The Waybacks

In 1999, James Nash – Nashville guitar-boy – hooked up with a group of acoustic musicians in San Francisco. And, the clouds parted and the angels sang. Not really, but the experience did have a profound effect on the course of his life. He switched from solid-body to acoustic guitar and became recognized for his picking. The Waybacks, the group that grew out of this experiment, tested their wings with a variety of musical styles. Not satisfied to settle only on bluegrass melodies, they drew from jazz, swing, folk and even classical for inspiration. Fast forward past four CDs to 2008’s Loaded, out on Compass – an album that sees an increase in original tunes thanks in part to new Wayback, fiddle phenom Warren Hood adding his songwriting skills to those of Nash. An accomplished classical musician, Hood is also a righteous fiddler, more than up to Nash’s goal of shaking up the acoustic world. Joe Kyle Jr. on upright bass and drummer Chuck Hamilton complete the line-up.