 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Friday, February 7
The Waybacks
Freight & Salvage, Berkeley
8 pm - $16.50 advance / $17.50 door
Advance tickets available now. All ages.
 |
We've heard complaints from hardcore fans since our first festival in 2000 that The Waybacks "ain't bluegrass." No banjo. Two mandolins. Drums. But these pleas for purity seem to miss a remarkable story in this hometown band that has made the leap from weekends at the Plough & Stars to the Knitting Factory in New York and the main stage of Merlefest in North Carolina.
As Scott Nygaard writes in Acoustic Guitar, "...Few [acoustic jam bands] have produced instrumental virtuosos who can follow the lead of newgrass icons like Sam Bush, Tony Rice, and David Grisman". The Waybacks, on the other hand, features a trio of hot pickers (James Nash, Chojo Jacques, and Stevie Coyle) who are destined to become revered new-acousticians thanks to their individual solo styles and the band's novel and irreverent tenor."
It is that tone, an air of playful absurdism, that hooks listeners by the ear and refuses to let go. And while the acoustic jazz or space-jams they're often associated with can wander off into the musical desert, hoping to stumble across a rock of inspiration, The Waybacks (one imagines) know exactly where they're headed--sprinting together down a country road towards the next tavern, pointing at misspelled gas station signage, and pelting jackrabbits with their slingshots as they pass....
Artist Link: