Free Range Buddhas started in 2016 as a collaboration between Santa Fe's sultry powerhouse vocalist/songwriter Francesca Jozette and seasoned Seattle rocker Matt McClinton. In the spring of 2017 the duo released a self-titled EP, for which they hired some of Santa Fe's top session players. The Free Range Buddhas EP received many positive reviews and obtained an award for Best Pop album of 2017 from The New Mexico Music Awards. After such a positive reception, the duo decided to expand into a full blown band. It took a couple of tries to find the perfect players to complete Jozette and McClinton's vision, but the best things in life are often right under one's nose. There were hints of psychedelia throughout the duo's first EP, but they had not fully expanded upon the desire to crack open the kaleidoscopic can of worms just yet. It finally dawned on them that two of Jozetteās good friends and co-workers at her local music store, were top notch musicians, and more importantly they both loved all the same classic psychedelic rock and roll she did! So naturally Jacob Montiel and Justin Pucila came along as a package deal. Following soon after, Santa Fe School of the Arts graduate, Malachi Roberts on drums completes the ultimate Buddhas lineup. Roberts brings his background in jazz fusion, polyrhythms, and a love for bands like Foo Fighters, Paramore, and Snarky Puppy; such colorful contrasts create a listening adventure no audience will soon forget. "Drenched in a wondrous cloud of sensory-rousing psychedelia and possessing a definite sense of both striking personality and creative exuberance, Ritual is an energy-inducing piece of folk-punk-infused alternative rock that manages to conjure up that oh so marvelous feeling of musical intoxication." Andre Arvanessian, -Radioairplay.com Together Free Range Buddhas weave a tapestry of music that keeps the audience comforted by the familiar cannon of rock and roll, but at the same time keeps the audience on their toes, as they strive to contribute something new to the tradition.
Free Range Buddhas is a psychedelic rock and roll band with chewy space phaser vibrations and a sparkly folk-rock mystique. These qualities are showcased in their latest album "Ritual," released March 25th 2022. They bring a classic vintage familiarity, as the songs of Bakersfield and Haight Ashbury are deep within their DNA, but while embracing some of their more far-out tendencies, that are undoubtedly influenced by the psychedelic counterculture of their heros, they also cultivate a modern rock sound that is uniquely their own with a groovy folk-rock underbelly that keeps everything driving and pulsating. They want you to let your freak flag fly, follow the music wherever it takes you, and unapologetically dance, bang your head, and rock out like the fools we all are ! Front woman, Francesca Jozette, writes songs with an essence of mysticism, raw emotion, and powerful, yet tenderly soulful vulnerability, and the band's grooves make you want to boogie down all the while, so boogie on friends!