6309 - THE WAYBACKS - Loaded (2008)

THE WAYBACKS
''LOADED''
MARCH 25 2008
54:56

1 /City Boy/3:59
James Nash
2 /Nice To Be Alone
Warren Hood/3:46
3 /The River/5:13
James Nash
4 /Good Enough
Warren Hood/3:22
5 /Loaded/5:57
James Nash
6 /Savannah
Warren Hood/4:19
7 /Conjugal Visit/3:48
James Nash
8 /Tired of Being Right
Warren Hood / Willie Pipkin/3:02
9 /Lowdown/5:30
Warren Hood
10 /Beyond the Northwest Passage
James Nash/5:36
11 /Black Cat/5:33
Warren Hood
12 /Russell County Gorge
James Nash/4:51

Travis Book /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Sam Bush /Guest Artist, Mandolin
Cindy Cashdollar /Guest Artist, Guitar (Steel)
Jesse Cobb /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Andy Falco /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Jeremy Garrett /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Charles Hamilton /Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Warren Hood /Fiddle, Mandolin, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Byron House /Guest Artist, Keyboards, Maracas, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Erick Jaskowiak /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Fats Kaplin /Accordion, Button Accordion, Guest Artist, Pedal Steel
Eamon McLoughlin /Fiddle, Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
John Mock /Guest Artist, Tin Whistle
James Nash /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Chris Pandolfi /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Kym Warner /Guest Artist, Vocals (Background)
Reese Wynans /Guest Artist, Organ (Hammond)

REVIEW
by Jason MacNeil
Steeped in Americana, West Coast outfit the Waybacks are able to meld Appalachian or mountain music with a summery "jam band" feeling for most of this record. Whether it is the somewhat catchy "City Boy," with its somewhat odd bridge, or the mellow "Nice to Be Alone," the group is content to let the melodies do most of the work. But sometimes the laid-back Jack Johnson-ish melodies don't quite measure up, especially on the winding and somewhat meandering "The River," which has some fleeting quality moments. Thankfully, things get back on track with the leaner pop-country of "Good Enough," bringing Jimmy Buffett or Dire Straits to mind. Meanwhile, the group seems to shine during the tranquil, placid "Savannah" with its swinging Django-like hue, and the honky tonk effort "Tired of Being Right." Probably the dark horse or sleeper on this folk-pop album is the swaying waltz-like Celtic-leaning number "Beyond the Northwest Passage," in the vein of the Pogues or Flogging Molly. Following the cinematic violin introduction of "Black Cat," the Waybacks move into a klezmer-meets-bluegrass feel with interesting results.

BIOGRAPHY
by Craig Harris
The traditional sounds of old-timey string band music is only element of the musical tapestry woven by San Francisco-based quintet the Waybacks. Roots Town Music Magazine called them "a dream combination of punk vandalism and hyper-intelligent, seldom heard, humoristic musicality," while the Winnipeg Free Press praised them for their "unpretentious musicality." Describing their musical approach, www.shoprecords.com wrote, "it's everything from 'Kumbaya'-like folk and cowboy jazz, space jam, celtoid, agnostic gospel, beat poetry, Grappelli-esque swing, and acoustic originals." The Waybacks' sound represents the combined efforts of lead guitar, mandolin player, and vocalist James Nash; fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and Humanatone player and vocalist Chojo Jacques; and rhythm, fingerpicked and Weissenborn slide guitar player, and vocalist Stevie Coyle. A native of Nashville, Nash has been playing guitar since the age of nine. Throughout high school, he studied with renowned Nashville session guitarist Jerry Kimbrough. Relocating to the San Francisco area to attend Stanford University, he became a member of the alt-rock band Occam's Razor. Increasingly drawn to traditional Southern music, he taught himself to play mandolin. In addition to working with the Waybacks, he performs as a soloist and with Lane & the Badass Chicken Bones. Although he initially studied piano and viola, Jacques found his natural voice on the guitar. The instrument was only one step, however, on his musical journey. After playing guitar in a truck stop bar band in East Missoula, MO, he began studying fiddle with the Montana Fiddlers Association. Two years later he added the mandolin, which he played with the Lost Highway Band. Moving to Austin, he became involved with the city's thriving music scene for eight years. At the suggestion of David Grisman, he moved to San Francisco in 1982. In the nearly two decades since, Jacques has become an in-demand session player. The lengthy list of artists with whom he's worked includes Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Johnny Paycheck, Frank Wakefield, and Michael Hedges. Much of the Wayback's irreverent approach is stirred by Coyle, whose resumé includes emceeing killer whale shows, doing standup comedy as one-half of the Reagan Brothers, and performing with satirical folk bands the Foremen and the Frontmen. The Wayback's rhythm section features double bass player and vocalist Joe Kyle, Jr. and drummers Chuck Hamilton, who tours with the group, and Peter Tucker, who performs with the band in the San Francisco area.

