If there was only one thing you could say about Backstreet it might be that we have been making music together for a long time. That should surely get us lots of gigs! 'Hey Clyde, these dudes have been playing a long time. They must be real good!' Backstreet has been performing since 1985. The 5-member band includes Jeff Pardue (fiddle, banjo, accordion), Randy Gambill (mandolin, guitar), Keith Oliver (guitar), Billy Gee (bass), and Roger Miller (guitar, mandolin). The band's broad repertoire includes bluegrass, old-time, folk, western swing, blues, and Celtic music to name just a few styles. The band also performs original songs written by band members. Strong, tight vocal harmonies are an important element of the music we perform. Backstreet has been a regular performer at Merlefest since 2000. Recently, the band completed a new CD (Another Look) in spring 2002 and completed a tour in England and Scotland in January 2003. But don't you hate to hear someone go on and on about themselves? Here's what some other folks are saying about Backstreet:

The Bein Inn, Glenfarg, Perthshire - Scotland 'Multi-talented Backstreet breezed in from The Appalachians of North Carolina and delivered a performance that was sweet as honey, pure as the very mountain air and filled with genuine warmth. This classic Wilkes County-based five-piece dig deeper than most of the old-time music makers of the genre, and proved the patina was well-burnished from twenty five years of having fun together playing good songs. Earlier in the tour, when told by a promoter they could 'get away' with two sets, they were simply dumfounded and their faces told him: Why on earth would we want to do that? What followed was a helluva hoedown which lasted close on three hours and touched all of the likely - and some less obvious - musical bases. Greedy, and slavering for more, we demanded and got an encore. Memo to band: Haste ye back!' - Loudon Temple, Maverick Magazine, UK

Backstreet suffers from a little bit of musical schizophrenia. 'Another Look' is a great example of what a band can accomplish when it refuses to be pigeonholed into a particular style of music. - Jeff Eason, The Mountain Times

Backstreet is a band that puts out a lovely sound, with great musicianship and personal song-writing. Their CD 'Another Look' will definitely get air-play on KSUT. - Beth Warren, KSUT Four-Corners Public Radio, Ignacio, CO