Grant Lee Buffalo was an American rock band based in Los Angeles, California, United States, consisting of Grant-Lee Phillips, Paul Kimble and Joey Peters.
All three were previously members of another Los Angeles band, Shiva Burlesque. In the late 1980s, Jeffrey Clark, Grant-Lee Phillips, James Brenner and Joey Peters started as a rock music formation called Shiva Burlesque. They released two studio albums, the self-titled Shiva Burlesque in 1987 on Nate Starkman & Son Records, and a follow-up album, Mercury Blues, which was released in 1990 on Fundamental Records. Matt Snow in Q Magazine highlighted the Doors and Echo and the Bunnymen as references and described the last album as "great late-night un-easy listening". Paul Kimble replaced Brenner on bass and the band renamed as Grant Lee Buffalo in 1991.
Phillips, Kimble, and Peters transitioned from Shiva Burlesque’s more psychedelic and experimental sound to create something unique. Grant-Lee Phillips, the creative force in the band, brought with him a unique voice that could be both hauntingly gentle and powerful, paired with a sombre storyteller's honesty. This combination would form the core of Grant Lee Buffalo’s identity.