6308 - THE WAYBACKS - From The Pasture To The Future (2006)

THE WAYBACKS
''FROM THE PASTURE TO THE FUTURE''
2006
50:32

1 /The Petrified Man/5:14
2 /From the Pasture To the Future
James Nash/4:55
3 /Helping Me
James Nash/5:13
4 /Bluebird Waltz
Evan Price/4:34
5 /Motorway
Ray Davies/3:53
6 /Hot Kranski
James Nash/4:18
7 /Ninety-One
James Nash/4:12
8 /Armando's Rhumba
Chick Corea/4:21
9 /The Blacksmith
Traditional/5:28
10 /Monkey Pants
James Nash/4:43
11 /Strange Attractor/3:40

Darol Anger /Fiddle
Stevie Coyle /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Charles Hamilton /Drums, Percussion
Joe Kyle Jr. /Arco Bass, Double Bass, Guitar (Bass), Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Lloyd Maines /Dobro, Producer
James Nash /Archguitar, Baritone (Vocal), Bottleneck Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Electric Baritone), Guitar (Resonator), Mandolin, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Riley Osbourne /Organ
Evan Price /Fiddle
Mark Rubin /Tuba
Christie Winn /Vocals (Background)
Gabe Witcher /Fiddle

REVIEW
by Rick Anderson
The Chicago Tribune says that the Waybacks offer "a near-ideal balance of irreverence, chops, discipline, and originality," and that actually sums it up quite well. This primarily acoustic folk-rock group is irreverent about genre boundaries, jumping gleefully back and forth between the lines that separate blues from bluegrass, rock from jazz, and Celtic music from pop, but they're never so irreverent that they just sound goofy. Their chops are considerable, but (in the studio anyway) they never lapse into wanky self-indulgence. Their discipline and originality are manifest in tightly written, hook-filled songs and unusual arrangements, and all of those qualities come together beautifully in this, the group's fourth album. From the Pasture to the Future offers brilliant instrumental hot jazz ("Monkey Pants," "Hot Kranski"), a sharply rocking kissoff song ("Helping Me," which features the timeless couplet "It's not that you're bad for me/It's just that you're bad"), and a very fine rhumba ("Armando's Rhumba"). It also features a funny folk-rock number titled "Petrified Man" and a beautiful Texas-style dance number called "Bluebird Waltz." the Waybacks are not terribly convincing as purveyors of straight-up traditional Irish music, as "The Blacksmith" demonstrates, but everything else works so well that you hardly even notice that one. Very highly recommended.

