Roots Music Report

About the Band

Back pOrchEstra offers Indie and roots rock and the American Roots that inspired it (country blues, Americana, singer-somgwriter, cajun, western swing, TexMex and Louisiana music). This combo, sprung out of the pandemic and going back to the basics, delivers rich acoustic tones and has developed a unique, catchy, funky, moody sound, drawing from the varied past and delivering originals and reworked classics by Hank Williams, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks, JJ Cale, Big Al Anderson, Big Bill Broonzy, Jimmy Reed, Joseph & Cleome Falcon and Bobby Charles. Comparisons have been made to the music of NRBQ, The Band, Asleep At The Wheel, Dan Hicks, Buddy & Julie Miller, Jesse Ed Davis & Levon Helm. 

With the 2026 album, "Stories In The Heart," Back pOrchEstra, continues its foray into fresh yet retro genre-blending and genre-bending with a broad range of original and historic music featuring the stellar S.F. Bay Areans: Candy Girard (Delaney Bramlet, Tanya Tucker, Clint Black, Jerry Garcia) on violin, Gary Potterton (NRPS, Texas Chainsaw) on guitar and dobro, Tim Eschliman (Etta James, The Blues Project, Commander Cody & His Western Airmen, Jesse Colin Young, The Christmas Jug Band) on vocals & resonator guitar, Bowen Brown (John Lee Hooker, Tommy Castro, Rhythmtown-Jive) on drums, Beau Beaullieu (California Honeydrops, Gator Beat) on bass plus special guest Kathy Kennedy (Big Bang Beat, Smokey Robinson) on vocals, Vicki Randle (The Tonight show band under Jay Leno) on percussion, Austin deLone on piano, Mingo Lewis Jr (Vinyl) on percussion. Two of the tracks on this 12-song set feature the dual artistry of Back pOrchEstra and The Christmas Jug Band.  The Christmas Jug Band personnel is: Ken "Snakebite" Jacobs (New Orleans Nighcrawlers, Frankie Ford), Gregory Leroy Dewey (Country Joe & The Fish, Marty Balin), Paul Rogers, and Blake Richardson. . Features 9 originals or original arrangements and 3 covers from Big Al Anderson (NRBQ), Waylon Jennings and Don Gibson. Hear it: https://orcd.co/5xga7nr  LPs, CDs available as well internationally through AMPED (Alliance Media).

"...What sets 'Stories In The Heart' apart is its sense of balance. Resonator, violin, bass, drums, percussion, dobro and Tele create a flexible, roots-forward palette that allows them to move between styles fluidly.” - Vince's Hot Picks (Best of 2026) New Releases Now

“...An explosive mix of roots rock, Americana, Cajun, western swing, and blues, with that touch of grit reminiscent of Californian highways and the sultry nights of New Orleans... Back pOrchEstra delivers a luminous, earthy, profoundly human record. An album that makes you want to sit on a porch, watch the sunset, and let the stories do their work...." - Fred Delforge, Zicazine 

“A group of just phenomenal musicians - new album is kinda bluesy, Americana, country, rockin' ..check out 'I'm Wild About My Lovin'' .. I love how the fiddle [Candy Girard] is used on this track” - Payton Burdette, Real Roots Radio

This is a follow-up to the "Voices In My Head (Genre Whiplash)" which made the Top 100 Albums at Alt.Country Specialty Chart: https://orcd.co/dw640r4 

"It's one fine album" - Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone, Almost Famous)

"...everything from alt. rock to cajun, to country, to Brownie Ford era Western Swing. But the thing that keeps this set together is their excellent songwriting full of smooth never-miss-a-beat lines and vivid imagery. It's a studio album but it sure does have a back porch jam band feel to it" - Calvin Powers, americanamusicshow.com

"...how rich the musical community of the San Francisco Bay Area is... certainly demonstrates a mastery of many musical genres that provides a roadmap of classic Americana music with this fine new record" -J C Flyer