All:
Go to the Lincoln Theater tonight in Raleigh! Drive as far as you have to. I went to Charlotte last night to see The Tony Rice Unit, and The Waybacks opened up for them. What an AMAZING show this is!
James Nash is an absolutely AMAZING flatpicker! Don't get me wrong, he has a long way to go to develop what Tony has, but ohh my goodness! He flatpicks as fast as Bryan Sutton, with a little bit of western / Willie Nelson flavor. It's a real treat. The other musicians in the band a great too.
If I had to describe the Waybacks, it's like a newgrass jam band with some Celtic/Western flavor. It's very driven, and very talented music.
To top THIS off, the Tony Rice Unit is in rare form! They are the best I have seen them to date. You know how Eric Clapton used to jam in the seventies? Tony is jamming now, but on another plateau. It's funny how some people don't jam anymore (EC), and some people are just getting better at jamming. TR will go off on a tangent, and the rest of the band will stand back in awe watching. I was about 4 feet from the stage, so you can imaging my facial expression as well.
Rob Ickes is with the Unit for these shows, and he is the second best Dobro player I have ever seen! You guys owe it to yourselves to GO TO THIS SHOW. I think I am even going to make another two hour trip tonight myself.
Even if you don't like Bluegrass/Newgrass, go to this. Even jazz fans should see Tony. There is so much jazz influence, and the Waybacks being from SF have tons of Grateful Dead overtones to their stuff.
I give this one EIGHTY-SEVEN thumbs up!