BIOGRAPHY
by Craig Harris
The traditional sounds of old-timey string band music is only element of the musical tapestry woven by San Francisco-based quintet the Waybacks. Roots Town Music Magazine called them "a dream combination of punk vandalism and hyper-intelligent, seldom heard, humoristic musicality," while the Winnipeg Free Press praised them for their "unpretentious musicality." Describing their musical approach, www.shoprecords.com wrote, "it's everything from 'Kumbaya'-like folk and cowboy jazz, space jam, celtoid, agnostic gospel, beat poetry, Grappelli-esque swing, and acoustic originals." The Waybacks' sound represents the combined efforts of lead guitar, mandolin player, and vocalist James Nash; fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and Humanatone player and vocalist Chojo Jacques; and rhythm, fingerpicked and Weissenborn slide guitar player, and vocalist Stevie Coyle. A native of Nashville, Nash has been playing guitar since the age of nine. Throughout high school, he studied with renowned Nashville session guitarist Jerry Kimbrough. Relocating to the San Francisco area to attend Stanford University, he became a member of the alt-rock band Occam's Razor. Increasingly drawn to traditional Southern music, he taught himself to play mandolin. In addition to working with the Waybacks, he performs as a soloist and with Lane & the Badass Chicken Bones. Although he initially studied piano and viola, Jacques found his natural voice on the guitar. The instrument was only one step, however, on his musical journey. After playing guitar in a truck stop bar band in East Missoula, MO, he began studying fiddle with the Montana Fiddlers Association. Two years later he added the mandolin, which he played with the Lost Highway Band. Moving to Austin, he became involved with the city's thriving music scene for eight years. At the suggestion of David Grisman, he moved to San Francisco in 1982. In the nearly two decades since, Jacques has become an in-demand session player. The lengthy list of artists with whom he's worked includes Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Johnny Paycheck, Frank Wakefield, and Michael Hedges. Much of the Wayback's irreverent approach is stirred by Coyle, whose resumé includes emceeing killer whale shows, doing standup comedy as one-half of the Reagan Brothers, and performing with satirical folk bands the Foremen and the Frontmen. The Wayback's rhythm section features double bass player and vocalist Joe Kyle, Jr. and drummers Chuck Hamilton, who tours with the group, and Peter Tucker, who performs with the band in the San Francisco area.

6298 - THE WAYBACKS - Burger After Church (2002)

THE WAYBACKS
''BURGER AFTER CHURCH''
MAY 14 2002
57:15

1 /Turkish Stalemate/4:31
2 /Down from Iona/2:59
3 /Brundlefly/4:56
4 /Bright Place/6:59
5 /Last Date/8:43
6 /Prairie Doggin'/2:57
7 /Police Dog Blues/4:04
8 /Saltflat Rhapsody/4:58
9 /Gulshion Island/3:31
10 /The Return/7:43
11 /Temporary Cheese/5:54

REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Judging by the instrumentation, you'd probably say the Waybacks were a bluegrass group; how else could you describe a band with two mandolin players? And so they are, but these guys have a lot of records besides Bill Monroe's in their collections, if their second album, Burger After Church, is any indication. There are tunes that come across as traditional bluegrass instrumentals, notably the opener, "Turkish Stalemate" (which might be subtitled "Dueling Mandos"), and "Gulshion Island," but even these have other elements. The rest are even more eclectic: "Brundlefly" boasts jazzy solos, "Bright Place," with its prominent fiddle playing, is a country raver, Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" is turned into a lengthy ballad statement sans piano, "Prairie Doggin'" and "The Return" both have Celtic influences, Blind Blake's "Police Dog Blues" is country blues with a few twists, "Saltflat Rhapsody" has some wonderful fingerpicking, and "Temporary Cheese" contains a passage that might have come from one of the Grateful Dead's "space" excursions. So, what do you call all that? Progressive bluegrass? Newgrass? the Waybacks delight in mixing things up, and they are the kind of musician's musicians who devote a portion of their short CD booklet to a list of the instruments they use ("Michael Coulon's '30s-era Kalamazoo L-30 guitar was played by James on track 7"). The resulting music stays fresh as the band takes it to one style after another, playing each one well.

