You can’t hope to stop Backwoods Payback from touring. You can only hope to contain them. Actually, you can’t really hope for that either, but the important thing is you tried. Or something. Not really.

Whatever. Point is that West Chester’s own merchants of the mud are hitting the road once more, and they’re playing some killer live shows, and if you can, you should go see them. They’ve also got a new EP out digital-like called Live 2012, and you’ll never guess how and when the tracks were recorded. Yes, live. Yes, in 2012. Way to call it.

The kicker is that the EP features some new songs not yet released in studio form, so it’s a glimpse at where Backwoods Payback might be headed as they follow-up 2011′s riffy Momantha, hopefully later this year. Oh, and it’s free. And you can hear it below. So there you have it.

Word from the source:

Small Stone Records recording artists and purveyors of the riff BACKWOODS PAYBACK will hit the road once again this March bringing their vision to the masses.

The US tour kicks off March 7th in Delaware and sees the band sharing the stage with friends and contemporaries such as Pilgrim, Lo-Pan, Inter Arma, Royal Thunder and Batillus along the way. A few acoustic sets thrown in for good measure ensures none of these dates are to be missed. In preparation for the tour the band has released a Live EP available now on their bandcamp site FOR FREE thru the duration of the trip. The EP includes old favorites as well as brand new songs, not yet released.

backwoodspayback.bandcamp.com

Download it, burn it, share it, repeat.

“see you on the road mofos… drop out to live”

FEBRUARY
27 – Harrisburg PA, Fed LIVE w/ Royal Thunder, Ancient Wisdom

MARCH
7 – New Castle DE, JB McGinnes w/ Pilgrim, Earthen Grave
8 – Pittsburgh PA, 31st St Pub w/ Inter Arma
9 – Columbus OH, Ruby Tuesday w/ Lo-Pan
10 – Chicago IL, Ultra Lounge
11 – Indianapolis IN, Indys Jukebox
12 – Bloomington IN, Rachels Café (acoustic show)
13 – Memphis TN, The Buccaneer Lounge
14 – Chattanooga TN, The Honest Pint
15 – Nashville TN, Springwater Supper Club
16 – Jackson MS, Sams Lounge
17 – Birmingham AL, The Bottletree
18 – Jacksonville FL, Burro Bar
19 – Athens GA, Caledonia Lounge
20 – Knoxville TN, The 90 Proof
21 – Ladson SC, The Hive
22 – Chapel Hill NC, Chapel Hill Underground w/ Batillus
23 – Richmond VA, Plum St House

Kudos to Pennsylvania’s Backwoods Payback for earning the top slot at this year’s Heinzmann Benefit on June 30 in Frederick, Maryland. They did so with relentless road work and badass rock and roll, with guitar tones as warm as their flannels. The band sent word over the weekend that they’ve welcomed back drummer Tom Ewing into the fold (not pictured) and that vocalist/guitarist Mike Cummings (on right) is featured in the new Book of Beards, for obvious reasons. That too is well earned.

Here’s the news from the PR wire, followed by a clip of the band riffing out at SXSW this year, just because I think it’s good:

Backwoods Payback have a new (old) member of the family joining them on the drums. Tom Ewing (Count von Count) will now be handling the backbeat for the PA foursome, spreading their regional takeover from PA to NJ and now DE… a true Tri-State triple threat!

In addition, Saturday, June 30, Backwoods Payback will participate in the second annual Heinzmann Benefit in Frederick, Maryland. After playing a supporting role in last year’s stellar lineup (including doom legends Pentagram, Earthride and Iron Man), Backwoods Payback will now act as the headliners of this year’s festivities! This year, the lineup continues to offer the best in underground music from the US and Canada, all joining together to raise money for friends of the underground scene and aid them in the fight against cancer.

In somewhat related news, Backwoods Payback frontman Mike Cummings (a cancer survivor himself) has been featured on the front cover of a newly released Book of Beards. Independently released this past week, the book features stunning portraits and writings from a large collection of bearded folks from all over the world, again with the goal in mind to help those in need after the incredible financial burden fighting cancer leaves. The book can be seen and purchased here: bookofbeards.com.

