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.

Tags: Backwoods Payback, Pennsylvania, West Chester

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2012 at 7:21 pm and is filed under Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.