BIOGRAPHY
by Craig Harris
The traditional sounds of old-timey string band music is only element of the musical tapestry woven by San Francisco-based quintet the Waybacks. Roots Town Music Magazine called them "a dream combination of punk vandalism and hyper-intelligent, seldom heard, humoristic musicality," while the Winnipeg Free Press praised them for their "unpretentious musicality." Describing their musical approach, www.shoprecords.com wrote, "it's everything from 'Kumbaya'-like folk and cowboy jazz, space jam, celtoid, agnostic gospel, beat poetry, Grappelli-esque swing, and acoustic originals." The Waybacks' sound represents the combined efforts of lead guitar, mandolin player, and vocalist James Nash; fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and Humanatone player and vocalist Chojo Jacques; and rhythm, fingerpicked and Weissenborn slide guitar player, and vocalist Stevie Coyle. A native of Nashville, Nash has been playing guitar since the age of nine. Throughout high school, he studied with renowned Nashville session guitarist Jerry Kimbrough. Relocating to the San Francisco area to attend Stanford University, he became a member of the alt-rock band Occam's Razor. Increasingly drawn to traditional Southern music, he taught himself to play mandolin. In addition to working with the Waybacks, he performs as a soloist and with Lane & the Badass Chicken Bones. Although he initially studied piano and viola, Jacques found his natural voice on the guitar. The instrument was only one step, however, on his musical journey. After playing guitar in a truck stop bar band in East Missoula, MO, he began studying fiddle with the Montana Fiddlers Association. Two years later he added the mandolin, which he played with the Lost Highway Band. Moving to Austin, he became involved with the city's thriving music scene for eight years. At the suggestion of David Grisman, he moved to San Francisco in 1982. In the nearly two decades since, Jacques has become an in-demand session player. The lengthy list of artists with whom he's worked includes Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Johnny Paycheck, Frank Wakefield, and Michael Hedges. Much of the Wayback's irreverent approach is stirred by Coyle, whose resumé includes emceeing killer whale shows, doing standup comedy as one-half of the Reagan Brothers, and performing with satirical folk bands the Foremen and the Frontmen. The Wayback's rhythm section features double bass player and vocalist Joe Kyle, Jr. and drummers Chuck Hamilton, who tours with the group, and Peter Tucker, who performs with the band in the San Francisco area.

6284 - THE WAYBACKS - Devolver (2000)

THE WAYBACKS
''DEVOLVER''
MAY 18 2000
58:42

01 - Lickkus Interruptus/3:44
02 - Compadres In The Old Sierra Madre/5:08
03 - Gone Wayback/3:59
04 - Been Around/3:32
05 - Scrapple From The Apple/3:39
06 - The Last Steam Engine Train/4:02
07 - I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)/4:57
08 - McHattie's Waltz/4:45
09 - The Witch Of The Westmereland/6:18
10 - JNPT/3:39
11 - Cluck Old Hen/8:25
12 - Untitled/0:47
13 - I'm Really Fine/5:09

REVIEW
by Ann Wickstrom
Is it bluegrass? newgrass? folk? jazz? Yep. And it's terrifyingly brilliant. The debut CD from San Francisco-based the Waybacks delivers everything you could desire in an acoustic album: insanely hot picking, soaring fiddle, great harmonies, and a perfect blend of styles and tempos, covers and originals. One of the first things that hits you between the ears here is the guitar playing of James Nash, although you'd be hard-pressed to choose the top dog in this pack. Nash and Wayne Jacques (mandolin) sound as one as they pull off a dual lead on Charlie Parker's "Scrapple From the Apple," bebopping their way through a tune recorded by everyone from Sonny Stitt to Bobby McFerrin. Jacques also doubles on fiddle, and shreds it to smithereens on "Lickkus Interruptus" (too funny), the bright and energetic opening track with playing that is as fluid as anything you'll hear from Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush, and the like. "Been Around" and "Compadres in the Old Sierra Madre" feature delightful harmonies, the foremost a catchy, masterful original written by Nash; the latter a well-chosen Riders in the Sky tune. Keeping in line with their knack for selecting cool covers, the boys tackle "The Last Steam Engine Train," a song recorded by both its originator, John Fahey, and Leo Kottke. Here's your chance to see what an entire band can do with it. Nash pulls out a slide for this one and Stevie Coyle keeps it driving forward on finger-style guitar, at one point turning the lead over to Jacques on fiddle. the Waybacks are not bluegrass purists, to be sure, but they know that every proper bluegrass-inflected album must contain at least one waltz -- and Kenny Baker's "McHattie's Waltz" satisfies that requirement in fine fashion. Scotsman Artie Fisher's ballad "The Witch of the Westmereland" is arguably the brightest gem on this recording. It's beautiful, lilting melody and plaintive vocal reading from Coyle result in recurrent grasps for the volume knob. the Waybacks bring it all home by plugging in for Jacques' wild 'n' woolly arrangement of the traditional song "Cluck Old Hen." (But don't miss the uproarious hidden track!) The musicianship here is absolutely top drawer. Devolver can easily stand repeated listenings -- many of them. It is a treasure that no serious music lover should be without.