Kudos to Backwoods Payback for doing what they do well. As hard a time as I have remembering whether they hail from West Chester or Westchester, Pennsylvania (it’s the first one), they seem to hit the road for month-long stretches with proportionate ease. As one of their songs was reportedly also used in an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter last night, the door-to-door exposure must be doing them some good.

Here’s the info for Backwoods Payback tour that will take them to SXSW and includes what’s sure to be an epic night in Los Angeles with Sasquatch and the recently-interviewed Dwellers. Dig it:

Small Stone Records’ own Backwoods Payback are set to hit the road in support of their latest full-length Momantha this March 1-25. The tour takes them across the United States out to the West Coast for the first time in five years with showcase-worthy dates planned in Portland, OR, San Francisco and Los Angeles, among others.

The tour also sees them making a stop at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, TX, as part of the highly anticipated Small Stone Records showcase on March 16 at Headhunters outside patio stage.

The 24-date trek wraps up with a round of shows on the East Coast alongside King Giant and Atlanta’s Order of the Owl, the latest project from Zoroaster founding member and former bassist Brent Anderson.

Complete dates are below:
03/01 Columbus, OH Ruby Tuesday
03/02 Chicago, IL Ultra Lounge
03/03 Dubuque, IA Off Minor
03/04 Lincoln, NE Box Awesome
03/05 Denver, CO Old Curtis Street
03/06 Salt Lake City, UT Burt’s Tiki Lounge
03/07 Boise, ID Shredders
03/08 Seattle, WA Highline
03/09 Portland, OR Kelly’s Olympian
03/10 Arcata, CA Alibi 
03/11 San Francisco, CA Hemlock Tavern
03/12 Los Angeles, CA 5 Star Bar
03/13 Tempe, AZ Yucca
03/14 Albuquerque, NM Hooligans
03/16 Austin, TX – Small Stone Records SXSW showcase Headhunters (outside)!
03/17 Lake Charles, LA Happy Hippie Pizza w/ Lo-Pan 
03/18 Monroe, LA Tsunami w/ Lo-Pan
03/19 Birmingham, AL The Nick 
03/20 Knoxville, TN Longbranch Saloon
03/21 Atlanta, GA Starbar *
03/22 Charlotte, NC The Milestone *
03/23 Chapel Hill, NC Nightlight *
03/24 Philadelphia, PA The Station *
03/25 Brooklyn, NY tba *
*w/ King Giant, Order of the Owl

In what will reportedly be their last string of shows for 2011, Pennsylvanian dirt rockers Backwoods Payback are hitting the road for the early part of December with the Virginian duo Akris. Backwoods Payback‘s debut, Momantha, was a bit of a sleeper, but the honesty and integrity behind the music shone through nonetheless, and they’re quickly becoming an excellent live act. Not to be missed if they’re coming through your town, I guess is the short version.

Emissions from the PR wire:

Backwoods Payback will head out on the road this December for one final run in 2011. The tour will take them through the Southeast and wrap up with their final show of the year in Columbus, Ohio, with labelmates Lo-Pan.

Along for much of the trek will be drum and bass noise machines Akris from Virginia.

The tour wraps up a year of the highest of highs and most earth-shattering of lows for the band. The shows promise a mix of tacks from their Small Stone Records debut, Momantha, and a preview of brand new music written since its release this past August.

