1.

Wayne Jacques

"Whaddya get when you fertilize your newgrass/bluegrass with virtuosic flatpicking, fingerstyle, fiddle and mandolin, sowed with an exuberant joie de vivre? Acoustic mayhem! Tight, very tight acoustic mayhem. The Waybacks are a stringband that long ago surpassed the pinnacle of technical prowess on their respective instruments, thereafter 'devolving' to a point that their music is so free and natural that the most primitive brain centers of the Homo sapien listener go into electrical storm. James Nash and Wayne Jacques double it up and burn it up with flatpicked guitar and mandolin on 'Lickkus Interruptus,' 'Gone Wayback' and Charlie Parker's 'Scrapple from the Apple.' Nash isn't the only great guitarist here... check out Stevie Coyle's flawless fingerstyle on Fahey's 'The Last Steam Engine Train.'"

- Alan Fark
Minor 7th

"If you like the David Grisman Quintet or the Tony Rice Unit, you are going to flat love the Waybacks. 'Likkus Inteerruptus', the first tune on their 'Devolver' CD, sounds like it could be a Sam Bush, Grisman, Rice jam classic. It's just full of wild joy and abandonment. The rest of the record is equally as good (It's really good.). Whether they are covering Charlie Parker, Kenny Baker, or a song from the Jungle Book, these guys smoke. This is nothing short of acoustical mayhem. Each one is a master of his respective instrument. In addition to all the great instrumentals like John Fahey's 'The Last Steam Engine Train' and Parker's 'Scapple from the Apple', there are several excellent vocal numbers as well. The Riders in the Sky's 'Compadres in the Old Sierra Madre' swings. 'Cluck Ole Hen', with its dirty nasty electric mandolin, showcases what fun that this band must be live. If you get the chance, catch them live at a show or rehab near you."

Jeff Wall
Twangzine

"... tight, crisp, sophisticated music ..."

John Lupton
SING OUT!

"... chops to spare, a sense of humor, and no respect whatsoever for standard operating procedure ... very impressive ... do yourself a favor ..."

- Rick Anderson
Bluegrass Unlimited

"... as fine an example of hot picking as you're likely to find, covering bluegrass, old jazz, country, folk - you name it, they'll put their own spin on it. It's a remarkably assured debut ... one thing that immediately hits anyone listening to Devolver is the quality of the playing, and the way everyone seems to anticipate the next move ..."

Chris Nickson
Folk Roots Magazine

"... the right combination of chops and humor to make Devolver an album that no fan of modern string bands should miss."

Teja Gerken
Acoustic Guitar

"A dream combination of punk vandalism and hyper-intelligent, seldom-heard humoristic musicality."

Marc Nolis
RootsTown

"The musicianship is first-rate ... guaranteed to leave listeners eager to hear The Waybacks' further devolution."

Linda Dailey Paulson
Dirty Linen

Great album, a culmination (or should I say DEVOLUTION) of clean, sharp smooth, generally incredible picking. A must have for any acoustic fan. Hope it has done and continues to do well for you,

Maurice Kurtz Bluegrass Territory, Valley FM 89.5, Australian Capital Territory

Got to tell you, this Cd has hit a nerve with me. Not only is this great music, it's well played (superb) and well produced. Very impressed with the versatility and variety. Keep going. I'll keep playing you. My listeners love It!

Rick Rock
The American Focus
WBZC in Pemberton, NJ

"I am blown away!! It's been placed in my 'new and definitely earworthy' tote for the program ..."

Clint (The Voice Of Saturday Morning) Harding
host "Blue Highways"
KDHX, St. Louis Community Radio

"The band closed the Friday night show (of The NCBS Good Old Fashioned Festival ) with a set that showed what amazing musicians they all are ... and they simply rocked. Pete and Kitsy Kuykendall, owners of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, were visiting the festival and Kitsy was so impressed she said she's going to book the band at some festivals back east."

"(It should be mentioned that late Friday night some of The Waybacks, Tammy Fassaert and various members of stringbean and All Wrecked Up were jamming near my tent, playing pure traditional Stanley-style mountain jusic with taste and feeling. They know the music and they got the chops; they just do other things real well also.)"

