By DAN ARMONAITIS
Playing festivals is a big deal in the bluegrass community.
It’s what most successful groups within the genre do on a regular basis, and it’s where an up-and-coming band can not only get their music heard by new audiences but also make valuable connections with other musicians that can pay tremendous dividends over time.
It’s certainly a formula that’s served Spartanburg-based bluegrass outfit Backline well. Since forming in Feburary 2016, Backline has built a solid reputation on the bluegrass festival circuit through hard work and determination and now finds itself poised for even greater success.
The band is among the lineup for the 3rd annual Anderson Bluegrass Festival, being held Thursday, Sept. 24 through Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Civic Center of Anderson. Backline will appear on stage at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday during a festival that also includes such bluegrass heavy-hitters as Rhonda Vincent & the Rage (on Thursday), The Grascals (on Friday) and Dailey & Vincent (on Saturday).
“It’s definitely a really cool thing to be able to go in and perform and then hang out with somebody who’s been your hero for the past 20 years,” Backline co-founder and dobro player Travis Tucker said of playing bluegrass festivals. “And, on top of that, there’s a whole family atmosphere associated with it. There are certain folks that go and travel around the country and pull their campers with them.
“We have fans who’ll say, ‘hey, come over to our camper when y’all finish your set, I’m gonna feed y’all.’ That happened back in August at the North Carolina state festival, and we we went over there and, man, she had a spread. I mean, homemade pintos and stewed beans and rice and corn — all this, like, grandma’s cooking.”
Tucker said the Anderson Bluegrass Festival is an indoor event that Backline also played last year.
“It’s awesome,” he added. “Last year, we played the same day as Ricky Skaggs and, this year, there’s going to be more big names there, so we’re definitely looking forward to it. It’s an Adams festival. (Georgia-based promoter) Norm Adams does, I believe, about nine festivals a year, and they’re always top-notch. We’re actually going to be at this one and then we’ll be at one in Palatka, Florida, which is also one of his. And he’s already booked us for Cherokee next year.”
Adams knows what an increasing number of bluegrass fans are beginning to realize — that Backline has some major talent to offer.
At the end of 2017, the group signed with Mountain Fever Records, a distinguished Virginia-based label that has artists from its impressive roster at or near the top of the bluegrass charts on a regular basis. Bluegrass Today’s Weekly Airplay chart for the week of Oct. 18, for instance, features three Mountain Fever artists in the Top 10, headed by Irene Kelley (at No. 1 for “Thunderbird”).
Backline’s Mountain Fever debut, “Salem Town,” which follows two independent albums by the band, was released this summer.
“Having Mountain Fever behind us has been a huge blessing,” Tucker said. “Those guys have been great. Mark (Hodges, the label’s founder) just has a formula, I guess you’d say, for how to push music. I was listening to Bluegrass Junction a few weeks ago, and I’m like, ‘oh my gosh, that’s our song. They’re playing our song on Sirius XM satellite radio.’ I was freaking out.
“Mark and his team really know how to make this stuff work, and they definitely get it out there on all the digital markets. I don’t know how many DJs they send new music to, but we get emails from DJs as far away as Australia who are playing our songs. For that to happen to this little ol’ band from Spartanburg, it’ll definitely blow your mind, for sure.”
In addition to Tucker, Backline features primary songwriter and lead vocalist Katelyn Ingardia on guitar, Zachary Carter on banjo, Jason Belue on upright bass and Milom Williams II on mandolin, along with newest member Clint White on fiddle. For the Anderson Bluegrass Festival gig, former Volume Five bassist Chris WIlliamson will fill in for Belue, who is unable to attend due to a prior commitment.
Backline is noted for its vocal harmony and its powerful original songs that also draw from gospel and classic country influences.
“I would say that Katelyn’s voice and just the original music that we play are probably the biggest things that, I wouldn’t necessarily say sets us apart (from other bluegrass groups), but definitely kind of catches people’s ear,” Tucker said.
Backline’s newest album is filled with original compositions except for the final track, “Rose Marie,” which was penned by acclaimed songwriter Paula Breedlove, whose notable credits include Terry Baucom & the Dukes of Drive’s major bluegrass hit, “4th and Goal.”
“We met her at SPBGMA (Society for the Presevation of Bluegrass Music of America) back in February, and we hit it off,” Tucker said. He then added with a laugh, “Katelyn, of course, hugged all over her because that’s the way Katelyn is. And (Breedlove) was like, ‘hey, I really like your sound’ and she stayed and watched our performance, and she said, ‘could I send y’all some songs?’ And we were like, ‘uh, please.’
“So, she sent us, like, eight tunes. ‘Rose Marie’ just really fit the feel of the ‘Salem Town’ album, so we were very happy to record that song and, yet at the same time, very scared because we’ve never really recorded a song that wasn’t written by somebody in the band or at least Katelyn’s dad, who wrote some of our gospel numbers.
“We were like, ‘man, I hope she likes it.’ And then after she heard it, she was like, ‘oh my gosh, I love what y’all did with it.’ So, we were very thrilled that she was happy with how it turned out.”
Tucker said Backline already has concert dates scheduled as far in advance as 2021 and that he and his bandmates are looking forward to returning to the studio, probably sometime between January and June of the coming year, to make another album for Mountain Fever.
“It’s an exciting time for us,” Tucker said. “Clint, the new fiddle player, he’s actually already sent us a song he wrote that’s really good. It just seems that with each person who gets added to the group, they bring not only their instrument but also another element of writing.
“And, we all just get along together so well. That’s probably my favorite thing about this group. It’s very cohesive. There’s no egos getting in the way, for sure.”
SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 24
Noon: Tiger Town Roots
12:45 p.m.: Deeper Shade of Blue
1:30 p.m.: Cane Creek Bluegrass Band
2:15 p.m.: Sons of the South
3 p.m.: Rhonda Vincent & the Rage
4 p.m.: Sideline
4:45 p.m: Intermission
5:15 p.m.: Tiger Town Roots
6 p.m.: Deeper Shade of Blue
6:45 p.m.: Cane Creek Bluegrass Band
7:30 p.m.: Sons of the South
8:15 p.m.: Rhonda Vincent & the Rage
9:15 p.m.: Sideline
Friday, Oct. 25
Noon: King James Boys
12:45 p.m.: Tugalo Holler
1:30 p.m.: The Little Roy & Lizzy Show
2:15 p.m.: Carolina Blue
3 p.m.: The Grascals
3:55 p.m.: Carson Peters & Iron Mountain
4:45 p.m: Intermission
5:15: King James Boys
6 p.m.: Tugalo Holler
6:45 p.m.: The Little Roy & Lizzy Show
7:30 p.m.: Carolina Blue
8:15 p.m.: The Grascals
9 p.m.: Carson Peters & Iron Mountain
Saturday, Oct. 26
11:30 a.m.: Bluegrass Gospel Singing & Jam with Mike & Mary Robinson & Friends
12:30 p.m.: The Marksmen
1:15 p.m.: Larry & Karen Stancil
2 p.m.: Backline
3 p.m.: The Malpass Brothers
4 p.m.: Intermission
4:30 p.m.: The Marksmen
5:15 p.m.: Larry & Karen Stancil
6 p.m.: Backline
7 p.m.: The Malpass Brothers
8 p.m: Dailey & Vincent