BIOGRAPHY
by Craig Harris
The traditional sounds of old-timey string band music is only element of the musical tapestry woven by San Francisco-based quintet the Waybacks. Roots Town Music Magazine called them "a dream combination of punk vandalism and hyper-intelligent, seldom heard, humoristic musicality," while the Winnipeg Free Press praised them for their "unpretentious musicality." Describing their musical approach, www.shoprecords.com wrote, "it's everything from 'Kumbaya'-like folk and cowboy jazz, space jam, celtoid, agnostic gospel, beat poetry, Grappelli-esque swing, and acoustic originals." The Waybacks' sound represents the combined efforts of lead guitar, mandolin player, and vocalist James Nash; fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and Humanatone player and vocalist Chojo Jacques; and rhythm, fingerpicked and Weissenborn slide guitar player, and vocalist Stevie Coyle. A native of Nashville, Nash has been playing guitar since the age of nine. Throughout high school, he studied with renowned Nashville session guitarist Jerry Kimbrough. Relocating to the San Francisco area to attend Stanford University, he became a member of the alt-rock band Occam's Razor. Increasingly drawn to traditional Southern music, he taught himself to play mandolin. In addition to working with the Waybacks, he performs as a soloist and with Lane & the Badass Chicken Bones. Although he initially studied piano and viola, Jacques found his natural voice on the guitar. The instrument was only one step, however, on his musical journey. After playing guitar in a truck stop bar band in East Missoula, MO, he began studying fiddle with the Montana Fiddlers Association. Two years later he added the mandolin, which he played with the Lost Highway Band. Moving to Austin, he became involved with the city's thriving music scene for eight years. At the suggestion of David Grisman, he moved to San Francisco in 1982. In the nearly two decades since, Jacques has become an in-demand session player. The lengthy list of artists with whom he's worked includes Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Johnny Paycheck, Frank Wakefield, and Michael Hedges. Much of the Wayback's irreverent approach is stirred by Coyle, whose resumé includes emceeing killer whale shows, doing standup comedy as one-half of the Reagan Brothers, and performing with satirical folk bands the Foremen and the Frontmen. The Wayback's rhythm section features double bass player and vocalist Joe Kyle, Jr. and drummers Chuck Hamilton, who tours with the group, and Peter Tucker, who performs with the band in the San Francisco area.

6279 - THE WAYBACKS - Way Live (2003)

THE WAYBACKS
''WAY LIVE''
JUNE 9 2003
67:44

1. Intro/0:13
2. Jnpt/4:25
3. Down From Iona/3:25
4. they ried to kill us, we survived (Let's Eat)/6:46
5. Police Dog Blues/3:44
6. Monkey Pants/4:41
7. Hesitation Blues/10:23
8. Brundlefly/4:57
9. Been Around/3:43
10. Saltflat Rhapsody/5:37
11. Last Steam Engine Train/4:15
12. Bright Place/9:30
13. Swallowtail Jig/Rights of Man Hornpipe/6:05
14. Untitled/0:32
15. Mind Your Own Business/7:35

Album Notes
By CdBaby
By popular demand!! A live recording by one of the hottest string bands in America! This third release by the popular San Francisco group captures the energy, enthusiasm, musical virtuosity and irreverent humor that have come to be the hallmarks of a Waybacks performance. Die-hard fans and virgin Backaroos alike will enjoy the mix of new originals (Let's Eat, Monkey Pants), live versions of tunes from the first two CDs (Been Around, JNPT, Bright Place, Saltflat Rhapsody), and a few tunes that just need to be heard in a live setting (Hesitation, Swallowtail).
On-fire fiddling, jaw-dropping flatpicking, vocals your mother could love, classic flat-picked guitar, wonderfully unpredictable bass solos, and drumming that even the drum Nazis can appreciate - all this and more on a CD that will provide literally minutes of entertainment.

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
By Craig Havighurst, String Theory Media
They draw freely from the old school and the old world, but The Waybacks are no throwback. They've been erroneously pigeonholed as a bluegrass band and celebrated as purveyors of "acoustic mayhem." They are as uninhibited and unpredictable as the eclectic San Francisco Bay area that claims them, and for nearly a decade, their experiments have always proven sharp-witted and musically dazzling. They're living proof that in music anyway, evolution and intelligent design are entirely compatible. "The whole spirit of improvisation - that's always been the cornerstone of this band for me," says founding singer, songwriter and guitarist James Nash. "Through all the stylistic changes and regardless of the instruments we're playing, to me the fun of this band has always been that in some ways I can do whatever I feel like doing at any moment."
They've been through changes for sure. Now a four-piece with a full arsenal of acoustic and electric instruments, The Waybacks are releasing Loaded, the boldest, rangiest and most exciting album of their career. Produced by Nashville bassist, composer and consummate sideman Byron House, it's a musical rebuke to anyone who would typecast true artistry.