George Martin
California Bluegrass Association's
Bluegrass Breakdown magazine

" ... bluegrass, like life, is best served up tongue-in-cheek. The Waybacks, whose ... playing stacks up with anything you'll find in Austin, make their mark by stretching the so-called hillbilly music into places you wouldn't expect it to go." _***½

Brad Kava
San Jose Mercury News

"The Waybacks are a wickedly sharp band. Their uniqueness comes from their incredible eclecticism. Their playing and singing are impeccable. And furthermore they are really a nice bunch of talented guys. What more could one ask for? Experience them for yourselves ... we did."

Howard and Roz Larman
"Folkscene"
KPFK-FM, Los Angeles, CA

"This CD is great fun and a kind of musical tour de force, completely overrunning the comfortable stringband boundaries ... this disc kept finding its way back to my CD player. "

Hugh Blumenfeld
Fenario e-zine

"The Waybacks play hot acoustic music ... they are excellent players, with special nods to the fiddle player and lead guitarist. Any music fans (like myself) who miss the earlier versions of the David Grisman Quartet would probably enjoy The Waybacks."

Bill FraterFreighttrainboogie.com [more]

"I have now had an opportunity to listen to "Devolver" myself and I like it a lot (perhaps even more than I had expected to--whatever that means.) Thanks for the music. Good to have discovered you."

Ed McDonald
host of "Sidetracks"
EIO Productions, Keyser, WV

"These guys can really jam. They're a small tight group that I've seen at The Plough & Stars a few times. It's always a great show. If you dig bluegrassy music, with a hint of Irish sound to it, I highly recommend you check them out."

Michael Smith
Trippin' Out

"Anyone who has seen The Waybacks will not be surprised at how good this recording is ... the musicianship is first-rate ... "

Larry Carlin
Bluegrass By The Bay Magazine    [more]

"The variety of music on your CD is really amazing ... not only different songs are different style but almost every song has mixed at least three different styles in it. Wonderful! And the instrumentation and the musicianship of the players make all this result really to shine out. On my mind the balance between the instruments and their solos is just perfectly worked out. All this is played in free and relaxed feeling, almost like a spontaneous jam. That's again a sign of GOOD and REAL music as this way the result will not suffer the formal overproducing which most of today's recordings unfortunately are."

Jaanus Vainu
BGR (BlueGrassRadio)
Tallin, Estonia

"... stellar musicianship ... glowing stage presence ... humorous performance approach ... excellent taste ... "

Ted Silverman
pauserecord.com

"I was expecting sort of an old-time fiddle album but got something much different. I love your music ... I'm gladly playing a large part of your CD on my program tonight on Yellowstone Public Radio. You guys have a total of somewhere between 25 and 30 minutes of air time. We are a huge public radio station covering about 2/3 of Montana and 1/2 of Wyoming, so hopefully you'll find some fans out there tonight."

Doug Ezell, host of Strings and Things, KEMC Yellowstone Public Radio, MT

"Is it ever a pot full of pickin' music! Nice stuff. You gots no worries when it comes to this one gettin' hoid 'round here. Don't care what mama don't 'llow."

Rik James, host of Americana Backroads on KGLT-FM, Bozeman, MT

"You are excellent musicians ... although a few may have brain damage. Your music has found a home on 'Folk Routes.' Take care, stay warped and make good music."

Tom Coxworth
producer of Folk Routes
CKUA Radio Network, Canada

"Your recording is wonderful. Watch for more spins on 'In The Tradition.' "

Tom Druckenmiller
host of In The Tradition
WDIY-FM, Allentown, PA

"There’s almost nothing I can say about your group that wouldn’t be understatement. Breathtaking virtuosity, dazzling pyrotechnics, heartbreaking melodies, foot-stompin’, ass-kickin’ music - that’s what it is. And then some. Ya’ll look like regular guys ... you play like gods!

Terry McGovern
San Francisco Bay Area televison & radio personality

"A terrific record, guys. One of the best I've heard in recent months. "

Charlie Backfish
host of Sunday Street
WUSB-FM, Stony Brook, NY.

"Great album!"

Clark Bjorke
host of Nobody's Bizness
WKHS-FM, Worton, MD

"It's GREAT!!"

Mike Meyer
host of Acoustic Junction
KRVM-FM, Eugene, OR