Backwoods Payback on tour:

11/30 Harrisonburg, VA Blue Nile
12/01 Durham, NC Casbah
12/02 Charleston, SC Jimbo’s Rock Lounge
12/03 Savannah, GA The Wormhole
12/04 Atlanta, GA TBA
12/05 Nashville, TN Springwater
12/06 Birmingham, AL The Nick
12/07 Johnson City, TN The Hideaway
12/08 Blacksburg, VA 130 Jackson
12/09 Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class *
12/10 Columbus, OH Carabar w/ Lo-Pan *
* No Akris

It was kind of a surprise when Small Stone signed West Chester, Pennsylvania, riff mongers Backwoods Payback. Not that the band is undeserving. In the live arena, they stand up to anyone you want to put them against (including, regularly, formidable labelmates Lo-Pan), but their recorded output struck me as rawer than most of what the Detroit label gets behind these days, grittier and with more dirt under its fingernails. Listening to the finished product of Backwoods Payback’s Small Stone debut full-length, Momantha, it’s easy to see that same roughness was the appeal all along.

The four-piece have a sound that’s familiar enough to stoner rockers, but not based solely on fuzz-drenched guitar or Kyuss-style desert speeding. There’s something staid about Momantha; it’s like sludge if sludge went to therapy and started the long process of making peace with itself. There are probably a host of bands one could cite as influences or from whom elements are taken and made part of Backwoods Payback’s style, but the resulting brew is much harder to pin down. Captured at Small Stone’s go-to studio – Mad Oak in Allston, Massachusetts – by the label’s go-to engineer – Mr. Benny Grotto – the live edge that made the prior Use Magic to Kill Death EP and self-titled long-player sound so exciting is all the more vivid.

Potentially named after a hockey player (that being Moe Mantha, who did time playing for Pennsylvania teams in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Hershey), Backwoods Payback’s latest balances catchy songs with a driving edge. Momantha takes some time to settle in, but after a few listens, proves indispensable. Opener “You Know How This Works” proves aptly-named, with wavy guitars from Mike Cummings and Rylan Caspar backed by the hard-hit tom work of Steve Curtiss. Soon enough, bassist Jessica Baker also follows the bouncing riff and the album essentially gets its intro the same way the song does. Cummings, as the vocalist, has an approach that has almost no choice but to go all-out as often as humanly possible. It’s melodic, clean for most of the record (the screams on the later “Timegrinder” being an exception), and carries an undercurrent of drunkard’s woes that adds a bluesy feel to the rhythmic delivery of the lyrics.

So if “You Know How This Works” comes from the stomach, it’s even better to launch Momantha, which sets a quick momentum up front and gradually expands on it as the songs progress one to the next. “Flight Pony” keeps some C.O.C. feel in its riff, but is catchy enough to stand on its own, and “Knock Wood” is among Backwoods Payback’s strongest inclusions, with a more open chorus riff and classic bridge that is unapologetic both in its straightforwardness and its low end chug from Baker. The rhythm section first reveals itself as the asset it is in that bridge of “Knock Wood,” with Baker and Curtiss locked with the guitars in a churning progression that then changes pace on a dime back to the chorus to close out the song. It’s one of several really strong changes Backwoods Payback make on Momantha that’s probably too subtle to catch the first time through, but well worth appreciating once picked up on.

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Backwoods Payback have eyes of the South and an ear for madness. Their newest 7”/CD EP, Use Magic to Kill Death (Creep Records), follows a self-titled full-length released in 2007, and as a sampler of what the last couple years have done to the West Chester, PA, four-piece, it shows marked growth in the songwriting and melody departments that the band offsets with loads and loads of rebel groove. In about 10 minutes.

It’s a cliché to say my only complaint is the runtime, especially bearing in mind what I bought on CD is also a 7”, but in truth, I could do with one or two more tracks on Use Magic to Kill Death, its retro-style cover only giving up a fraction of what Backwoods Payback are getting down to these days. Sure, ‘70s rock blah blah blah, but Backwoods Payback take that sensation that at any moment the whole thing might fall apart that made Beaten Back to Pure such a great listen and blend it with Alabama Thunderpussy’s melodic side, with the guitars of Rylan Caspar and Mike Cummings working in tandem or separately to bring that out while Cummings’ voice – which has also seen considerable development and maturity in its approach – recounts tales of woe and rock redemption à la Seemless on closer “Pat the Bat.”

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