that name.

Bass player Dr Jones, who takes the stage name "Buffalo Jones", now hopes the band will grow to become a "music-making collective" for academics across the university.

'Quite surprised'

The band's set list features a mix of covers by the Grateful Dead, The Band and Bob Dylan, as well as songs penned by lead singer Donovan McAbee - known on stage as The Right Reverend Buffalo.

The group played their first live session on student radio station Star on Monday, and they will play their last gig of the year at Boarhills Village Hall on Saturday.

The gig will also double as a farewell concert for their South Carolina-born frontman, who is moving to the United States to begin a career as a singer-songwriter.

The band has also been asked to play for the university's students at freshers' week next semester.

"At first, people thought we were a joke band, then people were saying to us 'You sound like a proper band'," said Dr Jones.

"I think everyone was quite surprised."