The folk and roots underpinnings that have long been a Waybacks hallmark are still there, but after years of playing a huge range of venues and festivals, touring with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, and reconfiguring themselves around the hot guitar of James Nash and the fiddle virtuosity of Warren Hood, The Waybacks are enjoying a refreshed repertoire � one that's touched by Memphis soul, honky-tonk, Parisian swing, classical music, vintage blue pop and much more besides. Nash and Hood have stepped forward as songwriters, allowing The Waybacks to assemble their first project of entirely original music. They're finding a new collective voice, right before our ears.

Besides Nash, the Waybacks include drummer Chuck Hamilton, bass player Joe Kyle Jr. and the newest member, fiddler and mandolinist Warren Hood. Those who have followed the band's progress over the past five years have had to bid good-bye to two long-time members, finger-stylist and singer Stevie Coyle and multi-instrumentalist Chojo Jacques. But in welcoming Hood (who sometimes refers to the revamped band as a power trio plus fiddle) and focusing around a more rhythmic, far-reaching sound. You might say The Waybacks have grown by shrinking.

"I just thought they were all very talented players," says Hood about his attraction to The Waybacks. "I really couldn't put them into a genre, but I guess that's what I liked about it. I'd rather be in a band that plays a little of everything than a band that lives in one genre all night."

The Waybacks were launched in 1999, when Nash, a guitar phenomenon raised in Nashville, was making a living in San Francisco playing solid-body electric guitar. His involvement in an acoustic side project was not supposed to change his life, but it did. "It was kind of a novelty to me," he says. "It was a liberating, exciting thing where I kind of rediscovered that I love playing acoustic instruments." As they began touring, Nash was quickly recognized as a top-flight picker even in the rarified company that circulated at the world's best folk, roots and bluegrass festivals. The Waybacks' show was built around blazing instrumental skills and large doses of hilarity. They'd play traditional fiddle tunes with their own twist, original songs that fell into no category, and insanely difficult jazz tunes like Charlie Parker's "Scrapple From The Apple."

Fans loved it, and so did the critics. The Chicago Tribune's David Royko praised their "near-ideal balance of irreverence, chops, discipline, and originality." Bay Area writer Michael Miller admired their "exotic settings" and "mind blowing picking." It led to major festival bookings and eventually a recording arrangement with Nashville's roots label Compass Records.

The Bob Weir shows were one of the most recent validations that The Waybacks had tapped into something profound. The Grateful Dead co-founder has remained incredibly prolific over the years, and in The Waybacks he saw something he recognized. He and the band collaborated on several memorable shows in 2006, including much buzzed-about sets at Merlefest in North Carolina and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco. They translated some of the Dead's electric repertoire into a newgrass format, while working up covers together from the likes of Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin. So it should come as no surprise if you hear overtones of the Dead's freedom and eclecticism in songs like "Good Enough" and "The River" on Loaded.

When they were getting ready to make the new album, Nash and company scheduled their longest- ever period of pre-production. It was a necessary step to finding out how to work as a four-piece and a productive investment in crafting an album that accomplishes a lot of things. "We were so much better prepared for the studio and we had a lot more fun this time," says Joe Kyle. "Once we got to Nashville with the meter running we were able to get down to business at once. The vibe was strong in the studio. We were at once purposeful and focused and we were having a ball."

Kyle also says that for the first time The Waybacks had more original material to record than they had space for. That's because of the songwriting energy of Nash and Hood. Warren's songs lean toward the vintage, and he shows chops beyond his 24 years in the complex chord changes and sophisticated melodies of tunes like "Savannah." "Nice To Be Alone" sounds like something Sam Cooke might have recorded, and "Tired of Being Right" is a full-tilt roadhouse boogie. Hood also proves he's a gifted singer and every bit the son of Champ Hood, whose seminal Uncle Walt's Band is one good historical touchstone for The Waybacks.

