Courtesy Myriam SantosThe White Buffalo

Nearly four years ago, I saw The White Buffalo — aka Jake Smith — play a solo acoustic show at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom.

I hadn’t heard much about the L.A.-based singer-songwriter before that night, and he blew my mind. So I promised myself that the next time he rolled through Central Oregon (his parents live in Sisters), I’d do an interview and a feature story and give him the ink he deserved.

A year later, he told me about his first press kit: “I started playing songs into the phone … and then I’d say, ‘This is The White Buffalo. Call me back.’” And about his journey: “It’s been a real long, slow road and … I’d love to kind of get to the next level. But I never really worry about stuff.”

Well, things have picked up for Smith, and it seems he has reached the next level, if not the one after that. His biggest boost yet has come this year from the popular television program “Sons of Anarchy,” which has featured a bunch of White Buffalo songs during its shows.

Of course, TV executives don’t want to use your music if you don’t make good music, and Smith’s had that covered for years. His newest album “Shadows, Greys & Evil Ways” — a concept record about a guy who falls in love, goes to war and then comes home to find his life in a downward spiral — is packed with the qualities that make The White Buffalo great: interesting stories about round characters, told through memorable melodies and a breathtaking baritone voice.

This guy is one of the few can’t-miss acts that makes Central Oregon a regular stop on his tours, so … well, don’t miss him.

— Ben Salmon