“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

Backup Planet is a progressive funk-rock band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. To see Backup Planet perform live is to simultaneously travel back in time and forward into the future. Their truly unique sound emanates from a place that seems familiar, yet unchartered. Elements of jazz, funk, roots, blues, electronic, and progressive rock all emerge during the course of their shows. Their sound draws from so much you’ve heard before—‘70s rock and funk, high-energy improv, a touch of pop, and a sliver of metal. But the members of Backup Planet mix and match those elements—with just a hint of modern tech to burnish a sturdy nucleus of retro-minded organ and guitar—in ways that never fail to astonish.  With a fantastic repertoire of original songs, they’re able to build fluid sets interspersed with extended improvisation.

Incorporating some degree of uncertainty into live performances is innate to the improvisational, or ‘jam band,’ music scene. Audiences can sense when a group takes major risks onstage; the elements of surprise and unpredictability foster a level of joy unparalleled in other types of musical performances.  Masters of this process, Ben Cooper, Gavin Donati, Blake Gallant, and Carson Brown, are doing all of the above while their rapidly growing fan base nods in approval and shouts for more.

Before moving to Austin, Jac Conley was never one to stay in one place for too long.This included living in the hills of Tennessee, the mountains of Montana,the woods of Indiana and now moving south to the city of Austin, TX. 

His music seemed to follow suit. Moving from being a blues guitarist to folk singer and back again, he has struggled to find a home in a genre focused industry. It seemed as though the only way out was to play what is true and honest to him; a combination of all musical experiences resulting in a true expression of self.

Asking the help of his best friends and musical virtuosos Bo Kitzman and Mark Crider, the group held up in Crooked Switch studios in Murfreesboro, TN for a week to lay it all down. Led by the Vision of producer/engineer Logan Wall and many sleepless nights, what is left is a product that exudes experience, pain, friendship, love, family, and most importantly second chances. All topped off with a little bit of moonshine.

Ben Gaines is following