Nash's songs tend to jam out harder and tell great stories. The characters in Loaded and "City Boy" are palpable and have motivation. The proud-because-she-has-to-be girl in "Conjugal Visit" is no lighter weight for being the subject of a funny song. "Beyond the Northwest Passage" is a no-holds- barred sea shanty with a rousing sing-along chorus that features the band's beer-fueled pals from the Greencards and the Infamous Stringdusters.

Drummer Chuck Hamilton says "each successive Waybacks recording project has been an improvement on the previous one more fun, better musicianship, better production and Loaded continues in that tradition. Somehow everything seems more authentic now. There's a combination of freedom and pressure that I really like."

When you think about it, that's the essential tension behind all great music. One without the other just doesn't work. It's that balance that makes The Waybacks a real ensemble, one that transcends genres in the best possible way. As Hood says, "I'd like to hear them try to call us a bluegrass band now!"

6211 - THE WAYBACKS WITH JOAN OSBORNE - Hillside Album Hour Eat A Peach (2011)

THE WAYBACKS WITH JOAN OSBORNE
''HILLSIDE ALBUM HOUR EAT A PEACH''
2011
70:43

01 - Intro/00:02:30
02 - Ain't Wastin' Time No More/00:05:11
03 - Les Brers In A Minor/00:07:29
04 - Melissa/00:04:39
05 - Mountain Jam/00:14:10
06 - One Way Out/00:05:20
07 - Trouble No More/00:05:16
08 - Stand Back/00:06:17
09 - Blue Sky/00:06:09
10 - Little Martha/00:02:44
11 - Musician's Intros/00:02:02
12 - Whipping Post/00:08:26

James Nash (electric guitar, mandolin)
Warren Hood (fiddle, acoustic guitar)
Joe Kyle, Jr. (bass)
Chuck Hamilton (drums)
Special Guests:
Joan Osborne (lead vocals)
John R. Burr (keyboards, Hammond B-3)
Larry Atamanuik (drums)
The Wailin' Jennys (backing vocals)

ABOUT
FestivaLink.net presents Hillside Album Hour: The Waybacks and Joan Osborne Eat a Peach at MerleFest, NC 4/30/11
In an annual tradition, The Waybacks pick a classic rock album, recruit MerleFest artists to play, and treat the Hillside audience to its unique take on the album. "Eat a Peach," the Allman Brothers Band classic from 1972, was this year's choice. When released, it was a double album, but in this show the band played a mere 14 minute version of "Mountain Jam." We loved the encore, "Whipping Post." The band brought Joan Osborne to the MerleFest audience, who loved her vocals here.

ABOUT THE WAYBACKS
By Craig Havighurst, String Theory Media
They draw freely from the old school and the old world, but The Waybacks are no throwback. They've been erroneously pigeonholed as a bluegrass band and celebrated as purveyors of "acoustic mayhem." They are as uninhibited and unpredictable as the eclectic San Francisco Bay area that claims them, and for nearly a decade, their experiments have always proven sharp-witted and musically dazzling. They're living proof that in music anyway, evolution and intelligent design are entirely compatible. "The whole spirit of improvisation - that's always been the cornerstone of this band for me," says founding singer, songwriter and guitarist James Nash. "Through all the stylistic changes and regardless of the instruments we're playing, to me the fun of this band has always been that in some ways I can do whatever I feel like doing at any moment."
They've been through changes for sure. Now a four-piece with a full arsenal of acoustic and electric instruments, The Waybacks are releasing Loaded, the boldest, rangiest and most exciting album of their career. Produced by Nashville bassist, composer and consummate sideman Byron House, it's a musical rebuke to anyone who would typecast true artistry.

The folk and roots underpinnings that have long been a Waybacks hallmark are still there, but after years of playing a huge range of venues and festivals, touring with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, and reconfiguring themselves around the hot guitar of James Nash and the fiddle virtuosity of Warren Hood, The Waybacks are enjoying a refreshed repertoire � one that's touched by Memphis soul, honky-tonk, Parisian swing, classical music, vintage blue pop and much more besides. Nash and Hood have stepped forward as songwriters, allowing The Waybacks to assemble their first project of entirely original music. They're finding a new collective voice, right before our ears.

