The Waybacks are an American four-piece band based in the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

area of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Their style has been alternately described as

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

, Progressive bluegrass,

rock-n-roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, and acoustic mayhem. They described themselves as a "power trio with a fiddler" in an interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. The group's most notable performances to date have included sets at large festivals such as MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the

Riverbend Festival The Riverbend Festival, also called ''Riverbend'', is a well-known annual music festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was started in June 1982 as a five-night festival. Over the years, the festival grew into the three nights of its current run ...

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, Tennessee, and

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB), originally Strictly Bluegrass, is an annual free and non-commercial music festival held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco ve ...

in San Francisco's

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. They have also headlined the

Great American Music Hall The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconies ...

and

Yoshi's Yoshi's (also known as Yoshi's Jazz Club and Yoshi's Oakland) is a nightclub located in Jack London Square in Oakland, California, United States. The venue originally opened in 1972 as a restaurant in Berkeley, later moving to Claremont Avenue i ...

in their home city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. They have a tradition of covering entire classic rock albums such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's '' II'', the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' ''

Sticky Fingers ''Sticky Fingers'' is the 9th British and 11th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The Stones released it on 23 April 1971 on their new, and own label Rolling Stones Records. They had been contracted by Decca ...

'', and the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

' ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although ''Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly re ...

'' at the Hillside Album Hour at Merlefest. They have performed with a wide array of artists, including

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

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, John Cowan,

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, and

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. The band's second album, ''Burger After Church'', was described by David Royko of the Chicago Tribune as the "near-ideal balance of irreverence, chops, discipline, and originality". The band began recording for

Compass Records Compass Records is an independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk music, folk, bluegrass music, bluegrass, Celtic music, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased t ...

in 2006, releasing ''From The Pasture To The Future'', produced by

Lloyd Maines Lloyd Wayne Maines (born June 28, 1951) is an American country music record producer, musician and songwriter. He was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame as one of the first three members, the other two being Willie Nelson and Stev ...

. Their 2008 Compass release ''Loaded'', produced by Byron House, made it to number 4 on Billboard's Top Bluegrass Albums list, and featured a guest appearance by

on mandolin.

History

1998: Formation

The band got its start at Irish pub The Plough And The Stars in San Francisco, where Stevie Coyle (vocals, fingerpicked guitar), Wayne "Chojo" Jacques (vocals, fiddle, mandolin) and Glenn (Pomianek) Houston (flatpicked guitar), began performing as an acoustic trio. The band soon became a five-piece with the addition of Peter Tucker (drums) and Chris Kee (vocals, bass).

1999–2000: Rise to national attention

Songwriter, lead guitarist and singer James Nash replaced Glenn Houston in June 1999, before the recording of the Waybacks' first album ''Devolver''. With the addition of Nash's songwriting and distinctive guitar improvisations, and without professional management or an agency (booking and promotion spearheaded internally by Coyle), the Waybacks quickly moved from playing small local pubs and coffeehouses to headlining concert halls and roots/folk/bluegrass festivals throughout North America and abroad. James Nash remains the most consistent of the band's members, and he is featured on all of the Waybacks' studio and live recordings. The band released their first album ''Devolver'' in May of 2000. Critics praised the “absolutely top drawer musicianship,” noting the dual leads of Nash and Jacques, and the “driving finger-style guitar” of Stevie Coyle. Performances during the Coyle/Jacques/Nash/Kee/Tucker period included the Strawberry and Wintergrass music festivals, and showcases at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, TN, and Folk Alliance in Vancouver, BC, and Kerrville, TX. The band began to build a national audience as tracks from its first album were added to playlists on KPFK Los Angeles, WNUR Chicago, WICN Boston, KFAI Minneapolis, WYEP Pittsburgh, and WYMS Milwaukee.

2001–Present

Bassist Joe Kyle, Jr., and drummer Chuck Hamilton replaced Chris Kee and Peter Tucker in early 2001, as the Waybacks transitioned into a full-time touring project. This five-piece (Coyle/Jacques/Nash/Kyle/Hamilton) is featured on the band's second studio album ''Burger After Church'', released in 2002. In 2003, the band hired manager Michael Nash (Tritone Management) and agent Mary Brabec (now of Billions Corporation), both of whom still represent the Waybacks. Songwriter, fiddler and singer Warren Hood replaced Chojo Jacques in September 2004 during the recording of the band's third studio album, ''From The Pasture to the Future''. Stevie Coyle left the band in September 2007, leaving the quartet lineup that continues to this day: Nash, Hood, Kyle, Hamilton. The band's performances have included venues such as the Kennedy Center, Ryman Auditorium, Old Town School of Music, The Warfield, The Fillmore, and the Bumbershoot, Wakarusa, and Edmonton Folk festivals. In their peak touring seasons between 2000–2009, the Waybacks averaged between 100-200 shows/year. The Waybacks continue performing sporadically, and in July 2011 the band released a live album covering The Allman Brothers' "Eat A Peach" in its entirety with Joan Osborne on lead vocals. In April 2012, the band hosted the 5th Annual Merlefest Album Hour, performing

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

's "Are You Experienced" with guest vocalists Sarah Dugas,

Jim Lauderdale James Russell Lauderdale (born April 11, 1957) is an American country, bluegrass, and Americana singer-songwriter. Since 1986, he has released 31 studio albums, including collaborations with artists such as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Buddy Miller, and ...

, and John Cowan. In the years that followed, the Album Hour became a "mainstay" at Merlefest, running 12 years in a row as of 2019, featuring the music of Tom Petty, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, Bruce Springsteen. The event has become a "fan favorite," notable for "exploring... lyrical themes by juxtaposing music from other artists and time periods". In 2017, "Rolling Stone" magazine dubbed the annual event "one of the most anticipated performances of the festival," and described the band's adaptation of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" as "an inventive tribute studded with sounds that spanned the psychedelic era". In August, 2019, the Waybacks began performing a song by the North African band

Tinariwen Tinariwen (Tamasheq: , with vowels , pronounced ''tinariwen'' "deserts", plural of ''ténéré'' "desert") is a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Considered a pioneer of desert blues, the group's guita ...

, who were receiving death threats for their overlapping tour of the American Southeast.

Discography

* ''Devolver'' (2000) * ''Burger After Church'' (2002) * ''Way Live'' (2003) * ''From the Pasture to the Future'' (2006) * ''Loaded'' (2008) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2008: Led Zeppelin II'' (2009) * ''Merlefest Watson Stage w/Special Guests'' (2009) * ''Secret Stage Mixes Vol. 1 - 3'' (2009) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2010: Abbey Road'' (2011) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2011: Eat A Peach'' (2012) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2012: Hendrix on the Hillside'' (2013) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2013: After The Flood'' (2014) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2014: Deja View'' (2015) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2015: Back in the USA'' (2016) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2016: Birdsongs'' (2017) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2017: With A Lotta Help From Our Friends'' (2018) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2018: Full On The Hill'' (2019) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2019: Stairway To Hillside'' (2020) * ''Hillside Album Hour 2021: Halfway To Heaven'' (2022)

References

External links

Live music recordings (Archive.org)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waybacks, The American bluegrass music groups Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area