Besides Nash, the Waybacks include drummer Chuck Hamilton, bass player Joe Kyle Jr. and the newest member, fiddler and mandolinist Warren Hood. Those who have followed the band's progress over the past five years have had to bid good-bye to two long-time members, finger-stylist and singer Stevie Coyle and multi-instrumentalist Chojo Jacques. But in welcoming Hood (who sometimes refers to the revamped band as a power trio plus fiddle) and focusing around a more rhythmic, far-reaching sound. You might say The Waybacks have grown by shrinking.

"I just thought they were all very talented players," says Hood about his attraction to The Waybacks. "I really couldn't put them into a genre, but I guess that's what I liked about it. I'd rather be in a band that plays a little of everything than a band that lives in one genre all night."

The Waybacks were launched in 1999, when Nash, a guitar phenomenon raised in Nashville, was making a living in San Francisco playing solid-body electric guitar. His involvement in an acoustic side project was not supposed to change his life, but it did. "It was kind of a novelty to me," he says. "It was a liberating, exciting thing where I kind of rediscovered that I love playing acoustic instruments." As they began touring, Nash was quickly recognized as a top-flight picker even in the rarified company that circulated at the world's best folk, roots and bluegrass festivals. The Waybacks' show was built around blazing instrumental skills and large doses of hilarity. They'd play traditional fiddle tunes with their own twist, original songs that fell into no category, and insanely difficult jazz tunes like Charlie Parker's "Scrapple From The Apple."

Fans loved it, and so did the critics. The Chicago Tribune's David Royko praised their "near-ideal balance of irreverence, chops, discipline, and originality." Bay Area writer Michael Miller admired their "exotic settings" and "mind blowing picking." It led to major festival bookings and eventually a recording arrangement with Nashville's roots label Compass Records.

The Bob Weir shows were one of the most recent validations that The Waybacks had tapped into something profound. The Grateful Dead co-founder has remained incredibly prolific over the years, and in The Waybacks he saw something he recognized. He and the band collaborated on several memorable shows in 2006, including much buzzed-about sets at Merlefest in North Carolina and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco. They translated some of the Dead's electric repertoire into a newgrass format, while working up covers together from the likes of Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin. So it should come as no surprise if you hear overtones of the Dead's freedom and eclecticism in songs like "Good Enough" and "The River" on Loaded.

When they were getting ready to make the new album, Nash and company scheduled their longest- ever period of pre-production. It was a necessary step to finding out how to work as a four-piece and a productive investment in crafting an album that accomplishes a lot of things. "We were so much better prepared for the studio and we had a lot more fun this time," says Joe Kyle. "Once we got to Nashville with the meter running we were able to get down to business at once. The vibe was strong in the studio. We were at once purposeful and focused and we were having a ball."

Kyle also says that for the first time The Waybacks had more original material to record than they had space for. That's because of the songwriting energy of Nash and Hood. Warren's songs lean toward the vintage, and he shows chops beyond his 24 years in the complex chord changes and sophisticated melodies of tunes like "Savannah." "Nice To Be Alone" sounds like something Sam Cooke might have recorded, and "Tired of Being Right" is a full-tilt roadhouse boogie. Hood also proves he's a gifted singer and every bit the son of Champ Hood, whose seminal Uncle Walt's Band is one good historical touchstone for The Waybacks.

Nash's songs tend to jam out harder and tell great stories. The characters in Loaded and "City Boy" are palpable and have motivation. The proud-because-she-has-to-be girl in "Conjugal Visit" is no lighter weight for being the subject of a funny song. "Beyond the Northwest Passage" is a no-holds- barred sea shanty with a rousing sing-along chorus that features the band's beer-fueled pals from the Greencards and the Infamous Stringdusters.

Drummer Chuck Hamilton says "each successive Waybacks recording project has been an improvement on the previous one � more fun, better musicianship, better production � and Loaded continues in that tradition. Somehow everything seems more authentic now. There's a combination of freedom and pressure that I really like."

When you think about it, that's the essential tension behind all great music. One without the other just doesn't work. It's that balance that makes The Waybacks a real ensemble, one that transcends genres in the best possible way. As Hood says, "I'd like to hear them try to call us a bluegrass band now!"